Night World : Huntress Chapter 17

Morgead's entire body jerked once and then went absolutely still. As if he'd been turned to stone. The only thing alive about him was his eyes, which were staring at Jez with shock and burning disbelief. Well, Jez told herself, with a grim humor that was almost like sobbing grief, I startled him, that's for sure. I finally managed to stun Morgead speechless. It was only then that she realized some part of her had hoped that he already knew this, too. That he would be able to brush it off with exasperation, the way he had the fact that she was a Daybreaker. But that hope was shattered now. It had been a stupid hope anyway. Being a Daybreaker was something that could change, a matter of confused attitude. Being vermin was permanent. â€Å"But that's-that's not-† Morgead seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. His eyes were large with horror and denial. â€Å"That's not possible. You're a vampire.† â€Å"Only half,† Jez said. She felt as if she were killing something-and she was. She was murdering any hope for what was between them. Might as well stomp it good, she thought bitterly. She couldn't understand the wetness that was threatening to spill out of her eyes. â€Å"The other half is human,† she said shortly, almost viciously. â€Å"My mother was human. Claire is my cousin, and she's human. I've been living with my uncle Jim, my mother s brother, and his family. They're all human.† Morgead shut his eyes. A moment of astonishing weakness for him, Jez thought coldly. His voice was still a whisper. â€Å"Vampires and humans can't have kids. You can't be half and half.† â€Å"Oh, yeah, I can. My father broke the laws of the Night World. He fell in love with a human, and they got married, and here I am. And then, when I was three or so, some other vampires came and tried to kill us all.† In her mind Jez was seeing it again, the woman with red hair who looked like a medieval princess, begging for her child's life. The tall man trying to protect her. â€Å"They knew I was half human. They kept yelling ‘Kill the freak.' So that's what I am, you see.† She turned eyes she knew were feverishly bright on him. â€Å"A freak.† He was shaking his head, gulping as if he were about to be sick. It made Jez hate him, and feel sorry for him at the same time. She scarcely noticed that hot tears were spilling down her cheeks. â€Å"I'm vermin, Morgead. One of them. Prey. That's what I realized a year ago, when I left the gang. Up until then I had no idea, but that last night we hunted, I remembered the truth. And I knew that I had to go away and try to make up for all the things I'd done to humans.† He put a hand up to press against his eyes. â€Å"I didn't just become a Daybreaker. I became a vampire hunter. I track down vampires who like to kill, who enjoy making humans suffer, and I stake them. You know why? Because they deserve to die.† He was looking at her again, but as if he could hardly stand to. â€Å"Jez-â€Å" â€Å"It's weird. I don't know about our connection†- she smiled bitterly at him, to let him know she knew all that was over now-â€Å"but I felt bad lying to you. I'm almost glad to finally tell you the truth. I kind of wanted to tell you a year ago when it happened, but I knew you'd kill me, and that made me a little hesitant.† She was laughing now. She realized she was more than a little hysterical. But it didn't seem to matter. Nothing mattered while Morgead was looking at her with that sick disbelief in his eyes. â€Å"So, anyway†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She stretched her muscles, still smiling at him, but ready to defend herself. â€Å"Are you going to try and kill me now? Or is the engagement just off?† He simply looked at her. It was as if his entire spirit had gone out of him. He didn't speak, and all at once Jez couldn't think of anything to say, either. The silence stretched and stretched, like a yawning chasm between them. They were so far away from each other. You knew all along it would come to this, Jez's mind told her mockingly. How can you presume to be upset? He's actually taking it better than you expected. He hasn't tried to tear your throat out yet. At last Morgead said, in a flat and empty voice, â€Å"That's why you wouldn't drink my blood.† â€Å"I haven't had a blood meal for a year,† Jez said, feeling equally empty. â€Å"I don't need to, if I don't use my Powers.† He stared past her at the metal wall. â€Å"Well, maybe you'd better drink some of your human friends',† he said tiredly. â€Å"Because whoever has us- He broke off, suddenly alert. Jez knew what it was. The van was slowing down, and the tires were crunching on gravel. They were pulling into a driveway. A long driveway, and a steep one. We're somewhere out in the country, Jez thought. She didn't have time for any more banter with Morgead. Although she felt drained and numb, she was focused on outside issues now. â€Å"Look,† she said tensely as the van braked. â€Å"I know you hate me now, but whoever has us hates us both. I'm not asking you to help me. I just want to get my cousin away-and I'm asking you not to stop me from doing that. Later, you can fight me or whatever. We can take care of that between the two of us. Just don't stop me from saving Claire.† He just looked at her with dark and hollow eyes. He didn't agree or disagree. He didn't move when she positioned herself to erupt out of the van as soon as the back door was opened. But, as it turned out, she could have saved her breath. Because when the door did open, letting in sunlight that blinded Jez, it was to reveal five vicious-looking thugs, completely blocking the entrance. Three of them had spears with deadly points leveled right at Jez. The other two had guns. â€Å"If anybody tries to fight,† a voice from around the side of the van said, â€Å"shoot the unconscious ones in the kneecaps.† Jez sagged back. She didn't try to fight as they forced her out of the van. Neither, strangely, did Morgead. There were more thugs standing around behind the van, enough to surround both Jez and Morgead with a forest of spears as they were led to the house. It was a nice house, a small sturdy Queen Anne painted barn red. There were trees all around and no other buildings in sight. We're out in the boondocks, Jez thought. Maybe Point Reyes Park. Somewhere remote, anyway, where nobody can hear us scream. They were shepherded into the living room of the house, and Hugh and Claire were dumped unceremoniously on the floor. And then they were all tied up. Jez kept watching for an opportunity to attack. But one never came. All the time she and Morgead were being tied, two of the thugs pointed guns at Claire and Hugh. There was no way Jez could disarm them both before they got off a shot. Worse, she was being rendered helpless by an expert. The cords were made of bast, the inner bark of trees. Equally effective against vampires and humans. When the guy tying her up was through, she had no use of her arms or legs. Hugh woke up, gasping with pain, when they tied his injured arm. Claire woke up when the werewolf thug who'd finished winding cords around her slapped her. Jez looked at that particular ‘wolf carefully. She was too angry to glare at him. But she wanted to remember his face. Then she looked back at Claire, who was staring around her in bewilderment. ‘I-where are we? What's going on, Jez?† Hugh was also looking around, but with much less confusion. His gray eyes were simply sad and full of pain. ‘It's all right, Claire,† Jez said. â€Å"Just keep quiet, okay? We're in a little trouble, but don't tell them anything.† She stared at her cousin, trying to will her to understand. â€Å"A little trouble? I don't think so,† came a voice from the living room doorway. It was the same voice that had given the order about shooting kneecaps. A light, cold voice, like an Arctic wind. The speaker was a girl. A very pretty girl, Jez thought irrelevantly. She had black hair that fell straight down her back like silk, and eyes that gleamed like topaz. Porcelain skin. A cruel smile. Lots of Power that surrounded her like a dark aura. A vampire. She looked perhaps a year older than Jez, but that didn't mean anything. She could be any age. And those eyes, Jez thought. They're vaguely familiar. Like something I've seen in a picture†¦. â€Å"I should probably introduce myself,† the girl said, looking at her with cold mockery. â€Å"I'm Lily Redfern.† Jez felt her stomach plummet. Hunter Redfern's daughter. Well, that explained a lot. She was working for her father, of course. And she was a powerful enemy herself, over four hundred years old. There were rumors that last year she'd been working the human slave trade, and making a lot of money at it. I should laugh, Jez thought. There I was telling Morgead that Hunter wanted to steal a march on the Council-and here he really did. Just not through me, of course. He's sent his only surviving child out to take care of us, to get Morgead to turn over the Wild Power. And that's why so many thugs-he can afford to buy as many as he needs. And the smooth operation-Lily's a born strategist. Not to mention absolutely merciless and cold as ice. She was right. We're not in a little trouble. We're in a whole lot. Somebody, Jez thought with a strange, quiet certainty, is going to die here. Lily was still talking. â€Å"And now let me introduce my associates, who've done so much to make this all possible.† She gestured at someone hidden in the hall to come forward. â€Å"This is Azarius. I think you've met.† It was the vampire Jez had fought on the platform. He was tall, with dark skin and a look of authority. â€Å"And this,† Lily said, smiling, â€Å"is someone you've also met.† She gestured again, and a second figure appeared in the doorway. It was Pierce Holt. He was smiling faintly, his aristocratic face drawn in lines of genteel triumph. He waved one slender hand at them, his eyes as cold as Lily's. Morgead gave an inarticulate roar and tried to lunge at him. He only succeeded in falling on the floor, a struggling body in a cocoon of bast. Lily and Azarius both laughed. Pierce just looked scornful. â€Å"You really didn't guess?† he said. â€Å"You're so stupid, Morgead. Coming out this morning to meet me, so trusting, so naive-I thought you were smarter. I'm disappointed.† â€Å"No, you're dead,† Morgead raged from the floor. He was staring at Pierce, black hair falling over his forehead and into green eyes that were blazing with rage. â€Å"You are dead when this is over! You betrayed the gang. You're complete scum. You're-â€Å" â€Å"Shut him up,† Lily said, and one of the thugs kicked Morgead in the head. He must really be out of power, Jez thought, wincing. Or he'd have blasted Pierce then. â€Å"I'm smart,† Pierce was saying. â€Å"And I'm going to survive. I knew something was fishy when she†- he nodded toward Jez without looking at her- â€Å"said she had a deal with Hunter Redfern. It didn't sound right-and then the way she was so worried about that vermin kid. So I made a few calls, and I found out the truth.† â€Å"You realize that your friend there is working with Circle Daybreak,† Lily interrupted. She was also looking at Morgead and ignoring Jez. â€Å"She lied to you and tricked you. She was trying to get the Wild Power for them.† Morgead snarled something inarticulate. â€Å"And she's not just a Daybreaker,† Pierce said. Finally he looked at Jez, and it was with venomous spite. â€Å"She's a mutant abomination. She's half vermin. She should have been drowned at birth.† ‘You should have been drowned at birth,† Morgead said through locked teeth. Lily had been watching in amusement, but now she waved one hand. â€Å"Okay, enough fun and games. Down to business.† Two of the thugs sat Morgead back up, and Lily walked to the middle of the room. She looked at each of them in turn, Jez last. â€Å"I've only got one question for you,† she said in her cool, quiet voice. â€Å"Which human is the Wild Power?† Jez stared at her. She doesn't know. She knows almost everything else, but not that. And if she can't find out†¦ Jez gave Hugh and Claire one long, intense look, telling them to keep silent. Then she looked back at Lily. â€Å"I have no idea what you're talking about.† Lily hit her. It was a pretty good blow, but nothing to compare with what Jez got when she was in a fight. Jez laughed, a natural laugh of surprise and scorn. Lily's hawklike golden eyes went icy. â€Å"You think this is funny?† she said, still quietly. â€Å"My father sent me to get the Wild Power, and that's just what I'm going to do. Even if it means tearing you and your vampire boyfriend to pieces, mutant.† â€Å"Yeah, well, suppose I don't know? Did you ever think of that? Then I can't tell, no matter what you and your little†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jez glanced at Pierce and Azarius. â€Å"Your little hobgoblins do.† Lily's porcelain skin was flushing with fury. It brought out faint scars on one side of her face that Jez hadn't noticed before, like mostly-healed burn marks. â€Å"Look, you little freak-† Then she turned to the thugs. â€Å"Teach her a lesson.† Things were exciting for a while. Jez could hear Claire and Hugh yelling and Morgead snarling while the hobgoblins beat her up. She hardly felt the blows herself. She was in a place where they didn't matter. When they finally got tired and stopped, Lily walked up to her again. â€Å"Now,† she said sweetly, â€Å"has your memory gotten any better.† Jez looked at her from under a swelling eyelid. â€Å"I can't tell you something I don't know.† Lily opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a new voice cut in. â€Å"She doesn't have to tell you,† Hugh said. â€Å"Ill tell you. It's me.† Lily swiveled slowly to look at him. He was sitting up straight inside his cocoon of bonds, his face calm under the dried blood. His gray eyes were clear and straightforward. He didn't look afraid. Oh, Hugh, Jez thought. Her heart was beating slow and hard and her eyes prickled. Lily glanced at Azarius. He shrugged. â€Å"Sure, it could be. I told you, it could be either of them. They were both at the station when the flash came and the train stopped.† â€Å"Hmm,† Lily said, a sound like a cat purring to dinner. She moved toward Hugh. He didn't look away from her, didn't flinch. But beside him, Claire gave a convulsive wiggle. She had been watching everything with a desperate, dazed expression. Jez was sure she didn't understand a quarter of what was going on. But now she suddenly lost the muddled look. Her dark eyes sparked and she looked like the Claire who'd taunted Jez a hundred times in the hallway back home. ‘I don't know what you're talking about,† she said to Hugh. â€Å"You know perfectly well it's me.† She turned to Lily. Tm the Wild Power.† Lily's mouth tightened. She put her hands on her hips, looking from Hugh to Claire. Then Jez heard the strangest sound of her life. It was laughing-a wild and reckless laughing. There was an edge almost like crying to it, but also something that was exhilarated, daredevil, free. â€Å"If you really want to know who it is,† Morgead said, â€Å"ifs me.† Lily whirled to glare at him. Jez simply stared, dumbfounded. She'd never seen him look so handsome-or so mocking. His smile was brilliant and flashing, his dark hair was falling all over his eyes, and his eyes were blazing green emeralds. He was tied up, but he was sitting with his head thrown back like a prince. Something tore inside Jez. She didn't understand why he would do it. He must know he wasn't saving her. The only people he might possibly save were Hugh and Claire. And why would he care about them? Besides, it was a futile gesture. He didn't realize that he couldn't be the Wild Power, that he hadn't been around when the train stopped. But-it was such a gallant gesture, too. Probably the most gallant thing Jez had ever seen. She stared at him, feeling the wetness spill from her eyes again, wishing she were telepathic and could ask him why in the worlds he had done it. Then his green eyes turned to her, and she heard his mental voice. There's just a chance they'll let one of them go with a beating. Just maybe-as a warning to Circle Daybreak not to mess with Hunter anymore. Especially if I convince Lily I'll work with her. Jez couldn't answer, but she shook her head very faintly, and looked at him in despair. She knew he could read that. Do you know what they'll do to you? Especially when they find out you're a fake? She saw his faint answering smile. He knew. What difference does it make? he said in her mind. You and me-we're lost anyway. And without you, I don't care what happens. Jez couldn't show any reaction to that at all. Her vision was dimming, and her heart felt as if it were trying to claw itself out of her chest. Oh, Morgead †¦ Lily was breathing hard, on the verge of losing control. â€Å"If I have to kill all of you-â€Å" â€Å"Wait,† Pierce said, his cool voice a striking contrast to Lily's strained one. â€Å"There's a simple way to find out.† He pointed at Jez. â€Å"Stake her.† Lily glared at him. â€Å"What?† â€Å"She's never going to tell you anything. She's expendable. And there's something you have to understand about the Wild Power.† He moved smoothly to Lily's side. â€Å"I think Morgead was right about one thing. I think the Wild Power isn't operating consciously at this point. It's only when the danger is greatest, when there's no physical way to escape, that the power comes out.† Lily cast a sideways look at Hugh and Claire, who were sitting tensely, their eyes wide. â€Å"You mean they may not know which it is?† â€Å"Maybe not. Maybe it's completely automatic at this point. But there's one way to find out. They all seem-attached-to the halfbreed. Put her life in danger, and then see which of them can break free and try to save her.† Lily's perfect lips slowly curved in a smile. â€Å"I knew there was a reason I liked you,† she said. Then she gestured at the thugs. â€Å"Go on, do it† Everything was confused for a bit. Not because Jez was struggling. She wasn't. But Claire was screaming and Hugh and Morgead were shouting, and Lily was laughing. When the worst of the noise died down, Jez found herself on her back. Azarius was standing over her, and he was holding a hammer and stake. â€Å"Isn't it interesting,† Lily was saying, â€Å"that a stake through the heart is the one thing that takes care of humans and vampires equally efficiently?† â€Å"And halfbreeds, too,† Pierce said. They were on either side of Azarius, looking down and laughing. â€Å"Lily, listen. Listen,† Morgead said, his voice hoarse and desperate. â€Å"You don't have to do this. I already told you, it's me. Just wait a minute and talk to me-* â€Å"Don't even bother, human-lover,† Lily said without glancing at him. â€Å"If you're the Wild Power, then save her.† â€Å"Don't any of you do anything!† Jez yelled. â€Å"Not anything, do you understand?† She was yelling it mainly at Claire-or was she? Suddenly Jez felt strangely uncertain. Her heart was beating very quickly, and her mind was racing even faster. Fragments of thought were glittering through her consciousness, like bits of melody almost too faint to catch. It was as if all the prophecies she'd heard about the Wild Powers were echoing, ricocheting around her brain at insane speed. And there was something about them, something that was bothering her. Something that made her wonder†¦ Could it be that Claire wasn't the Wild Power? Jez had assumed she was-but was it possible that she'd been wrong? Hugh had been on the platform, too, watching the train approach. Hugh had reason to be upset at having to watch Jez die. He cared about her. Jez knew that now. And Hugh was seventeen. Could Hugh be the Wild Power? He hadn't been in the Marina district-but he lived in the Bay Area; there was no reason he couldn't have been watching the fire just as she and Claire had. But there was still something nagging at her. The prophecies†¦ ‘two eyes are watching'†¦ ‘Four of blue fire, power in their blood†¦.' Lily was speaking. Jez heard her as if from a great distance. â€Å"Do it. Right beside the heart first.† Azarius positioned the stake. He raised the hammer. Morgead screamed, â€Å"Jez!† Jez shouted, â€Å"None of you do anything-â€Å" And then the hammer came down and the universe exploded in red agony.

Spending Money on Fashion

Spending Money on Fashion Every year, all around the world, many people spend their money for fashion to have the best look and attract others' attention to themselves. They might prefer to buy classic clothes or fads, but which one is better? To answer this question, individuals should think of different things that might affect their mind about fashion. First thing that comes to most of the people's mind is money. Everyone can be the best-looked errors, but they might need a lot of money to buy the best clothes.People cannot spend all of their money on their clothes; because fashion is not the only thing that is important, so the best logical way to solve this problem is to buy the things, which they can be sure that they will wear that more than once and it will remain for them and they did not spend their money on garbage. Many people may prefer to be up to date and wear the clothes which are trendy. This type of people used to wear fads.Fad is an intense and widely shared enthus iasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object's qualities; it is a craze. These people are brave; because they are taking risk and buying something that might not be trendy in such a close time. They do not care about this, and they fearlessly buy fads. On the other hand, there is another group of individuals; this set of people use to wear clothes which they can make sure they can wear them later, whenever they want, and t is not a periodic looking.This set, used to wear classics. Classics are Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind. In my opinion, these individuals are deciding logically and they are actually thinking of their money. Because they are having a chic look by buying classics and at the same time, they are saving their money because they can wear their clothes at any time and they can be sure that their clothes passed the time exam.

Lathe Characteristics Essay

The Lathe is the father of all machines tools and is recorded in the early history of many races. As interchangeable manufacturing and mass production principles were developed, it became necessary to create machine tools capable of producing parts in large quantities. This report aims to consider five different â€Å"Types of Lathe† in relation to their manufacturing application, as well as, comparative of important aspects for manufacturing and mass production. It will concentrate on the traditional centre lathe and its development into: production lathes. Definitions, graphs and figures are also included in this report. 1.1.1. – According to the instructions given by Michael Thomas (Module Leader), for â€Å"Manufacturing and Basic Materials† at University of Glamorgan School of Technology, this report has been required and set up as a part of the final assessment. 1.1.2. – The proposal of this report considering five different â€Å"Types of Lathe† in relation to their manufacturing application. 1.1.3. – This report has been assessed and written by Victor Martinez-Perez â€Å"First Year Student of BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering at the University of Glamorgan-Pontypridd, Wales 1.2. -PROCEDURES Research for this report was conducted in two ways: 1.2.1. Research from lecture notes and reference books. 1.2.2. Research on the Internet. 1.3. – TOPICS COVERED This report it will concentrate on the traditional centre lathe and its development into: production lathes, in relation to their manufacturing application. 2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Man has always tried to find ways of making manual tasks easier and businessman methods to reduce manpower, speed production and lower operating costs. The Lathe is the father of all machines tools and is recorded in the early history of many races, when, equipped with a fixed tool-rest, it was used for woodturning. For its development to the form in which it is known it today, Henry Maudsley (1797) developed the slide rest lathe, allowing people to turn large pieces of metal very quickly and with exact precision. To many people it was regarded as the most important development in the production of machine tools [1]. As interchangeable manufacturing and mass-production principles were developed, it became necessary to create machine tools capable of producing parts in large quantities. Today an Engine Lathe can be defined as a power-driven, general-purpose machine tool used for producing cylindrical work-pieces. As the piece of metal to machine is rotated in the lathe, a single point cutting tool is advanced radially into the workpiece at a specified depth and moved longitudinally along the axis of the workpiece removing metal in the form of chips. By using attachments and accessories other operations may be performed [4]. Lathes are used to produce circular, conical, flat or  sphericall components. [13] Common external lathe processes: facing, straight turning, taper turning, threading. Common internal lathe processes: drilling, boring, internal straight and taper turning, countersinking, counter boring, reaming, tapping and threading The progress in the design of the basic engine lathe and its related machines has been responsible for the development and production of thousands of products we use every day. 3. TYPES OF LATHES, COMPONENTS AND OPERATORS 3.1. CENTRE LATHE The engine lathe is generally used for machining individual parts to the required specifications. Some of the common operations performed on a lathe are: facing, taper turning, parallel turning, thread cutting, knurling, boring, drilling, and reaming. [4] An engine lathe is shown diagrammatically in (Figure-1): it consists of a horizontal bed supporting the headstock, the tailstock and the carriage. All machine tools must have a means of supporting or holding the workpiece. The tailstock can be clamped at various positions along the bed to accommodate workpieces of various lengths. Short workpieces need only be gripped by the chuck. Figure-1 The basic lathe requires a skilled operator and the quality of work produced will depend on his/her care and attention. For production work it is desirable to eliminate the possibility of variation and error, and to this end mechanical stops are often fitted to the carriage to allow accurate return to position and also to disengage power feeds when the required cut  is completed. [4] The capstan lathes are ideal for manufacture of simple and complex turned parts, both from bar and blanks. The blanks can be preturned, forged or cast. 3.2. PRODUCTION LATHES Production Lathes are generally used when a large number of duplicate parts must be produced. Capstan and Turret Lathes, Single-Spindle Automatic Lathes, and the CNC Lathe are the common machines in this group. 3.2.1.Capstan and Turret Lathes Capstan and Turret Lathes are essentially similar in their general arrangement and operation. They differ in many ways from the centre lathes. They are more rigidly constructed, more powerful and have shorter and more rigid beds. There is no compound slide and the tool post is usually a four-way turret mounted directly on the front of the cross slide. The rear of the cross-slide also carries a simple tool post for the parting off tool when working from the bar. An indexing turret replaces the tailstock and it is this turret that carries the majority of the tooling. The tooling is pre-set and the turret can be indexed, or rotated to bring each tool into position, as it is required. 3.2.1.1. The Capstan Lathe is the smaller and most frequently used for bar work fitted with a collet chuck. Its turret is carried on a separate sub-bed that can be clamped at any point along the main bed. The clamping is more rigid and permanent as the sub-bed is only set infrequently. The turret turns automatically from station to station. The turret slide is fitted with adjustable stops, which limit its motion towards the headstock. The operator does not have to carry out any measuring processes but merely feeds the tool into the work until the stop prevents further movement. The tool is then withdrawn manually and the net tool is used. The stop is automatically changed as each new tool is indexed into position. 3.2.1.2. The Turret Lathe is larger and heavier and is used for machining large castings. It is the next development in the provision of a production machine for use by an unskilled operator. The turret lathe is usually fitted with pneumatically or manually operated chucks or special turning fixture to hold the workpiece. The main difference with the capstan lathe is that the turret is mounted on a carriage that slides directly on the main bed of the machine. Indexing is not automatic but is performed manually after unlocking the turret. In this the cross slide is simplified, and provided with a single inverted tool post at the rear and a square indexing turret carrying up to four tools is fitted at the front. A numbered drum of stops is provided for longitudinal and transverse motions. All that is required of the operator is that he/she indexes turret and drum, and moves the carriage to the preset stop. On some turret lathes, as many as 20 different tools can be mounted on a ram or saddle-type turret, and each tool may be rotated into position quickly and accurately. Once the tools have been set, each part is quickly and accurately produced. [8] 3.2.2. CNC Lathe. A computer numerical control (CNC) (figure 2) machine is one of the latest modifications of the basic engine lathe and it is a NC machine with the added feature of an on board computer. Figure 2.- CNC Lathe This lathe controlled by numerical tape is used primarily for tuning operations and can economically and automatically produce shafts of almost any shape. This lathe can outperform most types of lathes and provides savings in tooling, set-up and cycle time. By the term numerical control, we mean that a machine tool can be operated automatically by means of a medium (a paper tape). The tool will do only what it is told to do by the tape that is fed into the machine. But the term computer numerical control (CNC) refers to a computer that is joined to an N/C machine. This makes the machine more versatile because now we can store  information in a memory bank, with retains what is on the N/C tape and repeats it without the tape having to be rewound each time. You can also program a job manually, stop by step, directly on the machine; this is called manual data input. In both cases you can now make a new tape or change what is in the memory bank by making a new tape. This costs more, but the operator now has greater flexibility in producing the part. For example if a tool gets dull you can manually change the feed of the speed of the cutter to maintain a smooth cut. The cutter can therefore cut up to 10 more parts before an operator has to change the tool. This increases the number of parts per tool and reduces the downtime of a machine, which is very profitable. If a company needs to add or delete sections of a part for revisions or updating can do it by pressing two to four buttons. In a CNC lathe the drives of the hand wheels of the conventional lathe have been substituted to allow their control of slide positions by the computer. This opens up the possibility of generating unlimited variety of profiles using continuous positions control of the slides. [3] This can then be extended by the installation of tool turrets under computer control, and a computer controlled turret on longitudinal and transverse slide ways replacing the tailstock. Since provision has no longer to be made for a human operator, the machine can be made more compact and complex. The bed can be redesigned and placed at a slope to allow improved flow of coolant. Driven spindles may be incorporated into the tool turrets, enabling milling and drilling operations to be carried out, and allowing complex parts to be produced complete in one operation. 3.2.3. Single-Spindle Automatic Lathe. This lathe differs from the capstan in that the turret revolves about a horizontal pivot instead of about a vertical axis. It will also possess several radial tool slides used for forming and parting tools. This lathe is particularly popular as a first operation machine fed with bar stock, using a magazine type bar feeder. Produce in small (figures 6 and 7)  and medium quantities. It is designed to turn small parts normally used in cameras, electronic gadgets, spray guns, hydraulic & pneumatic and fittings, cable glands, etc, made out of aluminium, brass or mild steel. These can also produce automobile-related parts, like pistons, rings, valve guides, shafts, ejector pins, etc. Some work examples are shown below. The control of the machining cycle no longer rests with the operator, but is controlled by the machine itself usually by cam-actuated motions. 4. WORK HOLDING AND TOOL SYSTEMS 4.1. WORK HOLDING The chuck is the most common method of work holding. (Figure-8). The chuck has either three or four jaws and is mounted on the end of the main spindle. A three-jaw chuck is used for gripping cylindrical workpieces when the operation to be performed is such, that the machined surface is concentric with the work surfaces. The jaws have a series of teeth that mesh with spiral grooves on a circular plate within the chuck. This plate can be rotated by the key inserted in the square socket, resulting in simultaneous radial motion of the jaws. Since the jaws maintain an equal distance from the chuck axis, cylindrical workpieces are automatically centred when gripped. With the four-jaw chuck, each jaw can be adjusted independently by rotating the radially mounted threads screws. Although accurate mounting of a workpiece can be quite time consuming, a four-jaw chuck is often necessary for non-cylindrical workpieces. For very complicated shapes a circular faceplate can be used. The faceplate has radial slots that provide a means of bolting the workpiece to the faceplate. For small lathes for work on material provided in bar form, collets are often used. These collets are effectively split sleeves that fit snugly over the  workpiece and have a taper on their outer surface. Drawing the collet into a matching tapered hole in the end of the spindle has the effect of squeezing the collet and gripping the workpiece. For accurate turning operation or in cases where the work surface is not exactly cylindrical, the workpiece can be turned between centres. (Figure-9). Initially the workpiece has a conical centre hole drilled at each en to provide location for the lathe centres. Before supporting the workpiece between the centres (one in the headstock and one in the tailstock), a dog (a clamping device) is secured at the headstock end. The dog is arranged so that the tip is inserted in a slot in the drive plate mounted on the main spindle, ensuring that the workpiece will rotate with the spindle. [11] In the collet chuck, there is a spring collet split at its front end. The work is first clamped by making the collet close upon the workpiece by means of a nut. Face plates are used for irregular shapes. A faceplate has radially place slots, which allow the workpiece to be clamped to it by means of bolts Although similar forms of work holding are used as for traditional machines they are automated and may have locating systems incorporated into them. Automation of chuck closure can be achieved by mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic actuation. 4.2. TOOL HOLDING It is often the case that the most difficult stage in manufacturing a product is working out how to hold a billet of material while it is machined. The tool must not foul the working holding system. The work holding system must not get in the way of the machining operations. [6] Lathe cutting tools are generally held by two methods:  · In tool holders, which provide rigidity when holding the cutting tool.  · In tool posts: which provide a means of holding either a toolholder or a cutting tool Standard The toolpost usually supplied with a centre lathe is the standard or round type (Figure-10). This toolpost, which fits into the T-slot of the compounds rest, provides a means of holding and adjusting a toolholder or a cutting tool. A concave ring and wedge provide a means of adjusting the cutting tool height. Turret type or four-way toolpost Turret type or four way tool post (Figure-11) are designed to hold four cutting tools, which can be easily indexed for use as requires, Several operations, such as tuning, grooving, threading, and parting may be performed on a workpiece by loosening the locking handle and rotating the holder until the desired tool bit is in the cutting position. This reduces the set-up time for various too/bits, and thus increasing production. Quick-change tool holder These are made in different styles to accommodate different types of cutting tools. Each holder is dovetailed (Figure-12) and fits on a dovetailed toolpost, which is mounted on the compound rest. The tool is held in position by a set of screws. After a tool becomes dull, the holder and the tool may be replaced with another preset unit. This is useful where many parts of one size are being machined since the cutting point on the toolbit, having been preset in the tool room, is in exactly the same position as the tool it replaces. Each toolholder fits onto the dovetail on the toolpost and is locked in position by means of a clamp. A knurled nut on each holder provides vertical adjustment. The main difference between traditional tool holding and CNC tool holding is the use of presetting. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as tooling held in locatable tool holder, Block tooling and changeable tool/tip elements. Tool presetting systems use special presetting fixtures of possible co-ordinate measuring systems. Once the tool has been mounted into the turret proving systems can be used to account for small inaccuracies in setting in addition to tool wear. 5. THE SETTING UP AND/OR PROGRAMMING OF THE LATHE The best lathe in the world is going to function poorly unless it’s correctly set up in the first instance. Even a new lathe will not cut parallel unless it’s levelled properly, and the surface finish that can be achieved will be much improved by reducing vibrations transmitted to the work and tool from the motor and lathe gearing. As well if the lathe has been installed for some considerable time it’s worth going through the test procedures to check its alignment. None of the procedures involved are particularly complex, and it doesn’t require expensive tools to get a good end result The process of setting the lathe up is a logical one, and the first step is to check that the foundation is as level as you can possibly get it. Secondly correct twist in the bed is a simple matter of adjusting the jacking screws on the raising blocks, or by placing shims beneath the feet of the lathe – such adjustments being carried out at the tailstock end. Setting Up cutting tool The cutting tool must be set up at he correct height. If it is set too high then the tool will rub against the workpiece, generating heat and a poor surface finish and blunting the cutting tool edge. If the cutting tool is set too low then the workpiece will be pulled over the top of the cutting  tool and will damage the cutting tool or pull the workpiece from the chunk. The severity of the problem will be determined by the forces involved, which are related to the height above or below the workpiece centre and the materials, feed rate, cutting speed and depth of cut that are involved. The cutting tool must also be held tightly in the tool-post, using all available clamping screws. The cutting tool should not extend further than is necessary from the tool-post, as this increases the risk of vibration, resulting in damage to the cuttings tool and poor surface finish and tolerance. CAD/CAM links The wide use of CAD systems has led to major developments in the generation of CNC programs. The computer â€Å"knows† de geometry that the designer has defined. It stores the values of the equations of the lines and circles, etc in its memory. This means that the geometry can be transferred to the CAM program which adjusts the sizes produced by the designer to produce a new set of geometry to define the cuter path needed to make the part. Someone thus has to define which cutter; feed rate and spindle speed will be used. These are technology decisions usually made by the manufacturing engineer how has to take into consideration the strength of the workpiece material, the clamping and the amount of material to be removed. It is now a usual practice to download the geometry specified by the designer and then to process this into a machining program. This can save considerable amount of time and also prevents errors that the programmer can make when doing calculations and retype the dimensions into the computer. It does also place the responsibility for the product shape upon the designer. The drawing must be free of errors, as it will be followed faithfully by the CAM system. Unfortunately the machine tool builders have not agreed a universal standard for the machine language. This forces companies to use post processors to translate from the ISO CL file CAM output, into the particular machine tool language. Similarly CAD systems have their own individual formats and the International Graphic Exchange Standard has been established to enable companies to exchange CAD information across different systems. A widespread of this is used by Auto CAD, DXF format and most CAM systems will accept a DXF or IGES files as an input. [10] Editing facilities enhances the utilisation of the machine considerable as programmes may be copied to enable several parts to be made from one piece of material and kits of parts may be made at one setting on the machine. 6. THE MEASURING GAUGING SYSTEM Thanks to the advances in technology, machines have been developed which are capable of producing workpieces to extremely fine tolerances. As a result, measuring tools and equipment had to be upgraded to measure the closer tolerances accurately. The need for accurate measurement was necessary because of interchangeable manufacture, where parts produced in one part may be assembled with parts from another plant or even another country. [12] Using a centre a thorough the inspection is a must although accuracy of the workpiece required would determine the type of measuring tools which should be used. [4] A hook rule is very convenient for measuring the size of a workpiece. Inside callipers will be used to measure the diameter of holes or the width of key ways and slots and then will be transferred to a micrometer. A micrometer may be used to measure the shaft of the work in a machine. Vernier callipers are used to measure with precision. Plug gauges are also used to measured holes. Dial indicators are used to check the alignment of machine tools, fixtures and work pieces prior to machining 7. ECONOMIC ASPECTS In any engineering operation, the economics of cost of operation plays a vital role in determining the rate or speed of operation. If we cut the unwanted material at a very slow speed, the completion time of the operation would increase. And with it the cost of labour, the cost of machine operation, and the overhead costs and make the operation costlier. If the same operation were done at very high speed, the wear of cutting tool would be accelerated. The operator will have to change the tool more often and, consequently will have to regrind the tool and reset it on the machine more frequently. Thus will increase the tool cost, the tool resetting cost and machine down-time. The effect of speed on various costs is illustrated in (Figure-13), which shows that only at some particular speed the operation is most economical. [9] The approach to automation depends heavily on the volume of production. Usually three categories are used in describing the volume of production: mass production involving more than 1 million components per year, large-batch production and small batch-production less than a few hundred in each production run. A numerically controlled machine where the operator is replaced by feedback control equipment, containing the various instructions are generally economical for the machining of those medium components that are required in small batches and that do not need a wide variety of machining operations using different tool systems and different positions of the workpiece. Complex components are expensive because they have considerable material value and generally require a large amount of machining. For this components the most economical is to choose a machine where in a variety of machining functions are integrated. For instance the ASS. Mr. After Debarr [12] compared manufacturing costs for various systems quantitatively. This comparison is presented in (Figure-14) and shows how  the choice of systems depends to a large extent on batch size. It is clear that manual systems are only justified for the smallest batches and that numerical control is likely to be economic for a wide range of small and medium batch production. Accuracy and surface finish must to be taken into consideration as well when costs are concerned and is therefore necessary to take into account the function intended for the machined surface. The specification of too-close tolerances or too-smooth surfaces is of the major ways a designer can add unnecessary costs. As a guide to de difficulty of machining to within required tolerances it can be stated as:  · Tolerances from 0.127 to 0.25 mm are readily obtained.  · Tolerances from 0.025 to 0.05 mm are slightly more difficult to obtain and will increase production costs.  · Tolerances 0.0127 mm or greater require good equipment and skilled operators and will add significantly to production costs. Even when the surface can be finished on the one machine, a smoother surface requirement will mean increased costs. The typical surface roughness obtained in turning is between 6.3 to 2.5 à ¬m. The machining time and hence the machining cost is inversely proportional to the square root of the surface finish. (Figure-15), shows the relationship between production cost and surface finish for a typical turning operation. 8. REFERENCES [1]Titlt Hammer – Steel City Founders http://tilthammer.com/bio/maud.htm [2] http://www.the-land-rover.com/WeldShop/MasterMachinist/Ch7.htm [3] J. V. Valentino and Joseph Goldenberg. Introduction to Computer Numerical Control (CNC). Third Edition. Pearson Education. [4] James Anderson and Earl E. Tatro. Shop Theory. Sixth edition. McGraw-Hill 1974 [5] http://www.welsoft.co.uk/machmill/hs410.htm [6] H Burghardt, A Axelrod & J Anderson, Machine Tool Operation, Part 1, ED McGraw Hill Book Company, 5th Edition [7] G. Sekhon & B Juneja, Fundamentals Of Metal Cutting and Machine Tools, Ed John Wiley & Sons, Chichester 1987 [8] Krar, Oswald & St. Amand Machine Tool Operations, McGraw Hill, Inc. 1985 [9] A J Lissaman & S J Martin Principles of Engineering Manufacture, Ed Arnold, London 1996 [10] R Rapello, Essentials of Numerical Control, Ed Prentice Hall, New Jersey 1986 [11] G Boothroyd, Fundamentals of Metal Machining and Machine Tools, International Edition Ed. McGraw Hill Company, Singapore 1987 [12] R L Timings, Manufacturing Technology, Level 2, 2nd Edition. Ed Logman Technician Series, London 1984

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Energy Drinks and There Effects Essay Example for Free

Energy Drinks and There Effects Essay Have you ever wondered what the side effects were after drinking an energy drink? People buy these types of drinks all the time and they are very popular with the younger groups. They give you a boost of energy but they can also make you sick. There are many different brands of energy drinks on the market the most popular are Red Bull and Monster. People are now mixing these with alcohol which has a serious side effect. There are several ingredients in energy drinks: caffeine, taurine, b vitamins, inositol, ginseng, glucuronolactone, artificial sweeteners, ginkgo biloba, and l-carnitine. The caffeine in these drinks can cause dizziness, jitters, nausea, irritability and nervousness. You can also have an allergic reaction like: a rash, difficulty breathing, and swelling of the mouth, face, lips or tongue. To many b vitamins like vitamin (B3) can cause flushing of the skin. Ginkgo biloba can cause nausea, vomiting, heart palpitations and the l-carnitine can cause headache, diarrhea, sleep difficulty. Why do people buy these drinks? Because they give you an energy boost when you need it. These types of drinks are more popular with the teens and college kids they drink these to give them a boost when they are studying or partying to help them stay awake but when the effects of the drink wears off they feel more tired than they already were. These drinks contain more caffeine then a regular soda a normal soda has 25-40 milligrams of caffeine and the energy drink has 280 milligrams of caffeine. This much caffeine can affect your heart rate and blood pressure. Having this much caffeine in your body can make you heart rate become accelerated. These sorts of drinks can also cause dehydration which is not good on your body. Mixing energy drinks and alcohol has become popular with people. It says that when you mix the two together the energy drinks counteracts the depressant effect of alcohol. Mixing the two causes your body to become more dehydrated than drinking one of the drinks alone. After you drink one or more of the mixed drinks your body wants more and you become more dehydrated. My thoughts about this type of drink are that they are not very healthy and they can cause permanent damage to your body. Why would anyone want to put something like that in there body? For me they are no good and would cause more damage to my heart than there already is and you only have one heart. My own children have tried these energy drinks and the effects they had on them were not pleasant they were full of energy and could not hold still for a minute and when the effects wore off they were too tired to do anything. When they woke up the next day they still felt tired and they said they didn’t feel all the greatest. References: The Health Effects of Energy Drinks-Associated content from Yahoo http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/234299/the _health_effects_of_energy_drinks_pg.

Leadership and Personality Research

Leadership and Personality Research Section One: Leadership Model Leadership is commonly identified as an art, yet slightly understood as a science in various literatures. Leadership is both a science and an art (Hughes, Ginnett Curphy, 2011). To define what art is, in the noble words of Gunter Grass, Art is accusation, expression, passion. Art is a fight to the finish between black charcoal and white paper (Taberner, 2012). Furthermore, to borrow an interesting description of what art is not, from Leo Tolstoy, Art is not, as the metaphysicians say, the manifestation of some mysterious idea of beauty or God; it is not, as the aesthetical physiologists say, a game in which man lets off his excess of stored-up energy; it is not the expression of mans emotions by external signs; it is not the production of pleasing objects; and, above all, it is not pleasure; but it is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity (Tolstoy, 2016). From the above, I arrived to an understanding that leadership seems to be a grey area with various definitions and identifications. I believe leadership is within oneself, it is a process that requests various human skills transformed into mere instinct, which requires a sense of understanding in regards to a particular environment via observation and experimentation as to achieve a certain goal. Many leadership styles exist, lending itself to being explained through multiple metaphors without a one size fits all model. Although it was not an easy task to determine a single metaphor for a personal leadership model, I reflected on my own personal life. Having grown up in a family of farmers, I shall thus compare leadership to farming. Farming, as defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary, is an act of growing crops and/or keeping animals. A farmer can be thought of as a leader since they attend to the following activities: Planting/growing crops and raising/breeding livestock. Continuously attending to crops and feeding livestock. Finally collecting what the land or livestock have produced. Given the above activities, a sound farmer would be one that reasons with each and every considerable act of nature as well as promotes a sense of nurture to what they are attempting to achieve. There are certain acts of nature that cannot be foreseen such as weather conditions. At a time where technology was not around to predict the weather forecast, farmers took upon themselves learning and adapting to the environment, as it was crucial and necessary in constantly maintaining the wellness of the crops and livestock. There are more factors farmers face when considering the art of appropriate farming. Appropriate farming involves the management of three different activities, that are crops, livestock and off-farm enterprises. The decision-making process is relatively difficult as it encompasses the farmers use of their knowledge as to come as close as possible to fulfilling the goal they are striving to achieve (Norman, Worman, Siebert, Modiakgotla, 1995).[1] For example, their ability to manage and allocate crops away from livestock in order to achieve a balanced healthy environment on the farm is necessary, so as not all the crops are being fed on by the livestock and no t all the livestock are grazing throughout the farm. As farmers grow crops with a high-quality yield and cater to nurturing their livestock, similarly, leaders help in growing people and ensure sustainability and profitability to a business. The land and soil are the business culture, the climate is the market, the pests and diseases are then the competition (Tole, 2017). Leaders sow their values into the lives of others through the expression of attitudes, words and actions. Regardless as to where a leader may exist, be it at work, at home or in a community, the impact that individuals may have on your leadership, your business or organization requires attention as expressions are to be highly regarded by ones emotional instinct perceived from such interactions (Hale, 2013). Given the outline and understanding of the course this was witnessed by myself in the topic of Emotional Intelligence. I learned that we must partake in being in-tune with our emotions whilst dealing with others in and out of the workplace; attempting to understand the characteristics of whom we are dealing with as well as trying to relate to them to achieve a common goal. This has been evident whilst I recollected my personal observation of farmers attending to their land and livestock with much love, care and attention as to result in better productivity without dialogue. That alone is a magnificent skill to acquire. Leaders cultivate what they have sown by continuously connecting the dots between their words and actions. This is managed by living out or modelling what matters most to them about others, work, life and faith. Having such a practice put into effect tirelessly, is regarded to be like farming, since farmers weed/water the crops and feed/raise the livestock as to facilitate the full growth of crops as well as maintaining healthy livestock (Hale, 2013). Finally, leaders harvest what they have sown and cultivated (Hale, 2013). Like farmers, leaders allow themselves to celebrate their goals as well as reflect back on what they have generated or created per se. The act of doing so simply allows the leader to indulge themselves to progress together with their team as they exemplify success to themselves and continue working positively. Reflections, allow a leader to identify where they may have gone wrong and try to approach their harvest in a different manner yet more productive way (Miller, 2012). Similarly, with farming, the farmer would feel a sense of gratification as their goals of maintaining a healthy environment on the farm and the ability to sell their fresh produce as well as having high yields of growth, and a set of well-fed/raised healthy livestock. The farmers reflection to their creation would always require attention, hence identifying newer strategies to implement and put into action as to increase productivity and mak e more use of their resources to progress forward. The personal leadership model, highly relates to leading by example which is evident in the above section, as I mention exemplifying success in order to progress for both leaders and farmers. I can see it as a vital part of a famers life since each observation I can recall from my past allows me to identify most examples that these farmers could show rather than just point it out in words. I learned actions speak louder than words throughout the life I have lived thus far. This made me understand that not everything is settled by words and sometimes complete silence and the portrayal of an action is more than enough. Therefore, art is a very relevant topic when it comes to leadership due to the understanding of what art is and is not. Leaders are an amalgamation of various skillsets and knowledge. To better phrase what I previously mentioned, I believe farmers are leaders. In regards to my observations to the behaviours of multiple farmers, I can say they have acquired a high level o f emotional intelligence, have self-actualized their purpose, and yet are self-aware of their own actions towards tangible hard-to-communicate-with resources (i.e. land, crops and livestock). Effective leaders, are not always known to be good leaders whereas I believe farmers make good effective leaders due to the way they challenge the process of farming seeking opportunities to change, grow and improve their farms as well as define a model of life by behaving consistently in coordination to their associated goals. More-so the characteristics that are seen in farmers have a tendency of relying on growth and development. For example, their mere ability to encourage their competency in terms of adapting to the know-hows of running a farm as to sustain it, their integrity in acting honestly with the resources given to them as to harmonize the potential of a high level of productivity, their ability to carry on what they do in regards to their direction and the well-being of their resources and finally their vision that allows them to feel rewarded and celebrate their achievement in creating an healthy environment where all resources are put to work together to maximize grow th (Leadership, 2016). The leadership styles will vary from one style to another. The majority of styles witnessed in farming are realised to be situational, functional and moral in terms of understanding the importance of all the stages that are required to achieve the final goal. Situational comes into action whilst having to deal with unforeseen changes. Functional relates to the ways of dealing with the available resources such as the land, crops and animals in this scenario. Lastly, the moral approach comes handy whilst the farmers set to better the environment they are within by acting consistently, treating the livestock with care and provisioning a safe environment for their produce (Harvey, 2009). Section Two: Leadership Personality Assessment Self-leadership being the ability to lead oneself towards achieving goals. In understanding my purpose as a person, I became willing to work on self-development. My journey started with the growth of a need to depend on myself. Its emergence grew from self-education and the help of various others whom were regarded as leaders. I embraced my liking of leadership from certain role models in my life, starting from my family, later becoming certain icons of the past and present. I am grateful for having parents who shed the light of intellectualism and wisdom whilst growing up. Many of the lessons they taught me kept me progressing throughout life as well as catering to a greater understanding in identifying my percipience of others I characterised as role models. In the words of Jack Welch, Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others (Greenberg, 2012). Growing oneself is a lifelong process and so is leadership. It requires continuous assessment of skills and qualities, yet it helps in understanding the aims of life and co-ordinates the ability to set goals and realise potential. Personal empowerment and self-education allowed me to find greater self-confidence, self-awareness, self-management and a level of self-motivation to commit to tasks in life to reach a satisfying goal. John F. Kennedy once said: Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other (Kennedy, 1963). As I continued to grow, my path crossed with others. It is inevitable to have at least one friend or person to whom you cannot relate to or try and befriend, regardless of all stages in life. A person will eventually work with someone on a given task. This can be seen either at work, home or within the community. Given the fact that I have moved away from the home I grew up in, many obstacles came my way. I no longer lived in my comfort zone. My surroundings were new, the people within the community were foreign to me, I had to re-calibrate and learn more about the environment I was living in. Therefore, I took on setting more goals that would encourage my participation in this environment. This helped me acquire a sense in furthering my knowledge of teamwork as well as elevate my emotional intellectual instincts in accordance to the surroundings, yet not allow the surroundings change who I am. I remained true to myself, but I visualised a larger set of goals. Results from the psychometric tests are as follows: Myer-Briggs/Jungs Big Five, 16 personalities (ENFP Personality (The Campaigner) | 16 Personalities, 2017). I am an ENFP-A Appendix B. Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Prospecting and Assertive. This suggests that I possess the personality of a campaigner and has the role of being a diplomat whilst utilizing the strategy of people mastery. Tony Robbins DISC (Robbin Research International, 2017). I have a moderately low Decisive, very high Interactive, high Stabilizing and moderately high Cautious personality Appendix C. In accordance to the DISC study, I seem to always build a comfort zone. This suggestively allows me to maintain my stress levels even when I am placed in a fast-moving environment due to my tendency to consciously think about modifying my behaviour. The Narcissist Personality Inventory (NPI-40 iLearn: MGSM, 2017). Score: 15/40 The lower the score the less narcissistic I am, as suggested by Raskin Hall. This simply states I have an average level of narcissism and is concluded in seven different facets. To my understanding from this test and the diagram available in Appendix D, various qualities have suggested levels of authority, self-sufficiency, superiority, exhibitionism, exploitation, vanity and entitlement that my personality tends to project. The high level of superiority indicates my senses of being of a high intellect whilst compared to the other tests. Personal observations in accordance to the above tests: My suggested personality is ENFP-A as per 16 personalities. The individual traits that were suggested showed a high level of extraversion, a high level of being intuitive, showing feelings, a prospecting character, and moderately assertive. The role as characterised by 16 personalities suggests I am a diplomatic campaigner who uses the strategy of people mastery. Results from the interviews: Interviewee 1 (the male participant), identified my personality to be ESFJ-A as per 16 personalities. The individual traits that were revealed by him showed a high level of extraversion, a moderate level of being observant, showing feelings, judging, and a high level of assertiveness. The role as characterised by 16 personalities suggests I am a sentinel consul who uses the strategy of people mastery. More-so, interviewee 1s completion of the DISC test further acknowledged a moderately low Decisive and very high Interactive personality, whilst concluding a very high Stabilizing and moderately low Cautious personality. Interviewee 2 (the female participant), identified my personality to be ISTJ-A as per 16 personalities. The individual traits that were revealed by her showed a moderate level of introversion, a high level of being observant, being practical, judging, and assertive. The role as characterised by 16 personalities suggests I am a sentinel logistician who uses the strategy of confident individualism. More-so, interviewee 2s completion of the DISC test revealed a well-balanced result that indicates a high average Decisive, a high average Interactive, a high average Stabilizing and a high average Cautious personality. Both interviewees were asked to come up with a list of six traits to help identify who I am to them. One listed the traits, whilst the other rated them from 1 10 (1 being the lowest, 10 being the highest). The results were fascinating to me, as I would have never actually considered them about myself. To conclude the results, I have found out that I possess certain characteristics of a natural leader. Given the above suggestions describing my person, I do realise everyone has potential of being a leader in their own way. I believe leading a good life and being a good person shows greatness; those are the first signs of true leadership. I embrace my strengths and work upon encouraging further strengths to emerge, yet I disregarded any mention of weaknesses. I believe everyone has weaknesses and implying them would discredit the ability of minimising them, yet understanding them may allow a person to bypass them. As once mentioned by Shusaku Endo: Every weakness contains within itself a strength (Scott, 2016). I envision my weaknesses as partially evident within my strengths and in bettering my strengths I can overcome any weakness. Therefore, the suggested strengths I have acquired can be further worked upon to better my being and indulge my sense of leadership. As for my efforts in bettering myself via personal development, I have set goals to improve the skills I lack in. Traits like social boldness and dominance as stated by the interviewees present in Appendix E will require some work to improve on, yet maintain and improve the rest of the other traits. Whereas from my own assessments, I would have to picture myself in being more assertive and find ways to identify my dominance as I never thought of myself as being someone who is well dominant, rather someone who is very competitive. References Cambridge English Dictionary. (2017). Meaning of farming in the Cambridge English Dictionary. www.dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 13 March 2017, from http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/farming Greenberg, M. (2012). Six Qualities Leaders Need to Be Successful. Psychology Today. Retrieved 15 March 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201204/six-qualities-leaders-need-be-successful Hale, R. (2013). Why Leaders are like Farmers. WellSpirit Consulting Group, Inc. Retrieved 13 March 2017, from http://wellspiritconsulting.com/why-leaders-are-like-famers/ Harvey, T. (2009). Leadership theories, leadership models and leadership principles. www.learn-to-be-a-leader.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017, from http://www.learn-to-be-a-leader.com/leadership-theories.html Hughes, R., Ginnett, R., Curphy, G. (2011). Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience (7th ed., p. 5). McGraw-Hill Irwin. Kennedy, J. (1963). John F. Kennedy Speeches John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Museum. www.jfklibrary.org. Retrieved 15 March 2017, from https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Dallas-TX-Trade-Mart-Undelivered_19631122.aspx Leadership. (2016). www.thepeopleindairy.org.au. Retrieved 14 March 2017, from http://www.thepeopleindairy.org.au/working-together/leadership.htm Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM). (2017). iLearn: NPI-40 Narcissism Personal Inventory. ilearn.mq.edu.au. Retrieved 15 March 2017, from http://ilearn.mq.edu.au/mod/quiz/view.php?id=3829882 Miller, P. (2012). Self-reflection: the key to effective leadership. Todays Manager, Dec 2011 Jan 2012. Retrieved from https://works.bepress.com/peter_miller/133/ Norman, D., Worman, F., Siebert, J., Modiakgotla, E. (1995). The farming systems approach to development and appropriate technology generation (1st ed., p. 33). Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Robbins Research International. (2017). DISC Profile: Free Online Personality Strengths Test Tony Robbins. Tony Robbins. Retrieved 15 March 2017, from https://www.tonyrobbins.com/disc/ Scott, K. (2016). What is Your Biggest Weakness? Vistage Florida. Vistage Florida. Retrieved 15 March 2017, from http://florida.vistage.com/2016/11/30/what-is-your-biggest-weakness/ Taberner, S. (2012). Cambridge Companion to GuÃÅ'ˆnter Grass (1st ed., p. 167). Cambridge: ProQuest LLC. Tole, J. (2017). Why leadership is very much like farming. LinkedIn Pulse. Retrieved 13 March 2017, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-leadership-very-much-like-farming-jonathan-tole Tolstoy, L. (2016). What is art? (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. Appendices       Appendix A: Appendix B: 16 Personalities: Personality type: The Campaigner (ENFP-A) Individual traits: Extraverted 61%, Intuitive 68%, Feeling 64%, Prospecting 53%, Assertive 63%. Role: Diplomat Strategy: People Mastery Summary: An extraverted mind that prefers groups activities, gets energized by social interaction and tends to be more enthusiastic, yet easily excited than introverts. A very intuitive individual who is very imaginative, open-minded and curious. Someone that prefers novelty over stability and focuses on hidden meanings as well as future possibilities. A naturally sensitive and emotionally expressive individual who tends to be more empathic and focuses on social harmony/cooperation. An assertive individual who is self-assured, even tempered and resistant to stress. Can refuse worrying too much and tends to not push themselves too hard when it comes to achieving goals as they believe goals will naturally come to them. Appendix C: DISC: Strengths: I have a large knowledge-base and a continuing appetite to learn more. I have the tendency to be friendly and easy-going whilst interacting with others. I possess the ability to focus on building my own skills and talents as well as assist others on building their own. I am modest rather than egocentric, yet can become more assertive when necessary. I have a desire to become the best that I can be, or an expert in a specific area. I acquired the ability to self-manage. Appendix D: Question 1 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I am much like everybody else. b. I am an extraordinary person. Question 2 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I am more capable than other people. b. There is a lot that I can learn from other people. Question 3 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I get upset when people dont notice how I look when I go out in public. b. I dont mind blending into the crowd when I go out in public. Question 4 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I wish somebody would someday write my biography. b. I dont like people to pry into my life for any reason. Question 5 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I am a born leader. b. Leadership is a quality that takes a long time to develop. Question 6 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. People sometimes believe what I tell them. b. I can make anybody believe anything I want them to. Question 7 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I am going to be a great person. b. I hope I am going to be successful. Question 8 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I would prefer to be a leader. b. It makes little difference to me whether I am a leader or not. Question 9 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. Being an authority doesnt mean that much to me. b. People always seem to recognize my authority. Question 10 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I can live my life in any way I want to. b. People cant always live their lives in terms of what they want. Question 11 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I really like to be the centre of attention. b. It makes me uncomfortable to be the centre of attention. Question 12 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I like to look at myself in the mirror. b. I am not particularly interested in looking at myself in the mirror. Question 13 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I dont care about new fads and fashions. b. I like to start new fads and fashions. Question 14 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I have a strong will to power. b. Power f or its own sake doesnt interest me. Question 15 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. Compliments embarrass me. b. I like to be complimented. Question 16 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I will never be satisfied until I get all that I deserve. b. I take my satisfactions as they come. Question 17 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I expect a great deal from other people. b. I like to do things f or other people. Question 18 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. Sometimes I tell good stories. b. Everybody likes to hear my stories. Question 19 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I sometimes depend on people to get things done. b. I rarely depend on anyone else to get things done Question 20 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I always know what I am doing. b. Sometimes I am not sure of what I am doing. Question 21 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I try not to be a show off. b. I will usually show off if I get the chance. Question 22 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. My body is nothing special. b. I like to look at my body. Question 23 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one: a. I just want to be reasonably happy. b. I want to amount to something in the eyes of the world. Question 24 Two statements. Which best applies to you? Select one:

Spatial Rhythm and Poetic Invention in William Carlos Williams Sunday

William Carlos Williams was fascinated by the ways in which living organisms and inert matter occupy space--how they move in it, or cannot move, are cramped or allowed to roam freely--and how the space inside organisms and matter is charted, perceived, and manipulated. Williams's preoccupation with actual space in the material world is paralleled by his formal experimentations with the placement of words on the page. "Without invention nothing is well spaced" (P 50), Williams writes at the beginning of "Sunday in the Park," raising the question, what does "well spaced" mean for Williams? How can the world and how can poetry be well spaced? The aim of this paper is to look at the relationship between Williams's use of what I will call spatial rhythms and the vision of poetry that emerges in "Sunday in the Park"--a section of Paterson particularly important for thinking about Williams's late poetic style because it contains the famous section beginning "The descent beckons / as the asc ent beckoned," marking Williams's invention of the triadic stanza with "variable foot," a form he would begin to use frequently in the 1950's. My hope is to offer a new perspective on Williams's poetics by showing how it is rooted in a conception of space, both external and internal or biological, that is constantly moving in a rhythmic fashion. Although William Carlos Williams's epic poem, Paterson, is about the city of Paterson and a man, also named Paterson, who is that city, the actual physical space of that city tends to be elusive throughout the poem, becoming most concrete in the second Book, "Sunday in the Park," which, however, does not deal with the city itself, but with the park above it. The park is both a part of the city of Paterson (... ...s: A New World Naked (McGraw-Hill, 1981), 462-63 and 466-67.[Hit the "back" button on the upper left hand corner of your browser to return to the text] 4. Mariani, 462-63.[Hit the "back" button on the upper left hand corner of your browser to return to the text] 5. Kenneth Burke, "The Thinking of the Body" in Language as Symbolic Action (Berkeley: U of California P, 1966), 340-41.[Hit the "back" button on the upper left hand corner of your browser to return to the text] 6. The last two descending sequences I have quoted †¹ the first beginning with "She was married with empty words" and the second with "The descent beckons" †¹ are also reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp's "Nude Descending Staircase." On Williams's interest in cubism and in Duchamp in particular, see Reed Whittemore, William Carlos Williams: Poet from Jersey (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1975), 113-124.

We Must Demand the Moral and Ethical Application of Technology :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

We Must Demand the Moral and Ethical Application of Technology Since the beginning of human history, earth has appeared as a nutshell that encloses many secrets. These secrets have hindered man from accomplishing his dream of mastering the world. However, as need is known to be the mother of invention, man has started to be critical about every phenomenon that takes place. Accordingly, learning has been regarded as an important tool for the improvement of humanity. Throughout the years, education has given birth to a huge database of scientific principles. Technology is known to be the application of scientific principles to the problems of everyday life. Technology is the ability of no other species but humans. Moreover, technological activity has been a measure of civilization. One cannot imagine a society without technology, as it will hardly be advanced or long-lived. Technology in itself is morally and ethically neutral. However, it is a double-edged weapon. The twentieth century has witnessed an extreme upheaval in the negative usage of te chnology. Therefore, many voices have been raised asking for a moral technology that respects human rights and ethical codes. It is very important to discuss this issue together with the role of various institutions that trigger the widespread of this idea for the benefit of humanity and for a better future on earth. Aristotle has outlined that man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but, when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all. Technology has been used primarily for the welfare of humanity. Through technological advancements, many secrets of the universe have been revealed contributing to the overall man civilization. No one can deny that good and evil are as old as the existence of man on earth. However, one can trace that as man reaches more and more progress, he looses more and more of his good instinctive human nature. This interesting but depressing relation poses many questions concerning the effect of technology on our lives. Sadly, we have witnessed many examples that show us that many immoral actions and unethical practices have been a sign of the last decades. It is crucial to define some terminologies that add a lot to our understanding of our life in general such as human rights, ethics, and morality.   These important concepts will help us to see technolog y in a wider vision rather than the narrow one that most people perceive.

Foreign and Drug Policy Essay -- American Government Politics Essays

Foreign and Drug Policy In examining the transitions in US government policy related to drug abuse and trafficking, historians are consistently confronted with the difficult task of analyzing the different motivations for variations in strategy from the Nixon administration to the present. In this specific case, our investigation centers upon the interplay of United States foreign policy in Latin America in the 1980’s (pursued mostly by the CIA) and the broad campaign against drugs both at home and abroad. At first glance, one might suppose that a moral ideology such as the war on drugs would be a multi-faceted operation with little available room for compromise. After all, an analogous crusade against terrorism has emerged as the overriding logic and driving force behind current foreign policy, so why shouldn’t narcoterrorism have a similar place in initiatives abroad? It would make sense that since we are now committed to eliminating any support for states that sponsor terrorism, nations like Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras should be dealt with in a similar manner for their complicity in drug trafficking. As we now know, this was not the case, thus further scrutiny is required. The framework for this analysis will be an in depth reading of multiple sources with differing viewpoints chronicling the events in the expansion of the Latin American narcotics trade. Our analysis begins with Oliver North, the military coordinator ultimately empowered by the National Security Council to conduct and oversee covert operations supporting Nicaraguan rebels, the Contras, in their resistance campaign. As part of Reagan’s fierce stance against communism, Latin America had become a battleground between American CIA ... ...ionale and a new direction for combating the widespread narcotics abuse in America, namely increased investment in treatment of addiction. Works Cited: Kerry, John et al. Senate Committee Report on Drugs, Law Enforcement, and Foreign Policy. Available online http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/ARCHIVE/KERRY.html. Access date 5/25/04. Korsmeyer, Pamela and David Musto. The Quest for Drug Control. Yale University Press: New Haven, 2002. Marshall, Jonathan and Peter Dale Scott. Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America. University of California Press: Los Angeles, 1991. Massing, Michael. The Fix. University of California Press: Los Angeles, 1999. PBS Frontline. Interview with Oliver North. Available online http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/north.html. Access date 5/23/04.

The Silver Linings Playbook Chapter 2

He Does Not Preach Pessimism My workout is interrupted midday, when Mom descends the basement stairs and says I have an appointment with Dr. Patel. I ask if I can go later that night, after I have completed my daily weights routine, but Mom says I'll have to go back to the bad place in Baltimore if I do not keep my appointments with Dr. Patel, and she even references the court ruling, telling me I can read the paperwork if I don't believe her. So I shower, and then Mom drives me to Dr. Patel's office, which is the first floor of a big house in Voorhees, just off Haddonfield – Berlin Road. When we arrive, I take a seat in the waiting room as Mom fills out some more paperwork. By now, ten trees must have been cut down just to document my mental health, which Nikki will hate hearing, as she is an avid environmentalist who gave me at least one tree in the rain forest every Christmas – which was really only a piece of paper stating I owned the tree – and I do feel bad now for making fun of those gifts and won't ever poke fun at the diminishing rain forest in the future when Nikki comes back. As I sit there flipping through a Sports Illustrated, listening to the easy-listening station Dr. Patel pumps into his waiting room, suddenly I'm hearing sexy synthesizer chords, faint highhat taps, the kick drum thumping out an erotic heartbeat, the twinkling of fairy dust, and then the evil bright soprano saxophone. You know the title: â€Å"Songbird.† And I'm out of my seat, screaming, kicking chairs, flipping the coffee table, picking up piles of magazines and throwing them against the wall, yelling, â€Å"It's not fair! I won't tolerate any tricks! I'm not an emotional lab rat!† And then a small Indian man – maybe only five feet tall, wearing a cable-knit sweater in August, suit pants, and shiny white tennis shoes – is calmly asking me what's wrong. â€Å"Turn off that music!† I yell. â€Å"Shut it off! Right now!† The tiny man is Dr. Patel, I realize, because he tells his secretary to turn off the music, and when she obeys, Kenny G is out of my head and I stop yelling. I cover my face with my hands so no one will see me crying, and after a minute or so, my mother begins rubbing my back. So much silence – and then Dr. Patel asks me into his office. I follow him reluctantly as Mom helps the secretary clean up the mess I made. His office is pleasantly strange. Two leather recliners face each other, and spider-looking plants – long vines full of white-and-green leaves – hang down from the ceiling to frame the bay window that overlooks a stone birdbath and a garden of colorful flowers. But there is absolutely nothing else in the room except a box of tissues on the short length of floor between the recliners. The floor is a shiny yellow hardwood, and the ceiling and walls are painted to look like the sky – real-looking clouds float all around the office, which I take as a good omen, since I love clouds. A single light occupies the center of the ceiling, like a glowing upside-down vanilla-icing cake, but the ceiling around the light is painted to look like the sun. Friendly rays shoot out from the center. I have to admit I feel calm as soon as I enter Dr. Patel's office and do not really mind anymore that I heard the Kenny G song. Dr. Patel asks me which recliner I want to relax in. I pick the black over the brown and immediately regret my decision, thinking that choosing black makes me seem more depressed than if I had chosen brown, and really, I'm not depressed at all. When Dr. Patel sits down, he pulls the lever on the side of his chair, which makes the footrest rise. He leans back and laces his fingers behind his tiny head, as if he were about to watch a ball game. â€Å"Relax,† he says. â€Å"And no Dr. Patel. Call me Cliff. I like to keep sessions informal. Friendly, right?† He seems nice enough, so I pull my lever, lean back, and try to relax. â€Å"So,† he says. â€Å"The Kenny G song really got to you. I can't say I'm a fan either, but †¦Ã¢â‚¬  I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. When I open my eyes, he says, â€Å"You want to talk about Kenny G?† I close my eyes, hum a single note, and silently count to ten, blanking my mind. â€Å"Okay. Want to tell me about Nikki?† â€Å"Why do you want to know about Nikki?† I say, too defensively, I admit. â€Å"If I am going to help you, Pat, I need to know you, right? Your mother tells me you wish to be reunited with Nikki, that this is your biggest life goal – so I figure we best start there.† I begin to feel better because he does not say a reunion is out of the question, which seems to imply that Dr. Patel feels as though reconciling with my wife is still possible. â€Å"Nikki? She's great,† I say, and then smile, feeling the warmth that fills my chest whenever I say her name, whenever I see her face in my mind. â€Å"She's the best thing that ever happened to me. I love her more than life itself. And I just can't wait until apart time is over.† â€Å"Apart time?† â€Å"Yeah. Apart time.† â€Å"What is apart time?† â€Å"A few months ago I agreed to give Nikki some space, and she agreed to come back to me when she felt like she had worked out her own issues enough so we could be together again. So we are sort of separated, but only temporarily.† â€Å"Why did you separate?† â€Å"Mostly because I didn't appreciate her and was a workaholic – chairing the Jefferson High School History Department and coaching three sports. I was never home, and she got lonely. Also I sort of let my appearance go, to the point where I was maybe ten to seventy pounds overweight, but I'm working on all that and am now more than willing to go into couples counseling like she wanted me to, because I'm a changed man.† â€Å"Did you set a date?† â€Å"A date?† â€Å"For the end of apart time.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"So apart time is something that will go on indefinitely?† â€Å"Theoretically, I guess – yes. Especially since I'm not allowed to contact Nikki or her family.† â€Å"Why's that?† â€Å"Umm †¦ I don't know, really. I mean – I love my in-laws as much as I love Nikki. But it doesn't matter, because I'm thinking that Nikki will be back sooner than later, and then she'll straighten everything out with her parents.† â€Å"On what do you base your thinking?† he asks, but nicely, with a friendly smile on his face. â€Å"I believe in happy endings,† I tell him. â€Å"And it feels like this movie has gone on for the right amount of time.† â€Å"Movie?† Dr. Patel says, and I think he would look exactly like Gandhi if he had those wire-rim glasses and a shaved head, which is weird, especially since we are in leather recliners in such a bright, happy room and well, Gandhi is dead, right? â€Å"Yeah,† I say. â€Å"Haven't you ever noticed that life is like a series of movies?† â€Å"No. Tell me.† â€Å"Well, you have adventures. All start out with troubles, but then you admit your problems and become a better person by working really hard, which is what fertilizes the happy ending and allows it to bloom – just like the end of all the Rocky films, Rudy, The Karate Kid, the Star Wars and Indiana Jones trilogies, and The Goonies, which are my favorite films, even though I have sworn off movies until Nikki returns, because now my own life is the movie I will watch, and well, it's always on. Plus I know it's almost time for the happy ending, when Nikki will come back, because I have improved myself so very much through physical fitness and medication and therapy.† â€Å"Oh, I see.† Dr. Patel smiles. â€Å"I like happy endings too, Pat.† â€Å"So you agree with me. You think my wife will come back soon?† â€Å"Time will tell,† Dr. Patel says, and I know right then that Cliff and I are going to get along, because he does not preach pessimism like Dr. Timbers and the staff at the bad place; Cliff doesn't say I need to face what he thinks is my reality. â€Å"It's funny, because all the other therapists I've seen said that Nikki wouldn't be back. Even after I told them about the life improvements I have been making, how I am bettering myself, they still were always ‘hating on me,' which is an expression I learned from my black friend Danny.† â€Å"People can be cruel,† he says with a sympathetic look that makes me trust him even more. And right then I realize that he is not writing down all my words in a file, which I really appreciate, let me tell you. I tell him I like the room, and we talk about my love of clouds and how most people lose the ability to see silver linings even though they are always there above us almost every day. I ask him questions about his family, just to be nice, and it turns out he has a daughter whose high school field hockey team is ranked second in South Jersey. Also he has a son in elementary school who wants to be a ventriloquist and even practices nightly with a wooden dummy named Grover Cleveland, who, incidentally, was also the only U.S. president to serve two terms that were not back-to-back. I don't really get why Cliff's son named his wooden dummy after our twenty-second and twenty-fourth president, although I do not say so. Next, Cliff says he has a wife named Sonja, who painted the room so beautifully, which leads to our discussion about how great women are and how it's important to treasure your woman while you have her because if you don't, you can lose her pretty quickly – as God really wants us to appreciate our women. I tell Cliff I hope he never has to experience apart time, and he says he hopes my apart time will end soon, which is a pretty nice thing to say. Before I leave, Cliff says he will be changing my medication, which could lead to some unwanted side effects, and that I have to report any discomfort or sleeplessness or anxiety or anything else to my mother immediately – because it might take some time for him to find the right combination of drugs – and I promise him I will. On the drive home I tell my mother I really like Dr. Cliff Patel and am feeling much more hopeful about my therapy. I thank her for getting me out of the bad place, saying Nikki is far more likely to come to Collingswood than to a mental institution, and when I say this, Mom starts to cry, which is so strange. She even pulls off the road, rests her head against the steering wheel, and with the engine running, she cries for a long time – sniffling and trembling and making crying noises. So I rub her back, like she did for me in Dr. Patel's office when that certain song came on, and after ten minutes or so, she simply stops crying and drives me home. To make up for the hour I spent sitting around with Cliff, I work out until late in the evening, and when I go to bed, my father is still in his office with the door shut, so another day passes without my talking to Dad. I think it's strange to live in a house with someone you cannot talk to – especially when that someone is your father – and the thought makes me a little sad. Since Mom has not been to the library yet, I have nothing to read. So I close my eyes and think about Nikki until she comes to be with me in my dreams – like always.