Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story Chapter 16~18

Chapter 16 Heartwarming and UL-Approved There was a bum sleeping on the sidewalk across the street from the loft when they returned. Tommy, full of fast food and the elation of being twice laid, wanted to give the guy a dollar. Jody stopped him and pushed him up the steps. â€Å"Go on up,† she said. â€Å"I'll be there in a minute.† She stood in the doorway watching the bum for movement. There was no heat signature around him and she assumed the worst. She waited for him to roll over and start laughing at her again. She was feeling strong and a little cocky from the infusion of Tommy's blood, so she had to fight the urge to confront the vampire, to get dead in his face and scream. Instead she just whispered, â€Å"Asshole,† and closed the door. If his hearing was as acute as her own, and she was sure it was, he had heard her. She found Tommy in bed, fast asleep. Poor guy, she thought, running all over town doing my business. He probably hasn't slept more than a couple of hours since we met. She pulled the covers over him, kissed him on the forehead, and went to the window in the front room to watch the bum across the street. Tommy was dreaming of bebop-driven sentences read by a naked redhead when he woke to find her sleeping next to him. He threw his arm over her and pulled her close, but there was no response, no pleasant groan or reciprocal snuggle. She was out. He pushed the light button on his watch and checked the time. It was almost noon. The room was so dark that the watch dial floated in his vision for a few seconds after he released the button. He went to the bathroom and fumbled around until he found the light switch. A single fluorescent tube clicked and sputtered and finally ignited, spilling a fuzzy green glow through the door into the bedroom. She looks dead, he thought. Peaceful, but dead. Then he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. I look dead too. It took him a minute to realize that it was the fluorescent lighting that had sucked the life out of his face, not his vampire girlfriend. He affected a serious glare and thought about how they would describe him in a hundred years, when he was really famous and really dead. Like so many great writers before him, Flood was known for his troubled countenance and sickly pallor, especially under fluorescent lighting. Those who knew him said that even in those early years they could sense that this thin, serious young man would make his presence known as a great man of letters as well as a sexual dynamo. His legacy to the world was a trail of great books and broken hearts, and although it is well known that his love life was his downfall, he felt no regret, as illustrated in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: â€Å"I have followed my penis into hell and returned with the story.† Tommy bowed deeply before the mirror, careful to keep the Nobel Prize medal from banging the sink, then began to interview himself, speaking clearly and slowly into his toothbrush. â€Å"I think it was shortly after my first successful bus transfer that I realized the City was mine. Here I would produce some of my greatest work, and here I would meet my first wife, the lovely but deeply disturbed Jody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tommy waved the microphone/toothbrush away as if the memories were too painful to recall, but actually he was trying to remember Jody's last name. I should know her maiden name, he thought, if just for historical purposes. He glanced into the bedroom where the lovely but deeply disturbed Jody was lying naked and half-covered on the bed. He thought, She won't mind if I wake her up. She doesn't have to be at work or anything. He approached the bed and touched her cheek. â€Å"Jody,† he whispered. She didn't stir. He shook her a bit. â€Å"Jody, honey.† Nothing. â€Å"Hey,† he said, taking her shoulders. â€Å"Hey, wake up.† She didn't respond. He pulled the covers off her as his father used to do to him on cold winter mornings when he wouldn't get up to go to school. â€Å"Up and at 'em, soldier – ass in the air and feet on the floor,† he said in his best drill-sergeant bark. She looked really great lying there naked in the half-light from the bathroom. He was getting a little turned on. How would I feel, he thought, if I woke up and she was making love to me? Why, I believe that I would be pleasantly surprised. I think that would be better than waking up to frying bacon and the Sunday funnies. Yes, I'm sure she'll be pleased. He crawled into bed with her and ventured a tentative kiss. She was a little cold and didn't move a muscle, but he was sure she liked it. He ran a finger down the valley between her breasts and over her stomach. What if she didn't wake up? What if we do it and she doesn't wake up at all? How would I feel if I woke up and she told me that we had done it while I slept? I'd be fine with it. A little sad that I missed things, but I wouldn't be mad. I'd just ask her if I had a good time. Women are different, though. He tickled her just to get a reaction. Again, she didn't move. She's so cold. With her not moving at all it might be a little morbid. Maybe I should wait. I'll tell her that I thought about it and decided that it wouldn't be courteous. She'll like that. He sighed deeply, got out of bed and pulled the covers over her. I should buy her something, he thought. Jody snapped into consciousness and bit down on something hard. She opened her eyes and saw Tommy sitting on the edge of the bed. She smiled. â€Å"Good morning,† he said. She reached for whatever was in her mouth. Tommy caught her hand. â€Å"Don't bite down. It's a thermometer.† He checked his watch, then pulled the thermometer out of her mouth and read it. â€Å"Ninety-five point two. You're on your way.† Jody sat up and looked at the thermometer. â€Å"On my way to what?† He smiled bashfully. â€Å"On your way to body temperature. I bought you an electric blanket. It's been on for like six hours.† She ran her hand over the blanket. â€Å"You've been warming me up?† â€Å"Pretty cool, huh?† Tommy said. â€Å"I went to the library and got books too. I've been reading all afternoon.† He picked up a stack of books and began to shuffle through them, reading the titles and handing each to her in turn. â€Å"A Reader's Guide to Vampirism; Vampire Myths and Legends; Those That Stalk the Night – kind of an ominous title, huh?† She held the books as if they were made of wormy fruit. The covers depicted monstrous creatures rising from coffins, attacking women in various states of undress, and hanging around castles perched on barren mountains. The letters in the titles dripped blood. â€Å"These are all about vampires?† â€Å"That's just the nonfiction that they had on hand. I ordered a bunch more through the library exchange. Check out some of the fiction.† He picked up another stack from the floor. â€Å"A Feast of Blood; Red Thirst; Fangs; Dracula; Dracula's Dream; Dracula's Legacy; Fevre Dream; The Vampire Lestat – there must have been a hundred novels.† Jody, a little overwhelmed, stared at the books. â€Å"There seems to be a theme here on the covers.† â€Å"Yeah,† Tommy said. â€Å"Vampires seem to have an affinity for lingerie. Do you have any particular craving for sexy nightgowns?† â€Å"Not really.† Jody had always thought it a little silly to spend a lot of money on something that you only put on long enough for someone to take it off you. Evidently, though, if you went by these book covers, vampires looked at lingerie as garnish. â€Å"Okay,† Tommy said, picking up a notebook from the floor and making a check mark. â€Å"No lingerie fetish. I've made a list of vampire traits with boxes to check either ‘fact' or ‘fiction. Since you missed the lecture, I guess we'll have to just test them.† â€Å"What lecture?† Tommy put down his pen and looked at her as if she'd gotten into the express lane with a cartful of groceries and a two-party check. â€Å"Everybody knows that there's always an orientation lecture in vampire books. Usually it comes from some old professor guy with an accent, but sometimes it's another vampire. You obviously missed the lecture.† â€Å"I guess so,† Jody said. â€Å"I must have been busy chasing women in lingerie.† â€Å"That's okay,† Tommy said, returning to the list. â€Å"Obviously you don't have to sleep in your native soil.† He checked it off. â€Å"And we know that everyone you bite doesn't necessarily turn into a vampire.† â€Å"No, a jerk, maybe†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Whatever,† Tommy said, moving on in the list. â€Å"Okay, sunlight is bad for you.† He made a check mark. â€Å"You can enter a house without being invited. How about running water?† â€Å"What about it?† â€Å"Vampires aren't supposed to be able to cross running water. Have you tried crossing any running water?† â€Å"I've taken a couple of showers.† â€Å"Then that would be fiction. Let me smell your breath.† He bent close to her. She turned her head and shielded her mouth. â€Å"Tommy, I just woke up. Let me brush my teeth first.† â€Å"Vampires are supposed to have the ‘fetid breath of a predator, or, in some cases, ‘breath like the rotting smell of the charnel house. C'mon, give us a whiff.† Jody reluctantly breathed in his face. He sat up and considered the list. â€Å"Well? â€Å"she asked. â€Å"I'm thinking. I need to get the dictionary out of my suitcase.† â€Å"What for?† â€Å"I'm not sure what a charnel house is.† â€Å"Can I brush my teeth while you look?† â€Å"No, wait, I might need another whiff.† He went to his suitcase and dug out the dictionary. While he looked up â€Å"charnel house,† Jody cupped her hand and smelled her own breath. It was pretty foul. â€Å"Here it is,† he said, putting his finger on the word. â€Å"‘Noun. A mausoleum or morgue. A structure where corpses are buried or stored. See morning breath! I guess that we check ‘fact' on that one.† â€Å"Can I brush my teeth now?† â€Å"Sure. Are you going to shower?† â€Å"I'd like to. Why?† â€Å"Can I help? I mean, you're much more attractive when you're not room temperature.† She smiled. â€Å"You really know how to charm a girl.† She got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Tommy waited on the bed. â€Å"Well, come on,† she said as she turned on the water. â€Å"Sorry,† he said, leaping to his feet and wrestling out of his shirt. She stopped him at the bathroom door with a firm hand on the chest. â€Å"One second, mister. I have a question for you.† â€Å"Shoot.† â€Å"Men are pigs: fact or fiction?† â€Å"Fact!† Tommy shouted. â€Å"Correct! You win!† She leaped into his arms and kissed him. Chapter 17 This Month's Makeover: The Faces of Fear Simon McQueen had once climbed onto the back of a ton of pissed-off beef named Muffin and been promptly stomped into mush in front of an amazed rodeo crowd, and still managed to pinch the bottom of a female paramedic as he was carried away on a stretcher, singing a garbled version of â€Å"I've Got Friends in Low Places.† Simon McQueen had once picked a fight with a gang of skinheads and managed to render three of them unconscious before a knife in the stomach and a jackboot to the head rendered him helpless. Simon had jumped out of an airplane, fallen off the roof of a Lutheran church, run over a police car in his pickup truck, smuggled a thousand pounds of marijuana across the border from Mexico inside a stuffed cow, and swum halfway to Alcatraz Island on a dare before the Coast Guard fished him out of the bay and revived him. Simon had done all these things without the slightest tic of fear. But tonight, laid out across register 3 in his skintight Wranglers and his endanger ed-species Tony Lama boots with the silver spurs, his black Stetson pulled down over his face, Simon McQueen was frightened. Frightened that one of his two great secrets was about to become known. The other Animals were sharing tales of their weekend adventures, exaggerating aspects of binges and babes, while Glint professed to God that they knew not what they did. Simon sat up, pushed back his Stetson, and said, â€Å"Y'all wouldn't know a piece of ass if it sloshed upside your head.† The Animals fell silent, each trying to formulate a new and exciting way to tell Simon to fuck off, when Tommy came through the door. â€Å"Fearless Leader!† Lash exclaimed. Tommy grinned and faked a tap-dance step. â€Å"Gentlemen,† he said. â€Å"I have reached out and touched the face of God – film at eleven.† Simon was wildly irritated by this added distraction from his worrying. â€Å"What happened, you go down to Castro Street and get converted?† Tommy waved the comment away. â€Å"No, Sime – I can call you Sime, can't I? You see, last night, about this time† – he checked his watch – â€Å"there was a naked redhead hanging from the ceiling of my new loft, reading Kerouac aloud to me. If I die now, it was not all in vain. I'm ready to throw stock. How's the truck?† â€Å"A big one,† Troy Lee answered. â€Å"Three thousand cases. But the bitch is, the scanner is broken. We have to use the order books.† Troy's comment jabbed Simon like bad gas pain. He considered going home sick, but without his help the Animals would never be able to finish the truck before morning. A lump of fear rose in his throat. He couldn't use the order books. Simon McQueen couldn't read. â€Å"Let's get to it then,† Tommy said. The Animals threw themselves into their work with an abandon they usually reserved for partying. Razor box-cutters whizzed, price guns clicked, and cardboard piled up in shoulder-high drifts at the ends of the aisles. In addition to throwing the extra-large load, they had to allow an extra hour to write their stock orders. Normally the orders were done with a bar-code scanner, but with the scanner down, each man would have to go through a huge loose-leaf order book, writing in items by hand. By 5 A.M. they had most of the stock on the shelves and Simon McQueen was considering letting his box-cutter slip and cutting his leg so he could escape to the emergency room. But that might reveal a secret worse than illiteracy. Tommy came into Simon's aisle carrying the order book. â€Å"You better get started, Sime.† He held out the book and a pencil. â€Å"I still got a hundred cases to throw,† Simon said, not looking up. â€Å"Let someone else start.† â€Å"No, you've got the biggest section. Go ahead.† Tommy bumped Simon on the shoulder with the book. Simon looked up, then dropped his cutter and slowly took the book from Tommy. He opened the book and stared at the page, then at the shelf, then at the book. Tommy said, â€Å"Order light on the juices, we've got a lot of stock in the back room.† Simon nodded and looked at the book, then at the shelf of vegetables before him. Tommy said, â€Å"You're on the wrong page, Simon.† â€Å"I know,† Simon snapped. â€Å"I'm just finding my place.† He flipped through the pages, then stopped on a page of cake mixes and began looking at the shelf of vegetables. He could feel Tommy's gaze on him and wished that the skinny-little-faggot-book-reading-prick-bastard would just go away and leave him alone. â€Å"Simon.† Simon looked up, his eyes pleading. â€Å"Give me the book,† Tommy said. â€Å"I think I'm going to order everybody's section tonight. It'll give you guys more time to throw stock and I need to get more familiar with the store anyway.† â€Å"I can do it,† Simon said. â€Å"I know,† Tommy said, taking the book. â€Å"But why waste your talent on this bullshit?† As Tommy walked away, Simon took his first deep breath of the night. â€Å"Flood,† he called, â€Å"I'm buying the beers after shift.† Tommy didn't look back. â€Å"I know,† he said. Jody stood by the window in the dark loft watching the sleeping bum who lay on the sidewalk across the street and cursing under her breath. Go away, you bastard, she thought. Even as she thought it, she felt a measure of security in knowing exactly where her enemy was. As long as he lay on the sidewalk, Tommy was safe at the grocery store. She had never felt the need to protect someone before. She had always been the one looking for protection, for a strong arm to lean on. Now she was the strong arm, at least when the sun was down. She had walked Tommy down the steps and waited with him until the cab arrived to take him to work. As she watched the cab pull away, she thought, This must be how my mother felt when she put me on the school bus that first time – except that Tommy doesn't have a Barbie lunch box. She kept an eye on the vampire lying on the sidewalk across the street. Hours passed at the window and she asked the same questions over and over again, coming up with no solution to her problem, and no logic to the vampire's behavior. What did he want? Why had he killed the old woman and left her in the dumpster? Was he trying to frighten her, threaten her, or was there some kind of message to it all? â€Å"You're not immortal. You can still be killed.† If he was going to kill her, why didn't he just do it? Why pretend to be a sleeping bum, watching her, waiting? He has to find shelter before daylight. If I can just outlast him, maybe†¦ Maybe what? I can't follow him or I'll be caught in the sunlight too. She went to the bedroom and dug the almanac Tommy had given her out of her backpack. The sun would rise at 6:12 A.M. She checked her watch. She had an hour. She waited at the window until six o'clock, then headed out of the loft to confront the vampire. As she went through the door she instinctively reached out to click off the lights, only to realize that she hadn't turned any on. If I live through this, she thought, I'm going to save a fortune on utilities. She left the door at the top of the stairs unlocked, then went down the steps and propped the big fire door open with a soda can she found on the landing. She might have to get back in fast, and she didn't want to be slowed down by keys and locks. Her muscles buzzed as she approached the vampire, the fight-or-flee instinct running through her like liquid lightning. A few feet away she picked up a foul smell, a rotting smell coming from the vampire. She stopped and swallowed hard. â€Å"What exactly is it that you want?† she asked. The vampire didn't move. His face was covered by the high collar of his overcoat. She took another step forward. â€Å"What am I supposed to be doing?† The smell was stronger now. She concentrated on the vampire's hands, trying to sense some movement that would warn her of an attack. There was none. â€Å"Answer me!† she demanded. She stepped up and pulled the collar away from his face. She saw the glazed eyes and a bone jutting from the neck just as a hand clamped across her face and jerked her back off her feet. She tried to reach behind her to claw her attacker's face but he jerked her to the side. She opened her mouth to scream and two of his fingers slipped into her mouth. She bit down hard. There was a scream and she was free. She wheeled on her attacker, ready to fight, his severed fingers still in her mouth. The vampire stood before her, cradling his bloody hand. â€Å"Bitch,† he said. Then he grinned. Jody swallowed his fingers and hissed at him. â€Å"Fuck you, asshole. Come on.† She fell into a crouch and waved him on. The vampire was still grinning. â€Å"The taste of vampire blood has made you brave, fledgling. Don't take it too far.† His hand had stopped spurting blood and was scabbing over as she watched. â€Å"What do you want?† The vampire looked at the sky, which was turning pink, threatening dawn. â€Å"Right now I want to find a place to sleep,† he said too calmly. He ripped the scab from his fingers and slung a spray of blood in her face. â€Å"Until we meet again, my love.† He wheeled and ran across the street into an alley. Jody stood watching and shaking with the need for a fight. She turned and looked at the dead bum: the decoy. She couldn't leave him here to attract police – not this close to the loft. She glanced at the lightening sky, then hoisted the dead bum onto her back and headed back to the loft. Tommy ran up the stairs and burst into the loft eager to share his discovery about Simon's illiteracy, but once through the door, he was knocked back by a stinging rotten odor like bloated roadkill. What's she done now? he thought. He opened the windows to air the place out and went to the bedroom, careful to open the door just wide enough to slip through without spilling sunlight on the bed. The smell was much stronger here and he gagged as he turned on the light. Jody was lying on the bed with the electric blanket pulled up to her neck. Dried blood was crusted over her face. A wiggling wave of the willies ran up Tommy's spine, stronger than any he had felt since his father had first told him the secret of ball-park hot dogs. (â€Å"Snouts and butt holes,† Dad had said, during the seventh-inning stretch. â€Å"I've got the willies,† said Tommy.) There was a note on the pillow by Jody's head. Tommy crept forward and snatched it off the pillow, then backpedaled to the door to read it. Tommy, Sorry I'm such a mess. It's almost dawn and I don't want to get stuck in the shower. I'll explain tonight. Call Sears and have them deliver the largest chest freezer that they have. There's money in my backpack. I missed you last night. Love, Jody Tommy backed out of the room. Chapter 18 Bugeater of the Barbary Coast Tommy woke up on the futon feeling as if he had been through a two-day battle. The loft was dark but for the streetlights spilling through the windows and he could hear Jody running the shower in the other room. The new freezer was humming away in the kitchen. He rolled off the futon and groaned. His muscles creaked like rusty hinges and his head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton – like a low-grade hangover – not from the few beers he had shared with the Animals after work, but from the verbal beating he had taken from the appliance salesman at Sears. The salesman, a round hypertensive named Lloyd, who wore the last extant leisure suit on the planet (powder blue with navy piping), had begun his assault with a five-minute lament on the disappearance of double knits (as if a concerted effort by a Greenpeace team in white vinyl shoes and gold chains might bring double knits back from the brink of extinction), then segued into a half-hour lecture on the tragedies visited on those poor souls who failed to purchase extended warranties on their Kenmore Freezemasters. â€Å"And so,† Lloyd concluded, â€Å"he not only lost his job, his home, and his family, but that frozen food that could have saved the children at the orphanage spoiled, all because he tried to save eighty-seven dollars.† â€Å"I'll take it,† Tommy said. â€Å"I'll take the longest warranty you have.† Lloyd laid a fatherly hand on Tommy's shoulder. â€Å"You won't regret this, son. I'm not one for high pressure myself, but the guys that sell these warranties after delivery are like the Mafia – they'll call you at all hours, they'll hound you, they'll find you wherever you go and they will ruin your life if you don't give in. I once sold a microwave to a man who woke up with a horse's head in his bed.† â€Å"Please,† Tommy begged, â€Å"I'll sign anything, but they have to deliver it right now. Okay?† Lloyd pumped Tommy's hand to start the flow of cash. â€Å"Welcome to better living through frozen food.† Tommy sat up on the futon and looked at the behemoth freezer that was humming in the half-light of the kitchen. Why? he thought. Why did I buy it? Why did she want it? I didn't even ask for an explanation from her, I just blindly followed her instructions. I'm a slave, like Renfield in Dracula. How long before I start eating bugs and howling at night? He got up and walked, in his underwear and one sock, into the bedroom; the smell of decay was strong enough to make him gag. It was the smell that had driven him to sleep on the futon in the living room rather than crawl into bed with Jody. He'd fallen asleep reading Bram Stoker's Dracula to get some perspective on the love of his life. She's the devil, he thought, staring at the steam creeping out from under the bathroom door. â€Å"Jody, is that you?† he asked the steam. The steam just crept. â€Å"I'm in the shower,† Jody said from the shower. â€Å"Come on in.† Tommy went to the bathroom and opened the door. â€Å"Jody, we need to talk.† The bathroom was thick with steam – he could barely make out the shower doors. â€Å"Close the door; it smells in there.† Tommy moved closer to the shower. â€Å"I'm worried about the way things are going,† he said. â€Å"Did you get the freezer?† â€Å"Yes, that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about.† â€Å"You got the biggest one they had, right?† â€Å"Yes, and a ten-year extended-service agreement.† â€Å"And it's a chest model, not an upright?† â€Å"Yes, dammit, but Jody, you didn't even tell me why I was buying it and I just did it. Since I met you, it's like I have no will of my own. I've been sleeping all day. I'm not doing any writing. I hardly even see daylight anymore.† â€Å"Tommy, you work midnight to eight. When do you think you would sleep?† â€Å"Don't twist my words. I will not eat bugs for you.† She's the devil, he thought. â€Å"Will you do my back?† She slid the shower door open and Tommy was transfixed by the water cascading between her breasts. â€Å"Well?† she said, cocking a hip. Tommy slipped out of his briefs, pulled off his sock, and stepped into the shower. â€Å"Okay, but I'm not eating any bugs.† After a mad naked dash through the bedroom they sat on the futon toweling off and looking at the new freezer. â€Å"It certainly is large,† Jody said. â€Å"I bought a dozen TV dinners so it wouldn't look so empty.† Jody said, â€Å"You'll have to take them out; put them in the regular fridge.† â€Å"Why? I don't think they'll fit.† â€Å"I know, but I have something to put in there and I don't think you'll want your TV dinners in there with it.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"Well, you know that bad smell in the bedroom?† â€Å"I was going to mention that. What is it?† â€Å"It's a body.† â€Å"You killed someone?† Tommy slid away from her on the futon. â€Å"No, I didn't kill anyone. Let me explain.† She told him about the bum, about creeping up on him thinking he was the vampire, and of the battle that ensued. Tommy said, â€Å"Do you think he was trying to kill you?† â€Å"I don't think so. It's as if he wants to show me how superior he is or something. Like he's testing me.† â€Å"So you bit off his fingers?† â€Å"I didn't know what else to do.† â€Å"What was it like?† â€Å"Honestly?† â€Å"Of course?† â€Å"It was a rush. It was an incredible rush.† â€Å"Better than drinking my blood?† â€Å"Different.† Tommy turned his back on her and began to pout. Jody moved to him and kissed his ear. â€Å"It was a fight, Tommy. I didn't come or anything, but I swear, I felt stronger after I†¦ after I swallowed.† â€Å"So that's why you were all crusty with blood when I got home?† â€Å"Yes, it was almost dawn when I got the body upstairs.† â€Å"That's another thing,† Tommy said. â€Å"Why did you bring that stinky thing up here?† â€Å"The police already found one body at the motel, and they have my name. Now they find another that was killed in the same way right next to where we live. I don't think they'd understand.† â€Å"So we're going to keep it in the freezer?† â€Å"Just until I figure out what to do with him.† â€Å"I'm not comfortable with you calling it ‘him. ; â€Å"Just until I figure out what to do with it, then.† â€Å"There's a big bay out there.† â€Å"And how would you suggest that we get it down there without being seen?† â€Å"I'll think about it.† Jody stood, wrapped a towel around herself, and walked back to the bedroom. â€Å"I'm going to put it in now; you might want to transfer your TV dinners.† She paused at the door. â€Å"And I'm out of clean clothes. You're going to need to go to the Laundromat.† â€Å"Why don't you go?† Jody regarded him gravely. â€Å"Tommy, you know I can't go out during the day.† â€Å"Oh no,† Tommy said. â€Å"Don't pull that. I don't know of a single Laundromat that's not open all night. Besides, I can't be your slave full-time. I have to have some time to get some writing done. And I might be taking on a student.† â€Å"What kind of student?† â€Å"A guy at work – Simon – he can't read. I'm going to offer to teach him.† â€Å"That's sweet of you,† Jody said. She shook her hair out, let her towel fall to the floor, and struck a centerfold pose. â€Å"Are you sure you don't want to do the laundry?† â€Å"No way. You have no power over me.† â€Å"Are you sure?† She licked her lips sensually. â€Å"That's not what you said in the shower.† I will resist her evil, Tommy thought. I will not give in. He stood and started gathering his clothes. â€Å"Don't you have a body to move?† â€Å"All right then,† Jody snapped. â€Å"I'll do the laundry while you're at work tonight.† She turned and went into the bedroom. â€Å"Good. I'll be out here looking for some tasty bugs,† Tommy whispered to himself. Midnight found Jody trudging down the steps with a trash bag full of laundry slung across her back. As she stepped onto the sidewalk and turned to lock the door she realized that she hadn't the slightest idea where to find a Laundromat in this neighborhood. The rolling steel door to the foundry was open and the two burly sculptors were working inside, bracing a man-sized plaster mold for pouring. She considered asking them for directions, but thought it might be better to wait and meet them when she was with Tommy. The interior of the foundry was glowing red with the heat from the molten bronze in the crucible, making it appear to her heat-sensitive vision like hell's own studio. She stood for a moment watching waves of heat spill out the top of the door, to swirl and dissipate in the night sky like dying paisley ghosts. She wanted to turn to someone and share the experience, but of course there was no one, and if there had been, they wouldn't have been able to see what she saw. She thought, In the kingdom of the blind, a one-eyed man can get pretty lonely. She sighed heavily and was starting toward Market Street when she heard a sharp staccato tapping of toenails at her heels. She dropped the laundry and wheeled around. A Boston terrier growled and snorted at her, then backed away a few feet and fell into a yapping fit that bordered on canine apoplexy, his bug eyes threatening to pop out of his head. â€Å"Bummer, stop that!† came a shout from the corner. Jody looked up to see a grizzled old man in an overcoat coming toward her wearing a saucepan on his head and carrying a wickedly pointed wooden sword. A golden retriever trotted along beside him, a smaller saucepan strapped to his head and two garbage-can lids strapped to his sides, giving the impression of a compact furry Viking ship. â€Å"Bummer, come back here.† The little dog backed away a few more steps, then turned and ran back to the man. Jody noticed that the little dog had a miniature pie pan strapped over his ears with a rubber band. The old man picked up the terrier in his free hand and trotted up to Jody. â€Å"I'm very sorry,† he said. â€Å"The troops are girded for battle, but I fear they are a bit too eager to engage. Are you all right?† Jody smiled. â€Å"I'm fine. Just a little startled.† The old man bowed. â€Å"Allow me to introduce myself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You're the Emperor, aren't you?† Jody had been in the City for five years. She'd heard about the Emperor, but she'd only seen him from a distance. â€Å"At your service,† said the Emperor. The terrier growled suspiciously and the Emperor shoved the little dog, head first, into the oversized pocket of his overcoat, then buttoned the flap. Muffled growls emanated from the pocket. â€Å"I apologize for my charge. He's long on courage, but rather short on manners. This is Lazarus.† Jody nodded to the retriever, who let out a slight growl and backed away a step. The garbage-can lids rattled on the sidewalk. â€Å"Hi. I'm Jody. Pleased to meet you.† â€Å"I hope you will forgive my presumption,† the Emperor said, â€Å"but I don't think it's safe for a young woman to be out on the street at night. Particularly in this neighborhood.† â€Å"Why this neighborhood?† The Emperor moved closer and whispered. â€Å"I'm sure that you've noticed that the men and I are dressed for battle. We are hunting a vicious, murdering fiend that has been stalking the City. I don't mean to alarm you, but we last saw him on this very street. In fact, he killed a friend of mine right across the street not two nights ago.† â€Å"You saw him?† Jody asked. â€Å"Did you call the police?† â€Å"The police will be of no help,† the Emperor said. â€Å"This is not the run-of-the-mill scoundrel that we are used to in the City. He's a vampire.† The Emperor lifted his wooden sword and tested the point against the tip of his finger. Jody was shaken. She tried to calm herself, but the fear showed on her face. â€Å"I've frightened you,† the Emperor said. â€Å"No – no, I'm fine. It's just†¦ Your Majesty, there are no such things as vampires.† â€Å"As you wish,† the Emperor said. â€Å"But I think it would be prudent for you to wait until daylight to do your business.† â€Å"I need to do my laundry or I won't have any clean clothes for tomorrow.† â€Å"Then allow us to escort you.† â€Å"No, really, Your Majesty, I'll be fine. By the way, where is the nearest Laundromat?† â€Å"There is one not far from here, but it's in the Tenderloin. Even during the day you wouldn't be safe alone. I really must insist that you wait, my dear. Perhaps by then we will have exterminated the fiend.† â€Å"Well,† Jody said, â€Å"if you insist. This is my apartment, right here.† She dug the key out of her jeans and opened the door. She turned back to the Emperor. â€Å"Thank you.† â€Å"Safety first,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Sleep well.† The little dog growled in his pocket. Jody went inside and closed the door, then waited until she heard the Emperor walk away. She waited another five minutes and went back onto the street. She shouldered the laundry and headed toward the Tenderloin, thinking, This is great. How long before the police actually listen to the Emperor? Tommy and I are going to have to move and we haven't even decorated yet. And I hate doing laundry. I hate it. I'm sending our laundry out if Tommy won't do it. And we're going to have a cleaning lady – some nice, dependable woman who will come in after dark. And I'm not buying toilet paper. I don't use it and I'm not going to buy it. And something has to be done about this asshole vampire. God, I hate doing laundry. She had gone two blocks when a man stepped out of a doorway in front of her. â€Å"Hey momma, you need some help.† She jumped in his face and shouted, â€Å"Fuck off, horndog!† with such viciousness that he screamed and leaped back into the doorway, then meekly called  «Sorry » after her as she passed. She thought, I'm not sorting. It all goes in warm. I don't care if the whites do go gray; I'm not sorting. And how do I know how to get out bloodstains? Who am I? Miss Household Hints? God, I hate laundry. The clothes jumped and played and dived over each other like fabric dolphins. Jody sat on a folding table across from the dryer watching the show and thinking about the Emperor's warning. He'd said, â€Å"I don't think it's safe for a young woman to be out on the street at night.† Jody agreed. Not long ago she would have been terrified if she'd found herself in the Tenderloin at night. She couldn't even remember coming down here during the day. Where had that fear gone? What had happened to her that she could face off with a vampire, bite off his fingers, and carry a dead body up a flight of stairs and shove it under the bed without even a flinch? Where was the fear and loathing? She didn't miss it, she just wondered what had happened to it. It wasn't as if she were without fear. She was afraid of daylight, afraid of the police discovering her, and of Tommy rejecting her and leaving her alone. New fears and familiar fears, but there was nothing in the dark that frightened her, not the future, not even the old vampire – and she knew now, having tasted his blood, that he was old, very old. She saw him as an enemy, and her mind casted for strategies to defeat him, but she was not really afraid of him anymore: curious, but not afraid. The dryer stopped-fabric dolphins dropped and died as if caught in tuna nets. Jody jumped off the table, opened the dryer, and was feeling the clothes for dampness when she heard footsteps on the sidewalk outside the Laundromat. She turned to see the tall black man she had chased into the doorway coming into the Laundromat, followed by two shorter men. All three wore silver L.A. Raiders jackets, high-top shoes, and evil grins. Jody turned back to the dryer and started stuffing her clothes into the trash bag. She thought, I should be folding these. â€Å"Yo, bitch,† the tall man said. Jody looked to the back of the Laundromat. The only door was in the front, behind the three men. She turned and looked up at them. â€Å"How about those Raiders?† she said with a smile. She felt a pressure in the roof of her mouth: the fangs extending. The three men split up and moved around the folding table to surround her. In another life, this had been her worst nightmare. In this life she just smiled as two of them grabbed her arms from behind. She saw a bead of sweat on the tall man's temple as he approached her and reached out to tear the front of her shirt. She ripped her right arm loose and caught the tall man's wrist as the sweat bead began to drip. She snapped his forearm and bones splintered though skin and muscle as she swung him, headfirst, through the glass door of the dryer. She reached over her shoulder and grabbed one of the Raider fans by the hair and smashed his face into the floor, then wheeled on her last attacker and shoved him back into the edge of the folding table, snapping his spine just above the hips and sending him spinning backward over a deck of washing machines. The bead of sweat hit the floor near the man with the smashed face. Amid the hum of fluorescent lights and the moans of the man with the broken back, Jody loaded the rest of her laundry into the trash bag. She thought, This stuff is going to be nothing but wrinkles by the time I get home. Tommy's doing the laundry next time. As she reached the door she ran her tongue over her teeth and was relieved to find her fangs had retracted. She looked over her shoulder at the carnage and shouted, â€Å"Forty-fucking-Niners!† The man with the broken back moaned.

Beautiful Beach

The school holidays has finally arrived, my parent's have decided to bring me and my little brother, Shepherd to go on a vacation at (Beach name). We have already planned this trip a few months ago and have done all our preparations. We were very excited to go on this trip because we have not went on a family trip since I was 12. We have brought foods such as rice, chicken, snacks, and drinks like Coke or Juice. We also brought some equipment to prepare the foods. I would never forget my fishing rod, because there is a good area for fishing.We left our house at 2 in the afternoon ND the Journey to the beach took approximately an hour , therefore we arrived at the beach at 3:00 P. M. It was very fun on the way to the beach. My brother and I looked out the window and check out the villages and the view there during the Journey. I would request to stop for a while to take some pictures of a beautiful view. We enjoyed looking at the traditional houses, green farms, and a river connecting to the sea. A village close to the beach sells fresh seafood. My mother stopped by there to buy some fresh seafood there such as shrimp, crab, and fishes to prepare our early dinner at the each.Upon our arrival, we looked for good spots at the beach, because it would be very crowded on weekends or holidays. We selected a cool place under the trees, and extended a mat on the white sand. The wind that blew through the trees softly made the weather cool and pleasant. Peace came into my heart when I looked at the very beautiful long white sand. People were playing all sort of games on the beach; for instance they played volleyball. Some of them swam in the shallow sea. There were some kids that were trying to build a sand castle. Everybody looked happy at that time.

MASLOW’S THEORY OF HUMAN NEEDS Essay

MASLOW’S THEORY OF HUMAN NEEDS Maslow’s theory of human needs focuses on the key foundation and the relations of human needs A need is a physiological or psychological deficiency that a person wants to satisfy In his theory, Maslow identified human needs and categorized them into 5 levels. These levels are physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. It is Important for managers to know this theory because these needs cause tensions which can influence a person’s work attitude and behaviors Maslow’s theory is based on two underlying principles: Deficit principle which states that a satisfied need no longer motivates behavior because people act to satisfy deprived needs Progression principle that states that the five needs he identified exist in a hierarchy, which means that a need at any level can only be put into play after a lower-level need has been satisfied. Maslow identified five levels of human needs, starting from highest to lowest which are: Physiological needs: Physiological needs are basic human needs and biological necessities such food, water, shelter, air, sleep, etc. These needs are the strongest because the physiological needs come first in the person’s search for satisfaction. Ex: rest and refreshment breaks, physical comfort on the job, reasonable work hours Safety needs: Safety needs includes the need of security, protection, and stability in order to be free of the threat of physical and emotional harm. It is important to understand this need and for managers to provide a safe workplace. Ex: safe working conditions, job security, base compensation and benefits Social needs: Social needs are those related to interaction and belongingness with other people and include work groups, friends, family, love and affection, relationships, etc. People seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation and managers must understand this to ensure  employee involvement, production and motivation. Ex: friendly coworkers, interaction with customers, pleasant supervisors Esteem needs: Esteem needs are when people desire self-esteem from both themselves and by others too. Esteem needs include achievement, mastery, respect, competence, prestige, recognition, managerial responsibility, etc. Managers who understand this can help ensure employees and team members feel valued and respected which increases their self-esteem. Ex: responsibility of an important job, promotion to higher status job, praise and recognition from the boss Self-actualization needs: Self-actualization is a person’s need to reach their full capability. It is the highest need because it develops only after all of the foregoing needs are satisfied and includes realizing personal potential, personal growth, self-fulfillment, and creativity. As a manager, it is important to help employees or team members find this, so their employees will be satisfied and productive. Ex: creative and challenging work, participation in decision making, job flexibility and autonomy

Realism vs. Phenomenalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Realism vs. Phenomenalism - Essay Example It is also possible for people to perceive qualities under conditions whereby no physical object exists at all. However, Barnes does not agree with this point of view and terms the sense-data argument a myth. According to Barnes, people have the capacity to perceive by seeing, tasting, smelling, feeling, and hearing; it is an indisputable fact. He proceeds to give three arguments that dispel the existence of sense data. For instance, he gives the example of a penny placed on a table. When observed from above, the penny appears circular, but when viewed from miles away, it appears elliptical. The elliptical and circular appearances are not the aspects of the penny, but entities of some kind. Another example is a stick that appears straight in the air, but bent in water. This is an aspect of sense-data. The third argument Barnes presents is that people seem to see objects which do not exist in reality. For example, mirages that appear in the desert (Barnes 92). This suggests that what people observe in some cases are not physical entities. The non-physical entities are what phenomenalists refer to as sense-data. Barnes arguments favor realism. Realism asserts that the existence of physical objects is independent of the human mind; therefore, the universe exists independent of the human mind. Barnes argument is convincing as it follows the tenets of logical reasoning. Therefore, physical objects exist whether human beings perceive them or

Explanations of Phyletic Gradualism and Punctuated Equilibrium Assignment

Explanations of Phyletic Gradualism and Punctuated Equilibrium - Assignment Example (A Dictionary of Ecology, 2004) According to this theory, new species crop up by the conversion of an inherited populace into its customized descendants. This transformation is steady and slow and engrosses huge numbers typically the whole ancestral inhabitants and their geographical series (Eldredge and Gould, 1972). Punctuated equilibrium In 1972, a new theory was anticipated by Eldredge and Gould to explicate the development of species. According to this hypothesis, evolution takes place in small rapid speciation disintegrations and the new species initiate in geological instants and persevere in stasis for extended period. There exists dissimilarity between phyletic gradualism and punctuated equilibrium because the former one states that uniformity prevails in the evolutionary process through slow and gradual transformation of large of complete pedigree. Sporadic record of fossil was the main issue discussed by this theory. The time interval for which specie subsists in a distinc tive appearance is long as compared to the time period in which transition occur from parent specie to its descendents. When a part of populace is segregated from the remaining population, then the smaller part of population undergoes particular deviations which are much slighter then the variations in the population left behind. The environmental factors like climate, the geological location and the reserves when combine with these variations, result in rapid evolution process. Moreover, rapid dispersion and evolution of descendent species from parent species can be resulted from considerable alteration in the daughter species. Few descendent species may be generated by the ancestral specie during its whole time span of life. Genetic homeostasis and gene stream from distant range are responsible for the periods of relative stasis because due to it large populations do not alter much (Elsberry, 1996). Several studies and researches have illustrated that concept of punctuated equilib rium supports long history of life on the planet. Prediction about fossil record by Punctuated equilibrium Punctuated equilibrium composes following predictions about fossil record: The geographic speciation of ancestral population along with environmental and biological diffusion would result in geographically unexpected emergence of the descendant species ubiquitously apart from the area where the evolutionary process took place. Due to this reason, it takes a long time to find the species which go through the splitting process. The pattern of fossil record consists of geographic and stratigraphic components. The intermediary fossils between ancestral species and its descendants for the peripatric speciation will be restricted in the geographic section. As the species transformation time period is petite therefore the geographic existence of fossil record will be concise (Elsberry, 1996). Evidences supporting the two theories The exposure of gradual evolution of taxa from one cate gory to a further one in fossil record supports phyletic gradualism theory which states that evolution occurs by gradual change. But this evidence of gradual evolution is restricted to limited number of taxa therefore, most of the studies and evidences support punctuated equilibrium hypothesis. Long periods of stasis along with rapid and small durations of morphological

Seven brides for seven brothers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Seven brides for seven brothers - Assignment Example The setting of the story in Oregon in 1850, a time of expansion to the west in those territories in conjunction with the notion of Manifest Destiny, gives us a background with which to understand the situation facing the brothers in the place, as basically rough men who had no access to women, and who were basically frontier people staking out the land for their own. The brothers were basically outsiders who were isolated and were venturing out into new territory. The place also was characterized by the relative absence of the rule of law, so that the abduction of the women to be the brides of the six brothers makes sense. The time and place setting of the story contextualizes the way the brothers were socially formed, why they were in Oregon at the time, and gives a context with which to understand their actions relative to the women (US History, 2015; Oregon Secretary of State, 2014; SparkNotes LLC, 2014). The men here are characterized as brutes unfit for female company, though Adam was an exception and was lucky to have gained the heart of Milly so easily, on just a single meeting. The six brothers were portrayed as probably representing the large mass of men who could not find wives, and were relegated to their lonely existences out in the frontier. That said, the women were characterized not as helpless creatures in need of men, but rather as being domesticators and bearers of culture and refinement. Though the men abducted their wives, and Adam put Milly on his list of items to shop so to speak, the women had their own mind and had some control over the actions of the men (IMDb, 2015). There is an element of the immediate in the live musical that is not present in the filmed musical, as can be gleaned from the Ellen Eccles staging of the movie. The live musical captures the film’s spirit to the extent that the former faithfully reproduces the excitement and the special

Patriarchy, the System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Patriarchy, the System - Essay Example However, Johnson would want to show to us that these would not be able to present us the actual working social patterns in the society. In order for us to better grasp the vital thoughts of Johnson about patriarchy, being acquainted to the idea of a system, participation and resistance are important concepts that highlight the presence of male privilege and female gender oppression. We shall be able to discuss them in concrete and great detail for us to take hold of the ultimate concept that Johnson would want to share with us. The article entitled â€Å"Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an US† is the actual work of Johnson depicting rich information about patriarchy as a system and how systematic male gender privilege informs sexism. This work is the actual reference of all the concepts and thoughts integrated into the work at hand. This paper explains what Johnson means by Patriarchy, the System, elaborating how male gender privilege and female gender oppre ssion consist of more than simply the actions of individuals. The work at hand also involves examples for us to understand how systematic male gender privilege informs sexism. ... nge of this system, but Johnson believes that the individual choices of actions could make a difference, and even could possibly initiate total system change. Johnson started to define Patriarchy as a system by elaborating some examples of other systems like capitalism and the game ‘monopoly’. For Johnson, in a capitalistic society, every worker has less power to level up with the capitalists and would never have any chance to exercise what they would want to do even if they could (p. 30). The reason is that they are strongly confined within the system that everyone is doing, and so it is hard for an individual to deviate from the entire working system. In a capitalistic society, the rule is to gain, no matter how detailed personal convictions may internally protest or showcase disapproval. For as long as the ultimate goal is achieved in the end, the whole system can be said that it conspires to create a necessary output. In addition, Johnson also provides a detailed exa mple by explaining the working concept of a game called ‘monopoly.’ According to Johnson, this game manifests actual working system, which aids the individual player to best the opponents. The purpose of the game is to win, but prior to winning, there is an actual system that everyone should participate and show no resistance particularly with the working rules (p. 34). The important points that surface in the above two examples are the actual concepts of ‘participation’ and ‘least resistance’ that could help us elaborate the complex system surrounding patriarchy. According to Johnson, socialization is a mechanism for training people to participate (p. 37). As we therefore participate in social systems, we are shaped as individuals leading us to participate in social life via

Alternative Energy Source Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Alternative Energy Source - Essay Example In essence, some of the issues that connect to the development of alternative energy sources are consistent with the view that the developmental needs of humanity are entirely dependent on the availability of sufficient clean energy, which does not pose any significant threat to the eco-systems around the world. On this note, it becomes important to consider the fact that debate on the production of alternative source of energy is also understood together with the need to lessen the kind of crises that have defined competition over the existing forms energy. A major factor of consideration is the fact that the economies of nearly all the countries around the world are driven by the influence of energy on other sectors, which affect the performance of markets and other indicators. Challenges of monopoly over oil, for instance, have contributed to fears in the developing and the developed world of dominance and manipulation of the economic order in ways that could impact negatively on the aspect of globalization and liberalization of world economies. Consequently, it becomes necessary to investigate available options to the question of alternative sources of energy and the need to resolve current issues affecting the development of energy levels. A wide range of research work has indicated that the world supply of oil has reduced drastically over the past century. Fears continue to grip the developed and the developing world over the question of sustainability and the impact of the reduction on the stability of the world economy. On this matter, research has shown that many countries will face significant challenges in the running of their industries as the fuel levels continue to reduce. Industrialization has been accepted as an important benchmark of development. Countries continue to grapple with the challenge in various ways that underscore the different levels of impact across the globe. Estimates from multiple sources indicate

INtro to rela dbase Business Intelligence and Data Warehouses week 9 Assignment

INtro to rela dbase Business Intelligence and Data Warehouses week 9 - Assignment Example Since it operates with such huge data sets, an OLAP database is substantial on CPU and plate bandwidth. A data warehouse is intended to handle extensive investigative inquiries. An OLTP database system emphasizes extremely complex tables and joins because the data is standardized. In other terms, it is organized in a manner that no data is copied. Using this method to make data relational conveys storage and handling efficiencies. In addition, this method also permits those sub-second reaction times (Rahman, 2011). In an OLAP database framework, data is composed particularly to encourage reporting and examination, not for rapid value-based needs. The information is de-normalized to improve explanatory inquiry reaction times and give usability to business clients. Fewer tables and an easier structure bring about simpler reporting and examination. Operational data and decision support data serve diverse purposes. Most operational information is put away in a social database whereby the structures have a tendency to be profoundly standardized. Operational data stockpiling is improved to help transactions that concern day by day operations. To compel the performances given, operational frameworks store data in numerous tables, each with a base count of fields. Decision support data contrast from operational data in three fundamental ranges Operational data are ordinarily stored in numerous tables, and the information stored concern the data around a certain transaction only. Decision support data are put away in relatively fewer tables that store information obtained from operational data. The decision support data do exclude the subtle elements of every operational transaction. The operational databases continuous and fast information renewal make data irregularities a conceivably devastating issue. Accordingly, the data neces sities in a common transaction framework for the

Community behavior Essay Example for Free

Community behavior Essay African American spirituality has woven collectively the best of African Anglo cultures to creatively shape their own African American identity. While black peoples have not been socially, politically or economically free in the history, the practice of spirituality has facilitated the development of different forms of cultural and spiritual freedom by interpreting, transcending and embracing, the constraints of an oppressive culture. Furthermore, the development of their own beliefs, norms, forms, practices, and structures has given rise to a culture and life that is a distinctive form of human survival, existence, and, freedom most importantly. The black churches as the centers of freedom influenced the praxis of African-American spirituality. They have become safe places where blacks gathered to embrace their combined concerns as a community of faith. They have been the only institutions in the African American experience that has continued relative independence from the domesticating influence of white pressure and overlords. Some black churches consider may be the last place to see integration due to the need to maintain a power base not available to black people elsewhere. After reviewing some aspects of worship as the context for cultural and spiritual freedom, black preaching in and out sides of the black churches are one of the most powerful expressions of freedom for black people in America. The ability to produce a soul language that defines truth into systems of meaning gives power and purpose to black people. Subsequently, Black community successfully adopts and adapts the structures of the much larger culture for their own purpose this practice comes from a double consciousness or translating. African Americans translated the experience of one kind to that of another which leading them to freedom. Therefore, black people spirituality gave freedom to the spirit and mind that the external condition could not take away. The religious approach is due to a deep faith in the sacredness of life that reaffirmed a personal dignity in blacks which resulted in the practice of nonviolence and mercy. Black community determines themselves how they responded to oppression. Various forms expressing improvisation and innovation from black soul forces constituted black culture. These forms under the subtitles black music, literature, humor, folk tales, sports, art and dance; and their worship forms under the headings of prayer, shouting, healing, dancing, singing praising and instrumental music transformation, teaching and preaching. These forms express that what is true and valuable will be determined by black community itself and will subvert and defy attempts of the larger culture to discern. Churches can prove to be of great importance as it helps in providing a psychological and physical assistance to their congregants by providing treatment and prevention oriented programs in the society. A great example from the history is the Black Church that has served through decades as an informal social guider. And its effectiveness posed people to research on the formal means. Substance abuse, support, health screening and education were some of the fields where the Black Church provided its services. Individuals and churches that are associated with it hold significant importance in the history as it created a chain between informal and formal system of care that benefited the society specially those who are marginalized or underserved. These programs were encouraged by many others like lay persons, natural helpers, and religious leaders. As far as these religious leaders are concerned, they made their finding in the treatment of mental illness and they made everyone realize that paraprofessional counselors are in no way less then the professional counselors. They made their achievement in four areas of community medicine: primary care delivery, health promotion and disease prevention, community mental health and health policy. The church had great potentials. It provided and outstanding performance in collaborating with formal care systems to maximize its programs. Eng et al. helped a great deal in promoting the church’s health care programs. Such â€Å"natural helpers† have gone through a training program where they learnt how to interact with the health professionals, resource mobilization, primary self-care skills and prevention, organization of educational and services-oriented activities. Whilst the lay advisors were supposed to foster social support, they were expected to promote a healthy general well-being of people and were asked to keep a close link with the formal care system. As far as the roles of religious leaders are concerned, they are not fully described in the health care literature. In the early 1970’s, a need for psychiatrics developed in rural areas, as these individuals were recognized the more underserved population. These investigations evolved and helped in the contribution of understanding the mental health status between the urban and the rural individuals. Social, economic and geographical factors are the attributes of such rural problems. The main difficulty in the rural life of South was to separate the effects of poverty from the effects of race, color, cast etc. but after some time the solution was discovered. But later it was discovered that only 3% of the licensed psychiatrics were practicing the rural areas and the rest were gone to nowhere. Rural populations were again left to the same position as it was before. â€Å"The Black Church has no challenger as the cultural womb of the black community. Not only did it give birth to new institutions such as schools, banks, insurance companies, and low income housing, it also provided an academy and an arena for political activities, and it nurtured young talent for musical, dramatic, and artistic development† (1990, 8) The factor of race still existed between these populations no-matter if it’s urban or rural; it also greatly affected the mental healths of each individual. Many theorists believe that White American have been always against the black consumers, because they have no understanding of black’s culture, traditions, beliefs etc. But on the other hand blacks are not either interested in consuming goods or services from the Whites. They are less likely to trust White therapists and try not to interact with them in any case. Studies proved that Blacks are interested in consuming goods and seeking services from the blacks due to the understanding of same culture and traditions, it is also based on the preference of similar attitudes and racial compatibility. The research grew further and further. The research helped in understanding the need to change and acceptance of cultural and attitudinal differences and system-levels barriers. Studies proved that racial identity can be a part of success. Here racial identity means that identification of diverse racial backgrounds; it includes the basic knowledge of one’s culture and traditions. Accepting the non normative behavior of minorities can also help in dealing with societies; therapists play a big role in understanding the culture background. Lack of understanding of cultural responsiveness may result in disturbance between racial differences and help seeking environment. As compare to white blacks are more tolerant of psychological distress. They are very quick in diagnoses of schizophrenia and psychosis and control such diseases in their premature stages. Individuals, interpersonal and system-level factors promote understanding of service utilization and psychiatric morbidity. They focus on individuals because individuals predict reasonable outcomes related to services and treatment. Researchers always pick out individuals to get correct outcomes; the individual factors include race, religiosity, beliefs about mental health and copying styles. Social support, stigma and social distance are included in interpersonal level. â€Å"The Black church tradition provided an environment for reapplying already learned processes for interdependence. Embedded within the individual were past experiences, traditions, values, and norms for emotions, cognitions, and behaviors conducive to relatedness and interpersonal ness that reflected a collective sense of belonging with, rather than to, caring, similar others† (2001, 40) Management of mental illness is essential to the social support in rural areas. An alternative to expensive or inaccessible impatient or out patient services are neighbors or extended families. Researchers have also identified the contributions made by natural helpers in promoting positive changes to the environment. Mental illness and health care systems motivated natural helpers to provide social support to the rural black communities. A powerful indicator of poor utilization of care is Stigma that is influenced by individuals and interpersonal levels. It discourages the search for formal services but encourages the social support and informal care systems. The study says that Blacks have higher levels of tolerating psychological distress; the main reason behind this is stigma and fear of hospitalization. This sometimes results in help-seeking from specialty providers but this happens only in extreme cases. This hypothesis shows the higher emergency level among Blacks compared to Whites, Asians and Hispanics. Informal systems are fostered by fear and stigma amongst the rural Blacks. It was noticed that poorer Blacks were more likely to experience distress, physical, mental and interpersonal problems as compared to wealthier Blacks. But as compared to Whites, 15% Blacks are less likely to seek help for emotional problems than their physical or interpersonal problems. Furthermore, Blacks seek help for their financial problems but this is limited to their geographical boundaries and economic barriers. The above study has made it clear that, urban counterparts provide more social and mental services as compared to the rural churches and it also have less links with the formal system and promote the informal systems of care. We also analyzed that White churches have more links with the formal system of care than Black Churches but Black Churches provide more social and mental health service.

Experiment on Size, Shape and Structures of Aggregates

Experiment on Size, Shape and Structures of Aggregates Introduction Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) have made considerable attention because of their unique features for conversion of free, unlimited solar energy into electricity by utilizing environmental friendly, inexpensive raw materials for low production cost1,2. DSSC composed of nanostructured, mesoporous semiconductors with wide-bandgap materials, to which the dye molecules (sensitizers) are adsorbed, a counter electrode and an electrolyte. In DSSC the dye molecule absorb visible light, and inject electron from photo-excited state of dye molecule to conduction band of semiconductor1,3 The performance of a dye-sensitized solar cell is mainly based on the structure of the visible light absorbing dye/ sensitizer. Applications of several natural carotenoid dyes with higher absorption coefficient in the visible region of the solar spectrum with higher conversion efficiency, is under investigations1,4. Carotenoids are C40 tertraterpenoid hydrocarbons consist of eight-C5 isoprene units5. The major characteristic feature of Car molecule is it comprises of extensive conjugated system of delocalized Ï€-electrons which makes them highly hydrophobic molecules. Therefore when these carotenoid molecules are dissolved in hydrated solvents they tend to form aggregates since the molecule is hydrophobic in nature. The surface arrangements and the aggregation behavior of the sensitizers (carotenoids) on semiconductor nanoparticles is greatly influenced the performance of carotenoid based artificial photosystems such as DSSC. It was stated (Wang et al.2006) that formation of dye aggregates suppresses the performance of DSSC6 since the device performance is influencing the nanoscale morphology of the aggregates. Therefore several researchers have focussed on the nanoscale organization of molecular aggregation in solutions of these conjugated molecules at atomic level resolution. Interchain agg regation behavior of a conjugated polymer (DP10-PPV) which used in opto-electronic applications such as pohotovoltaics, dissolved in two solvents having different qualities at different concentrations were studied by (Chen et al. 2009) using Small angle neutron scattering (SANS), revealed that the internal conformational structure of these network aggregates were differ in different solvents. A similar study was also carried out by Chen and coworkers for another semirigid conjugated polymer (DP6-PPV) in solutions7,8. Moreover it has been reported that, when carotenoid molecules are deposited on the surface of semiconductor often it forms H-shape aggregates5. Aggregation phenomena of natural and artificially modified carotenoids were proved that J- and H-aggregates are the possible geometries9. Apart from the formation of self-assembled aggregates in hydrated solvents of these carotenoid molecules, there is strong relationship between the structural conformation and the composition o f molecules in the solution with the ability of aggregation5. Polar carotenoids consist of –OH (hydroxyl groups) in the carotenoid structure promotes the formation of aggregates compared to the molecules without any functional groups, (Simonyi et al. 2003). Furthermore the position of the functional group may also significantly affect the type of aggregates form10. It was observed experimentally for the first time (Cheng et al. 2009), the crossover from swollen coils in semidilute regime to unperturbed coil at high concentrations11 with the variation of polymer radius of Gyration (Rg) of poly(methyl methacrylate) in chloroform as a function of polymer concentration (à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢). Perahia et al. used SANS data12to investigate how molecular solutions of poly(2,5-dinonylparaphenylene ethynylene)s (PPE) aggregates into large flat clusters. Ratnaweera et al. 2012 and Lodge and coworkers were studied self-assembly modes of several block copolymers in selective solvents using SANS13 -15. Therefore the studies of dye aggregates are really essential for future developments of carotenoid based electrochemical devices for solar energy conversion. Spectroscopic studies on carotenoids in hydrated solvents revealed that the aggregation behavior of carotenoids is significantly affecting the S0 →S2 electronic transition16 of neutral carotenoids. Therefore the solvent quality is one of the major factors for carotenoid solutions which govern the size of the aggregate. When the carotenoid molecules are uniformly dissolved in a good solvent at low concentrations to form a homogeneous mixture, carotenoids are exist as isolated molecules that are very far from each other17. Therefore the interactions between monomers are very weaker than the monomer-solvent interactions and polymer tends to swells and its size is larger than the ideal size13,18. Cheng coworkers stated11 that in the good solvent domain (T > ÃŽ ¸), the repulsions of excluded volume is greater which results Rg of the aggregates enhanced beyond its unperturbed size. Further this expansion effect is greater in dilute solutions since the volume fraction of polymer is very low compared to its overlapping concentration. When the concentration of the solution is increased, the attraction between monomers are stronger and the aggregates tried to collapses into globules wit h solvents inside it corresponds to a poor solvent. The size of the structural conformation of collapsed globule is smaller than the ideal chain17. For a polymer solution (NA = N and NB = 1) to be favorable for mixing or aggregation is depends on the Flory-Huggins equation which consist of two terms, the entropy and energy terms17. The energy change of binary mixing which depends on composition of the mixture is the main factor, for a polymer to be dissolved in a good solvent to make an equilibrium state of a homogeneous mixture of polymer solution. Entropy of mixing is small for polymer solutions and always positive hence promotes mixing, but the energy of mixing is either positive or negative which measures the attractive or repulsive interactions between species. The net attraction between species in the solution is important because it measure the value and the sign of the Flory interaction parameter (χ) and hence to know whether the given mixture consist of single-phase or separated into phases. In this research the small angle neutron scattering (SANS) data was used to investigate the quantitative experimental information on size, shape and structures of aggregates. Two carotenoid molecules, bixin and norbixin were selected in this study to characterize their structural information of monomeric and aggregated forms. The natural dyes, bixin and norbixin are belongs to the group of apo-carotenoids, extracted from annatto seeds of the Bixa orellana tree1. The chemical structures of cis-bixin (C25H30O4) and cis-norbixin (C24H28O4) is shown in fig. 1. (1) Gà ³mez-Ortà ­z, N. M.; Và ¡zquez-Maldonado, I. A.; Pà ©rez-Espadas, A. R.; Mena-Rejà ³n, G. J.; Azamar-Barrios, J. A.; Oskam, G. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 2010, 94, 40. (2) Zhou, H.; Wu, L.; Gao, Y.; Ma, T. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry 2011, 219, 188. (3) Xu, H.; Tao, X.; Wang, D.-T.; Zheng, Y.-Z.; Chen, J.-F. Electrochimica Acta 2010, 55, 2280. (4) Yamazaki, E.; Murayama, M.; Nishikawa, N.; Hashimoto, N.; Shoyama, M.; Kurita, O. Solar Energy 2007, 81, 512. (5) Landrum, J. T. Carotenoids : physical, chemical, and biological functions and properties; CRC Press: Boca Raton, 2010. (6) Wang, X.-F.; Koyama, Y.; Nagae, H.; Yamano, Y.; Ito, M.; Wada, Y. Chemical Physics Letters 2006, 420, 309. (7) Li, Y.-C.; Chen, K.-B.; Chen, H.-L.; Hsu, C.-S.; Tsao, C.-S.; Chen, J.-H.; Chen, S.-A. Langmuir 2006, 22, 11009. (8) Li, Y.-C.; Chen, C.-Y.; Chang, Y.-X.; Chuang, P.-Y.; Chen, J.-H.; Chen, H.-L.; Hsu, C.-S.; Ivanov, V. A.; Khalatur, P. G.; Chen, S.-A. Langmuir 2009, 25, 4668. (9) Auweter, H.; Benade, J.; Betterman, H.; Beutner, S.; Kà ¶psel, C.; Là ¼ddecke, E.; Martin, H.; Mayer, B. Pigments in food technology. Sevilla: Dep Legal 1999, 197. (10) Simonyi, M.; Bikadi, Z.; Zsila, F.; Deli, J. Chirality 2003, 15, 680. (11) Cheng, G.; Graessley, W. W.; Melnichenko, Y. B. Physical Review Letters 2009, 102, 157801. (12) Perahia, D.; Traiphol, R.; Bunz, U. H. F. The Journal of Chemical Physics 2002, 117, 1827. (13) Ratnaweera, D. R.; Shrestha, U. M.; Osti, N.; Kuo, C.-M.; Clarson, S.; Littrell, K.; Perahia, D. Soft Matter 2012, 8, 2176. (14) Lodge, T. P.; Hamersky, M. W.; Hanley, K. J.; Huang, C.-I. Macromolecules 1997, 30, 6139. (15) Lodge, T. P.; Bang, J.; Park, M. J.; Char, K. Physical Review Letters 2004, 92, 145501. (16) Alwis, D. D. D. H.; Chandrika, U. G.; Jayaweera, P. M. Journal of Luminescence 2015, 158, 60. (17) Rubinstein, M.; Colby, R. Polymers Physics; Oxford, 2003. (18) Halperin, A. Journal de Physique 1988, 49, 547.

Comparing Functionism, Marxism, and Social Action Theory Essay

Sociology is generally made up of three paradigms: Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic interactionism. A paradigm is a set of assumptions that shape and underlie explanations of why society is the way it is (Early Stratification Theory, internet 2003). Functional Theory is often traced from Durkheim, Parsons and Merton. Functionalists believe in shared norms and values, which are influenced by the Family, Education, church and employment. It sees society as a shaper of people rather than people shaping society. The functionalist says we need social order in which to survive normally. Roles are also important to the functionalist for example the roles in marriage. The functionalist believe we as humans look at the roles played around us, for example, our parents and then we copy them. We think the pattern of life that we see is a natural one. We learn roles from our family thus the son is expected to take the role/job of his father as is the daughter expected to cook and clean akin to her mother. The role of the family is to socialise its new members and teaches them the norms and values essential to the social life, working together to make society work as a whole. The church's role according to the functionalist, plays a major role in holding society together by endowing it's agreed values and beliefs with sacredness and, through rituals, eter Worsley 1970 pg 475) Harmony, common consent, unity, unanimity and agreement are common words used by the functionalist. If we all agree to peace and goodwill, have respect for each other and stick together and follow the guidelines set down for us by our an... ...me, although I understand we need the basis of structures and economics but we also need to be able to make up our own minds and direct our own actions. BIBLIOGRAPHY Berger, P. and Kellner, H. (1981) Sociology reinterpreted. U.K. Pelican books. Class: An Introduction (internet) Available from: http://www.sociologyonline.co.uk/soc essays/class.htm accessed 29.10.03 Early Stratification Theory (internet) Available from: http://www.wise.virginia.edu/p_withen/reviews/ST/STRev/revSTO4earlystratth.html accessed 29.10.03 Weber, M. (1999) (internet) available from: http://uregina.ca/~gingrich/S30f99.htm accessed on 29.10.03 Worsley, P. (ED) (1970) The New Introducing Sociology Penguin books Middlesex impressing them upon society's members and renewing and reinforcing their attachment to them. (P

Christians and Muslims :: Religion, The Quran, The Bible

Why Don’t Christians Accept the Quran as a Revelation of God? Everything in the Quran that agrees with the Bible is accepted by Christians. However, Christians will not accept the Quran as a divine revelation if any part of the Quran contradicts either the Bible or the Quran itself. The Creation Story Christians believe that Heaven and Earth were created in six days. This is stated in the Bible and some verses of the Quran. But, the Quran in Sura 41:9-12 tells us that the earth was finished in six days, and the heavens took an additional two days to create. How can this be? The Bible’s creation story is consistent from beginning to end wherein the Quran’s creation story changes from six days in Sura 7:54 to eight days in Sura 41:9-12 The Crucifixion of Jesus The most compelling contradiction for a Christian concerns the death of Jesus. The Bible tells us that Jesus was crucified and died upon the cross. The Quran in Sura 19:33 agrees with the Bible. Yet, Sura 4:157,158 denies the death of Jesus. Which one is true? Jesus did not die (Sura 4:157,158), or Jesus did die (Sura 19:33)†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!" Mary the Mother of Jesus The Bible tells us that Mary was the mother of Jesus, and Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron. The Koran names Mary as the sister of Aaron, when Aaron lived 1570 years before Mary (Sura 19:28). If the Koran is perfect, why doesn’t it differentiate between Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, and Mary who became the mother of Jesus Christ (Sura 19:28)? Also, Mary was not from the tribe of Levi, but from the tribe of Judah. Is Alcohol to be Enjoyed or Is It Evil? In sura 47:15, those who keep their duty to God are promised rivers of wine. In sura 5:90, alcohol is referred to as Satan’s handiwork. Noah’s Family was Saved from the Flood The Bible teaches that Noah and all his children were saved from the flood in Genesis Chapters 7-8. The Quran agrees with this in Sura 21:76, but is contradicted in Sura 11:43. Which part of the Quran is true? ''Noah ... we saved him and his household from the great affliction" (Sura 21:76); or, ''Noah cried unto his son .

Teleportation :: essays research papers

Teleportation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If I had a chose between two superpowers, to turn invisible or flight, I would break the rules and choose to have the ability of teleportation. I was ready to answer right away, but I put some thought into this question, such as the capabilities and limitations of these superpowers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  If I fly, can I carry people or objects just by touching them (ala Superman 2)? Would I be able to carry something, someone equal to, or more than my own weight or would this be too much of a challenge while flying? I would probably worry about enough sufficient oxygen, since flying requires air to work, just as swimming requires water. The higher I go the more lack of oxygen, the slower I will travel in proportion to the thinning air, therefore no flying in space. In addition, it is very important to remember I am not invincible. Therefore, if I try to fly through a brick wall, I would definitely injure myself; this also applies if I collide with a plane or bird. If I would choose to be invisible, I hope that everything I am wearing will turn invisible too and I would not have to strip naked or anything. If other invisible people want to, fine, I am not going to stop them. More power to them for being comfortable with there body. I hope that this would not be required. If I am invisible, would I have a small invisibility aura surrounding me, and would the things caught in that aura go invisible? If I pick something up, does it turn invisible, or does it just float there or if I drop something, would it be visible again, whether I like it or not? For example, if I was wearing an invisible baseball cap, and threw it in the air, would it be visible after leaving my hand? In addition, would it be invisible again if I catch it? If I want that hat to be invisible, do have to tuck it under my shirt (ala Harry Potter's invisibility cloak), or turn visible and then back invisible to catch the stuff I am holding. Therefore, if I were going to choose this superpower, God forbid, if I rob a bank, and slip into the vault, I would have to stuff the money into my pants and shirt to avoid the cheesy movie effect of money floating out of the bank.

Animal Histology

Where do granular WBCs come from? Granulopoiesis – formation of granular leukocytes (WBCs) This process occurs in bone marrow along side erythropoiesis with each type (eosinophil, basophil, neutrophil) going through its own pathway. Two processes take place simultaneously: (1) nuclei condense to adult form (bi-lobed, multi-lobed, etc) and (2) the cell begins to synthesize and collect its specific granule population. I. Start with CFU-S WBC 1. Begin with: promyelocyte (big committed stem cell which commits right away to become either a neutrophilic myelocyte, basophilic myelocyte, or eosinophile myeocyte) a.Myelocytes have a begun nuclear changes, possessing a round nucleus or one that is flatten on one side. The cytoplasm shows a minimum of specific granules (eosinophilic or basophilic or azurophilic) 2. Metamyelocyte (MM) b. Metamyelocytes have begun nuclear indentation (horseshoe shaped to mature morphology) and an increase in specific granules 3. Stab Cells ***EXCLUSIVE ONL Y TO NEUTROPHILS*** c. Stab Cells or Band Metamyelocytes are unique to the neutrophil lineage. These cells, approximately the size of mature PMNs have a deep horseshoe or ring-like morphology to their nuclei . Adult Cells final nuclear morphology + specific granules – occur in bone marrow next to developing RBC II. Back in Circulation, last type of WBC: Agranular WBC A. Monocyte a. 2-8% WBC b. LANDMARK: largest circulating WBC 15-20 micron dm (3-4X RBC) c. Nucleus: irregular shaped or horseshoe shape BUT UNLIKE STAB CELLS monocytes are seen in circulation while stab cells are found only in bone marrow d. Precursor to LCT macrophages B. Lymphocyte e. 2nd most common WBC (after neutrophils) 30% WBC f. Dm: 8-10 micron (about a RBC) g.Nucleus fills cell, leaving a royal blue rim of cytoplasm h. Fxn: produce antibodies, secretory cell, has lost of rER, lots of ribosomes, therefore basophilic staining Components of the Circulatory System The circulatory system includes both the blo od vascular system and the lymph vascular system. The blood vascular system includes the heart, arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, and veins. A. Intro to the System a. Pump = heart; in reality 2 pumps sitting side by side: (1) the pulmonary circuit and (2) the systematic circuit i. ight half of the heart pumps blood into the pulmonary circuit via the pulmonary artery to the lungs and back to the heart via the pulmonary vein ii. left half of heart then pumps the oxygenated blood into the systematic circuit via the Aorta. In the systemic capillaries oxygen and nutrients leave the blood and waste materials (i. e. CO2) picked up and returned to the heart b. Arteries iii. Decrease in size to arterioles iv. Strong-walled tubes and are distribution system; decide who gets how much c. Arterioles terminate in capillaries v.Capillaries are organized in beds vi. Site of exchange between blood and tissue d. Return to heart via venules, then small veins, then veins, and finally the hear t vii. Pulmonary vein enters left heart, vena cava comes to right I. Arteries In general, three types of arteries are found in the body: (1) Elastic Arteries, (2) Muscular Arteries, and (3) Arterioles. All three types are composed of three coats or tunics: (1) tunica intima (inner most), (2) tunica media (middle), and (3) adventitia (outer most). A. Muscular Arteries a. Most common type of artery . Distributing system: where to send blood and controls Blood Pressure (use muscular layer to control lumen size) c. Composition: i. tunica intima: composed of an inner endothelial lining sitting on an elastic lamina ii. tunica media: the thickest layer, is composed of spiral smooth muscle cells held together by elastic fibers and an encircling elastic lamina iii. tunica adventitia: composed of fibroelastic connective tissue, with much of its elastic component contributing to the make up of the elastic lamina surrounding the media. 1.This layer can be as thick as to 2/3 of that of the media 2. Collagen plus biggest ccn of elastin in muscular arteries, gives recoil ability B. Elastic Artery d. Exit vessels of the heart (pulmonary artery and aorta) e. Gives diastolic number of BP f. Composition: iv. Intima: much thicker (20%) due to increased elastin v. Media: MAJOR DIFFERENCE increased amount of elastic fibers arranged in concentric laminae plus some smooth muscle vi. Adventitia: similar to the muscular artery, except being much thinner, less elastin and more collagen to restrict overexpansion C.Arteriole g. Pressure reducers, don’t want blood to come surging into capillaries h. Composition: contain the same three tunicas, but each is greatly reduced. The intima consist of an endothelium on a basement lamina; the media contains only three layers of smooth muscle cells; and the adventitia thin II. Capillaries in the Body Capillaries are the thinnest walled of all the blood vessels and represent the site of gas and nutrient exchange in the systemic circulatory sys tem. A capillary is composed of endothelial cells, surrounded by a basement membrane A. Continuous Cap (Rare) . Part of any time of blood barrier b. At places you don’t want leaks ex brain c. Sealed with zonula occludens (tight jxns) B. Fenestrated Cap (Most common) d. Riddled with pores to allow exchange e. Produces transudate- maintains osmotic homeostasis (composed of water and ions) f. Exudate: what you make when not normal (water, ions, proteins, cells) Note: Exudate = water + ions + proteins + cells = infections III. Venus System (Return to the heart System) A. Venules a. Capillaries plus extra layers of pericytes b. Collecting venule wrapped in CT (T. dventia) c. Pericytes turn to smooth muscle (T. media) B. Veins d. T. intimia: no elastin lamina thus NO RIBBON CANDY e. T media: thin layer of muscle f. T adventia: thickest layer g. Veins carry bad oxygen poor blood, the media and adventitia cells are supplied with a separate vascular system. These vessels are called th e vaso vasorum and are also found in the walls of large arteries (in T. adventia/T media) h. Veins have valves to prevent blood from backflowing i. Leaflet valves- infolding of the tunica intima ii. Abnormal: varicose veins

Hardware and Software Selection Essay

Accounting Cycle Description Paper An organization’s accounting information system includes collecting information then dividing the information into cycles. This paper will identify the five accounting cycles and specifically how Riordan Manufacturing uses the expenditure cycle. The strengths and weaknesses of the internal controls related to the expenditure cycle will be examined. This paper will explain how to integrate the expenditure cycle into an enterprise-wide accounting information system. The various types of information systems necessary to achieve this integration will be illustrated. Lastly, this paper will demonstrate the flow of accounting information through Riordan Manufacturing. Accounting Cycles The five accounting cycles are the revenue, expenditure, financing, fixed-asset, and conversion cycles. Each has its specific function within the accounting system. Almost every company uses the first four accounting cycles, not all will use the conversion cycle. As a company grows, it is important for management and employees to understand the reasons for each accounting cycle and ways the information needs to flow. The accounting cycles build upon each other. Without the revenue cycle, none of the other cycles would come into play. Once a company has revenue producing activities, the expenditure cycle is necessary to pay the bills incurred in producng the goods required for the revenue cycle. The financing cycle is necessary to give the company availability to purchase the necessary buildings and machinery for production along with making sure there are funds for the shareholders. The fixed-asset cycle records depreciation on the buildings and machinery along with the disposal of said items. The conversion cycle is important to manufacturing companies who use cost accounting to determine production costs. Table 1 (UOP, 2009),  explains each phase of the accounting cycle and what documents and ledger accounts are affected by that cycle. Source: University of Phoenix Week 1 â€Å"Read Me First† Riordan Manufacturing uses the expenditure cycle by generating purchase orders and receiving reports to track their purchases. Riordan then uses these documents to request payment for the purchases. Riordan uses HRIS to keep track of employee hours, pay rates, vacation and holiday time then uses this information to generate payroll checks. The company also has sales personnel who submit expense reports for reimbursement of expenses incurred during sales calls. Riordan Manufacturing uses purchasing and payroll records to determine the amount of taxes necessary to pay for sales tax, FICA, FUTA, SUTA and any other taxes due. Internal Controls In order to meet goals and objectives, organizations such as Riordan Manufacturing, establish internal controls. Internal control is the plan of organization and methods a business uses to safeguard assets, provide accurate and reliable information, promote and improve operational efficiency, and encourage adherence to prescribed managerial policies, laws, and regulations (UOP, 2009). In looking specifically at the expenditure cycle, Riordan Manufacturing has both strong and weak internal controls. Strengths include internal controls in operations and quality control. To ensure consistency of operations and quality control, Riordan Manufacturing manages receipts of raw materials, tracks product, and accounts for finished goods inventories. Internal controls include the sales department  completing the sales orders and entering them into customer shipping and billing system. Shipping then loads the sales orders and inventory clerk updates the inventory system based on those shipping documents. Another example is the production reports. They include a project name, document history including the revision date, approvals, and distribution. Project history data is archived in an approved location. However, weaknesses in Riordan Manufacturing’s human resource department are abundant. Employee files are kept by individual managers instead of by human resources in a central employee file area under lock and key. Changes to personal information such as name, marital status, and exemptions are submitted by employee managers which should be requested by employees not their managers. A third-party provider keeps its own records of employees on workers’ compensation but Riordan does not. Excel spreadsheets which include training and development records, applicant information, and individual compensation decisions are kept in unsecure areas and accessible to anyone . Enterprise-wide In order to integrate the expenditure cycle into an enterprise-wide accounting information system, Riordan management should examine the human resource department method of handling employee records. For instance, in an enterprise-wide system, the accounting information system should focus on four objectives including strategic, operations, reporting, and compliance. In order for a business process management system to be implemented, the managers of the company need to evaluate certain criteria of the human resource department which can affect the expenditure cycle. First, management needs to identify the objectives of the human resource department in regards to employee records. This has a direct impact on the strategic objective of the enterprise-wide system. Secondly, the input function needs to be reevaluated. For instance, since the company has four different branches, all input data should be on one method of input. This analysis and pending action would increase the operations function. Thirdly, output time would radically increase for all four branches. The types of output Riordan should consider are the compliance and reporting objectives of the enterprise-wide system. Furthermore, to have the expenditure cycle  implemented, this would decrease the amount of time that Riordan is taking to report expenses. Necessary Information Systems for Integration The various types of information systems necessary to achieve this integration would include analyzing the following: hardware, software, data, people, and procedures (Bagranoff, Simkin, and Strand, 2008.) Three types of controls necessary to keep in mind include preventive, detective, and corrective. The company has already established computer hardware for each of the four branches. In order to determine a software accounting program, the company needs to establish policies and procedures in regards to source documents. This has a direct impact on the data that is accumulated for the company. In order for payroll processing to take effect, personal action forms and employee payroll deduction authorization forms should be established. Riordan should consider a SOX Assurance and Compliance Application. Additionally, only managers should have access to company records. All records, electronic or hard copy should be kept in one central location, thus the use of privacy management information software. Furthermore, policies and procedures for all departments should be retained with a records management system. Flow of Accounting Information The flow of accounting information regarding inventory begins with a log of raw materials and shipping documents which are supervisor approved and taken to an inventory clerk who enters the information into the inventory system. Once entered into the inventory system, accounting personnel can pay supplier invoices. An inventory usage form is provided by the manufacturing staff to the inventory clerk to be entered into the inventory system which tracks raw materials and subassemblies. Manufacturing also provides the inventory clerk with an inventory form accounting for subassemblies and final products when added into the inventory system. In the final product shipping process, sales orders are created and entered into the customer shipping and billing system. Shipping prepares the loads according the sales order information generated and ships accordingly. Then accounting can prepare the invoice after matching the sales order with the inventory system which illustrates the goods shipp ed. Each of the three operating entities of Riordan Manufacturing has their own accounting system. Therefore the systems are not compatible which makes the consolidation of information at the corporate office difficult and labor intensive. Much information is conveyed via email and spreadsheets. Employee personal information changes are requested through a written form and are entered into the system by the payroll clerk. Conclusion The five accounting cycles in an organization’s accounting information system and specifically how Riordan Manufacturing incorporates the expenditure cycle into its system was explained. Strengths and weaknesses of Riordan’s internal controls related to the expenditure cycle were commented on. This paper explained how the expenditure cycle could be integrated into an enterprise-wide accounting information system. The various types of information systems necessary to achieve this integration were illustrated. Finally, the flow of accounting information through Riordan Manufacturing was demonstrated. References Apollo Group, Inc. (2006). Riordan Manufacturing. Accounting Information System 1 – overview. Retrieved March 11, 2009. ACC340-Accounting Information Systems Processing. https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/Riordan/RioMfgHome002.htm Bagranoff, N., & Simkin, M., & Strand, C., (2008). Core Concepts of Accounting Information Systems (10th ed.) [University of Phoenix Custom Edition E-text]. New York, NY: Wiley. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, ACC/340 Accounting Information System 1 Web site. University of Phoenix (2009). Week five overview. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from University of Phoenix, Week Five, rEsource. ACC340-Accounting Information Systems 1 Course Web site. University of Phoenix (2009). Week one overview. Retrieved March 12, 2009, from University of Phoenix, Week One, rEsource. ACC340-Accounting Information Systems 1 Course Web site.