Melting Point Determination

This larger surface area-to- illume ratio allows for a sharper more accurate melting point. 4. Approximately 20 crystals should be loaded onto the coveralls to ensure that the sample is heated evenly. 5. The temperature of the stage should be ICC below the expected melting point when you begin to heat 1-ICC per minute. 6. The melting point range would increase because the heat would not be able to properly penetrate the sample evenly. This would make the center of the large uncrushed sample have less exposure to the heat, and it would melt much slower than a small and evenly spread sample. . It is important because if the temperature is increased too rapidly at the elating point, the sample and the aluminum block will not be at the thermal equilibrium with the thermometer. 8. Rapidly heating the sample results In too high of a reading because the sample and aluminum bock are not at equilibrium with the mercury in the thermometer and this will result In a very high reading. 9. A mixed melting point analysis Is preformed to determine the identity of an unknown sample.The unknown sample Is placed In the heating apparatus and heated using a true (slow) melting point. Once the melting point of the unknown Is determined, the known samples are mixed with the unknown to see which one matches the melting mint of the unknown. If the unknown sample and the known sample melt at the same temperature as the unknown then they are the same compound. If they melt before the melt point of the unknown then It Is an Impure compound exhibiting a depressed melting point.This way we are able to Identify the Identity of the unknown. 10. A. B and C are the same compounds. B. A Is different from B and C. C. It would be very similar to the melting point of B + A since B and C are the same. Therefore It would be approximately 45. 1 – 53. ICC. Crushing the sample allows for greater surface area-to-volume ratio of the powder, equilibrium with the thermometer. . Rapidly heating the sa mple results in too high mercury in the thermometer and this will result in a very high reading. . A mixed melting point analysis is preformed to determine the identity of an unknown sample.

The Major Profitability Ratios

The major profitability ratios are: 1. 1. 1. 1RETURN ON CAPITAL: Describes the earning capacity of the enterprise and it is measured by the following ratio: Profit before interest and taxation Average operating Assets The Return On Capital ratio measures how well the average operating assets (assets such as debtors, cash, fixed assets, stock) are generating the company s income, and is indicative of the management techniques applied by the company to utilise its assets. A poor income rate of return could indicate that valuable assets are under utilised.As a result of this problem, an enterprise, which shows a negative Return on capital could be under the influence of poor management. The earning capacity of XYZ Limited for 1998 and 1999 |Ratio|2000|1999|1998|Comments| |||||| Return on|||||| Capital|NPBT|100|88|70|| |Av. OA|(286 + 230) 2|(230 + 162) 2|(162 + 144)|Industry ave| ||100 x 100|88 x 100| 2|| ||258|196|70 x 100|| ||38, 76%|44, 9%|153|| ||||45. 7%|| |||||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : XYZ Limited s return on capital declined from 45. 7% in 1998 to 44. 9% in 1999.This decrease is mainly due to the increase in assets, but further investigation is required to analyse the extent of this decrease. The decrease continued further from 44. 9% in 1999 to 38. 76% in 2000. Again this decrease is due to an increase in assets. The question that arises therefor is: â€Å"Is this phenomena as a result of mismanagement of assets, or just because XYZ Limited is starting up and still growing? † Additional investigation would be required to analyse the extent of the decrease. 1. 1. 1. 2NET PROFIT RATIO: The primary objective of an enterprise is to make a profit.Profit is earned from sales and serves as an important measure of return of capital. The Net Profit percentage can be measured by the following ratio: Net Profit Sales This Net Profit Ratio measures the overall effectiveness of the enterprise s operations, before interest, tax and other non-â€Å"operati ng† items. The shortfall of this ratio in terms of its effectiveness is perhaps the fact that its usefulness is limited to comparisons with other companies. In addition, there is no guideline as to what the ideal absolute value should be. Changes to the Net Profit % can be influenced by one of two components, viz. – Gross Profit Percentage Operating Expenditure In addition, the percentage of sales consumed by operating expenses (i. e. Gross Profit % – Net Profit %) is often indicative of management efficiency in controlling operating costs. Disciplined management techniques, for example, by cutting costs can lead to two consequences, viz. : – A more profitable enterprise An efficiently operating enterprise The Net Profit % of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Net Profit % Margin|2000|1999|1998| Net Operating Income|100|88|70| Net Sales|900|800|700| |11. 11%|11. 00%|10. 00%| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N :The Net Profit Percentage Margin increased steadily in proportion to the Gross Profit percentage during the horizon of 1998 to 1999 (10% to 11%). This improvement in the enterprise s return on capital indicates that a proportionately greater profit was earned from sales in 1999 that in 1998. The crux of the matter, however, is not yet known whether this improvement is as a result of larger Gross Profit or lower expenses. Further analysis would be required. During the period of 1999 to 2000 the Net Profit Percentage Margin increased by a further 0. 11% (11% in 1999 to 11,11% in 2000).Again this improvement can be ascribe to an improvement in the enterprise s return on capital. And as noted in the previous horizon, it cannot be determined whether this improvement is as a result of larger Gross Profit or lower expenses. Further analysis would be required. 1. 1. 1. 3Gross Profit % Margin Gross Profit % is an indication of the return of the enterprise s core business. The Gross Profit percentage can be measured by the following r atio: Gross Profit Sales The Gross Profit percentage ratio may be difficult to calculate, as many companies do not disclose their Gross Profit figures.This ratio measures the overall profit margin the enterprise is making on the goods it sells. Perhaps a weakness of this ratio is that by disclosing this type of information a company could potentially expose itself to its competitors. Changes in the Gross Profit % can be influenced by the following factors: Change in markup – changes in the selling prices of goods, or possibly trade discounts will have a direct impact on the GP margin. Sales Mix – an enterprise may deal with numerous different products, which have different mark-ups, and as a result, the sales mix will have an influence on Gross Profit % margin.A changing sales mix should be ascertainable from the segment report (if prepared) by the enterprise. Inventory theft – the theft of inventories would cause unequal quantities of inventories to be reflec ted as sales and cost of sales, and will definitely have a negative impact of the GP margin. The Gross Profit % of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Gross Profit Margin|2000|1999|1998| Gross Profit X 100%|300|256|210| Sales|900|800|700| |33. 33%|32. 00%|30. 00%| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : During the period 1998 to 1999, XYZ Limited s Gross Profit percentage margin increased from 30. 3% in 1998 to 32. 9% in 1999.Changes in Gross Profit from one period to the next may be influenced by an increase in sales volume, but further analysis would be required. During the period 1999 to 2000, XYZ Limited s Gross Profit percentage margin increased by 1,1% (from 32. 0% in 1999 to 33. 3% in 1999). A closer look into the enterprise would be required to analyse the following factors: – Higher selling prices Lower purchasing prices Incorrect inventory counts Stricter prevention or loss control policies For obvious reasons, this type of analysis is only possible if the unit selli ng price and the costs are known. 1. 1. 1. Return on Equity (ROE) Return on Equity is measured by the following ratio: Net Profit After Tax Total Equity Return On Equity (ROE) is an indication of good or bad the shareholders prospered during the year. The objective of any enterprise must be to yield sufficient returns in line with the risks taken on by the owner. In addition, the Return on Equity ratio also gives the investor an idea of the sort of return of investment he/she is achieving. This can be compared with returns on alternative investment opportunities such as savings accounts, gilts, and fixed properties. The ROE of XYZ Limited is as follows: –Return on Equity200019991998 Net Profit After Tax|56|48|33| Total equity|186|154|102| |30. 11%|31. 17%|32. 35%| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : During 1998 the Return on Equity ratio, as calculated above, indicated that for every rand in equity XYZ Limited generated 32. 35 cents in profit. Also noticeable is that during 19 99 and 2000 this profit was measured as 31,17 and 30. 11 respectively. Apart from the fact that there was a mediocre decline in percentage over the three-year period, nothing signifies that the company is undergoing stress in terms of the ROE figures. Thus no further analysis would be required. . 1. 1. 5Earnings Per Share Describes the earning per share of the entity and it is measured by the following ratio: Earnings Per Share Total Equity Earnings Per Share indicates the value of the company s share as perceived by the market. The higher increase in value, the higher the favourable perception of the enterprise. The EPS of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Earnings Per Share|2000|1999|1998| Net Profit After Tax|56|48|33| Number of Shares Issued|10|10|8| |R5. 60|R4. 80|R4. 13| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : XYZ Limited s earnings per share favourably increased over the three horizons from R4. 3 (1998), to R4. 80 (1999), to R5. 60 (2000). This steady increase in share value ove r the three-year period is indicative of the higher favourable perception of XYZ Limited s 1. 1. 1. 6P/E Ratio Describes Price/Earnings per share capacity of the entity and it is measured by the following ratio: Price Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Per Share indicates the internal growth of an enterprise. The P/E ratio also signifies how much investors are willing to pay per rand of current earnings. Furthermore, an increase in P/E usually indicates that an enterprise shows potential for future growth.The P/E Ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – P/E ratio|2000|1999|1998| Price per Share|28|20|16| Earnings Per Share|6|5|4| |5. 00|4. 17|3. 90| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : The Price/Earnings per share for XYZ Limited steadily increased over the horizons of 1998 (3. 90) to 1999 (4. 17); an increase of 0. 27. This increase is healthy for the company as it reflects it as a growing capability. However, since XYZ Limited is in its start-up phase this increase is understandable. The Price/Earnings per share for XYZ Limited, again, steadily increased over the horizons of 1999 (4. 17) to 2000 (5. 00); an increase of 0. 3. What is interesting to note is that this internal growth suggests that perhaps it is one of the contributory factors, which influenced the negative trend in the return of capital and since the company is relative new, growth is inevitable. 1. 1. 2 Liquidity Ratios Liquidity ratios, in essence, measure the ability of the enterprise to pay its bills on time. In other words, the more liquid an enterprise possesses, the more able it would be in terms of paying its bills. In addition, Liquidity ratios also measure the management of a firm s ability to employ working capital. The major liquidity ratios are: Current Ratio Acid-test Ratio Stock Turnover days Creditors payment ratio 1. 1. 2. 1Current Ratio The Current ratio measures the amount of times the company s assets cover its liabilities. Current liabilities consist of creditors who must be paid in cash in the short term. Current assets mainly consist of stock, debtors, and cash. The calculation of the current ratio is as follows: Current Assets Current Liabilities There is no generic rule of thumb about what the figure should be, but generally speaking, an acceptable ratio usually computes between 1 and 2, even though this may vary from industry to industry.The significant thing about the current ratio is that it is used to make comparisons, rather than an absolute measure of liquidity. As a short-term ratio, it makes sense, due to the fact the company s liquidity in the short term depends upon whether it has enough current assets to pay its current liabilities. Another important aspect of the Current Ratio is that it is an important tool for creditors and bank managers (in the case of overdrafts) as signifies that the company can make the commitment to its lenders. The current ratio could also be used in terms of risk management in the event of a negative trend in t his ratio.For example, if the rate at which the company s assets are converted into cash is slower than that of the repayment of the company s creditors, there would be liquidity problems in that enterprise. The Current ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Current Ratio|2000|1999|1998| Current Assets|186|110|22| Current Liabilities|70|36|20| |2. 66 : 1. 0|3. 06:1. 0|1. 10:1. 0| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : The Current ratio for XYZ Limited during the period 1998 to 1999 increased considerably from 1. 10:1. 0 to 3. 06:1. 0. The poor acid-test ratio in 1998 indicated that the company had experienced problems.This is obviously not the case due to the fact that the enterprise was just starting up. Another observation of this particular horizon is that it signifies that in 1999 the company expanded (grew) substantially since its inception – which contributed to the enormity of the gap. During the period of 1999 to 2000 the current ratio of XYZ Limited expectedly â₠¬Å"levelled-out† from (3. 06: 1. 0) to (2. 66:1. 0); and even though it is still above the industry norm (2:1). Even though this horizon indicates that XYZ Limited has the capabilities of servicing long-term debt and current liabilities, it must still be viewed with caution. 1. 1. 2. Acid Test Ratio The Acid-Test ratio (or sometimes referred to as the Quick ratio) is a more severe form of the current ratio where current assets are readily converted to cash are calculated as a proportion of the current liabilities. The calculation of the Acid-test ratio is as follows: Current Assets – Stock Current Liabilities The Acid-test ratio also compares current assets to current liabilities, but removes stock from the assets, since stock is usually the least liquid of all the assets and the most difficult to convert into cash. This ratio, in fact, gives us a more accurate assessment of the liquidity of the enterprise.A quick ratio of 1:1 would be considered as the norm , but may v ary from industry to industry. The Quick ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Acid Test Ratio|2000|1999|1998| Current assets – Stock|120|70|7| Current Liabilities|70|36|20| |1. 71:1. 0|1. 94:1. 0|0. 35:1. 0| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : The Current ratio for XYZ Limited during the period 1998 to 1999 increased considerably from 0. 35:1. 0 to 1. 94:1. 0 respectively. The poor acid-test ratio in 1998 is indicative of the fact that the company was in its infancy stage and was probably committed to its lenders.XYZ Limited then somewhat leap-frogged in 1999 to a more favourable position due its debtors recovery. During the period of 1999 to 2000 the quick ratio of XYZ Limited declined marginally from (3. 06: 1. 0) to (2. 66:1. 0) respectively; and even though it is still above the industry norm (1:1). The decrease in XYZ Limited s quick ratio could be ascribed to expansion in operations and growth and even though was still able to meet its short-term commitments. 1. 1. 2. 3Stock turnover days The calculation of the stock turnover days is as follows: Average inventory X 365 Cost of salesThe inventory stock days calculates the sales an enterprise contains in its year-end inventory. The most efficient scenario would be to have no inventory holding, but is impractical, as it would make an enterprise inoperable. It would therefor be considered as a management inventory control policy. The Stock turnover days ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Stock Inventory Turnover Days|2000|1999|1998| Ave inventory X 365|66|40|15| Cost of sales|600|544|490| |40. 15|26. 84|11. 17| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : It is interesting to note that during the period 1998 and 1999 this figure for the stock turnover days seemingly increased by 25. 7 days (from 11. 17 days in 1998 to 26. 84 days in 1999). This increase in the number of days could be as a result of growth or due to stock holding. XYZ Limited showed an increase in the number of days for the horizon 1 999 (26 days) and 2000 (40 days). This negative trend over this period and the previous horizon could be misleading and potentially indicates that stock piling occurs. It is difficult to assess this condition as the company could be in the process of delivering a huge order or has over stocked in anticipation of sales projection. 1. 1. 2. 4Creditors PaymentsThe calculation of the creditors payments is as follows: Average Creditors X 365 Cost of sales The creditors payments days indicates the period an enterprise uses to pay it s trade collectors. This can potentially give rise to cash discounts by suppliers. The Creditors Payments ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Stock Inventory Turnover Days|2000|1999|1998| Ave Creditor X 365|40|26|20| Cost of sales|600|544|490| |24 days|17days|14days| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : XYZ Limited showed an increase in the number of days for the horizon 1998 (14 days) and 1999 (17 days). And again during 2000 (24 days).This, however, does n ot signify anything as the company is still able to pay its suppliers in less that 30 days, which suggests an efficient payment process. 1. 1. 3 Leverage Ratios Leverage (Gearing) ratios, in essence, gives the analyst an indication of the sort of debt an enterprise has and how the operations is financed. All leverage ratios will contain long-term debts and short-term debts. This is usually compared with the total assets of the company. Financial institutions and banks are usually keen to know the company s leverage as they are keen to find out how much an enterprise has borrowed and what it can afford to borrow.The major leverage ratios are: 1. 1. 3. 1Debt Ratio The debt ratio is an indicator of all the debt that the company has , to its total assets. The calculation of the debt ratio is as follows: Total liabilities Total assets Due to the accounting equation, it can be generally assumed that the company has financed its assets by the above proportion of â€Å"non-owner† fun ds. â€Å"Owner funds† refers to share capital and retained earnings. Lenders generally stipulate that this ratio should not exceed a certain percentage because it is usually more risky to lend to a company who lacks owners funds (i. . share capital + retained earnings) as apposed to its â€Å"non-owners† funds. Again, the desirable value of this ratio is difficult to evaluate and its usefulness lies in how it compares to the same ratio in other similar companies. The debt ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Debt ratio|2000|1999|1998| Total liabilities|100|76|60| Total assets|286|230|162| |34. 97%|33. 04%|37. 04%| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : The debt ratio for XYZ Limited during the period 1998 to 1999 decreased marginally from 37. 04% to 33. 04%. this was mainly due to an increase in assets.Due to this effect on leverage, the debt equity ratio caused the return on shareholder s equity to remain fairly constant even though an increase in return on capit al was encountered. During the period of 1999 to 2000 the debt ratio of XYZ Limited increased marginally, suggesting that the company did not have the same profitability as the previous horizon. 1. 1. 3. 2Long-term Debt Ratio The long-term debt ratio is an indicator of only the long-term debt that the company has, to its total assets. The calculation of the long-term debt ratio is as follows: Long-term Debt Total assetsLong term debt is fairly static. Generally lenders do not like to give long-term loans to finance short-term (current assets). They prefer to lend on a long-term basis for items such as fixed assets. The ratio therefor indicates what proportion of the assets has been financed by long-term debt. The debt ratio of XYZ Limited is as follows: – Long-term debt ratio|2000|1999|1998| Long-term debt|30|40|40| Total assets|286|230|162| |10. 49%|17. 39%|24. 69%| |||| I N T E R P R E T A T I O N : The debt ratio for XYZ Limited during the period 1998 to 1999 decreased mar ginally from 24. 9% to 17. 39%. This was mainly due to an increase in total assets. Due to this effect on leverage, the debt equity ratio caused the return on shareholder s equity to remain fairly constant even though an increase in return on capital was encountered. During the period of 1999 to 2000 the debt ratio of XYZ Limited increased significantly mainly due to an increase in total assets and a decrease in long-term debt. What is noticeable in this ratio is that XYZ Limited is not particularly bad for the company. In fact, the company is seemingly doing very well.

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Increasing Technology and Its Impact on Children Essay

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Wellshire NHS Trust - Case Study Example According to the paper, HR policies identified in the case study are centred towards nursing staff and their workplace environment. The fact finding report determined various problems that exists within two large hospitals operated by NHS Trust. There are four issues identified in the case study such as sickness absence, performance appraisal, employee relations, and learning and development. In recent years there has been increase in percentage of sickness absence. The major reason behind such problem can be lack of employee motivation. Staff members are not motivated enough to accomplish tasks or be regular in workplace practices. Stress related conditions have been so prominent in the organization that it initiated short term absence. In such scenario line managers should communicate effectively with team members. However data collected by line managers were not utilized further in order to resolve issues. It can be stated that initiatives were not undertaken by line managers and this created more problems in terms of increased degree of sickness absence. Inappropriate performance appraisal system can be denoted as another issue identified in the organization. Performance appraisal programs were undertaken by managers to address certain competencies such as communication, service improvement, people development, quality, health and safety, diversity and equality. Appraisal meetings were often not held in scheduled time period. There was no record maintained regarding employee performance and this issue gained more prominence in context of workplace shifts. The main reason behind this problem was lack of technology based applications. Hence it became difficult to track employee performance and implement productive strategies.  

Chapter Questions From Global health 101 richard skolnik book Essay - 10

Chapter Questions From Global health 101 richard skolnik book - Essay Example Hand washing with soap kills invisible germs and bacteria that can cause infections (155). The burden of disease from natural disasters and CHE’s is massive compared with other causes of illness, death and disability. There is a surging increase in number of deaths resulting from natural disasters and complex humanitarian as compared to natural causes of death (330). This is more so because CHE’s are associated with other diseases like cholera, typhoid and malnutrition. A disaster refers to an occurrence that disrupts the normal life of human beings by causing death and environmental destruction. Disasters always require intervention from outsiders in terms of food, shelter and clothing. Examples are volcanoes, floods and earthquake. Complex humanitarian emergency refers to a situation caused by political unrests resulting in instability in a country. This strife can result from wars or religious and ethnic clashes. The civilians suffer most in this case due to lack of necessities resulting to cropping up of refugees. Examples of countries that experience this phenomenon are Sudan, Bosnia, Liberia and Rwanda (319). A complex disaster is a situation where severe destruction happens thereby leaving the inhabitants helpless and in dire need of urgent assistance, e.g. tsunamis and hurricanes like it happened in Haiti. The disaster left many people in serious need of basic commodities. Many lives were lost (317). Avoiding some disasters can be hard, but they can be handled before they can cause massive destruction. Examples are floods and earthquake prone areas. The following are steps taken to reduce the magnitude of threats; Identify the risks that can occur like Floods, droughts and famine, develop theories of what is likely to happen based on past experience, set aside resources to appoint and train people to deal with the situation as soon as it occurs

Customer perspectives revisited Essay Example for Free

Customer perspectives revisited Essay When a business loses the drive to pursue and retain customers, it loses its soul and therefore the right to exist. No business can function, thrive or prosper without a reliable customer base. In the customer perspective theory BSC makes it clear that it is not only essential to know who the target customers are and how a business can better serve that customer base. The BSC identifies three primary ways of providing services to customers in the Balance scorecard system. Operational excellence emphasizes low prices, and convenience ( Nevin 2003). Product leadership focuses on providing the  best product in the market. In customer intimacy the business stresses the development of long term relationships with the customer, doing whatever is necessary to know what it is that the customer truly wants. It does so while maintaining as much knowledge as possible of its customers. The reason for these efforts in acquiring superior customer knowledge comes down to the point that the businesses are attempting to provide as much satisfaction to the customers as possible. The other reasons include customer loyalty and the need for more market share. (Balancedscorecard. org. ) INTERNAL PROCESS PERSPECTIVE REVISITED: This area focuses on identification of the things that would need to be done in order to continue to add value to the customers and ultimately to the shareholders (Nevin 2003). The internal process aims to serve the customer and increase the total value of the organization, as well as keep record of the companies progress. The team’s objective is primarily to develop better products, to find better ways of manufacturing better products. To find better ways of delivering their products, and to find better ways of delivering better services after the products had been delivered. LEARNING AND GROWTH PERSPECTIVE REVISITED: This may actually be the most important aspect of the entire process. Organizations would get as far as their employees could take them. A team that lacks knowledge may not be able to provide the necessary services required by the customers. Therefore genuine effort must be made to keep employees abreast of necessary information. And that is what the learning and growth perspective tries to define. It emphasizes that information be made available to the employees. It requires the employees skills be as sharp as necessary. It does not want employees to be ignored. Again the key here is that any organization would only go as far as the employees could take it. With adequate care and education, employees can only do better for the company. It is important to point out that the BSC system does not ignore the financial perspective. But the key is that when a company has satisfied the other objectives, that company stand a pretty good chance of doing well financially. BALANCE SCORECARD AS A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Obviously putting a business and management strategy is important, but no strategy will function if it does not actually get implemented. So the first step in resolving the  issue of non-implementation, is to identify what the potential problems towards implementation may be, and then address those issues. According to fortune magazine (1999) about 70% of strategies are poorly executed, so how can it be executed better. Both the team and the management must pay attention to the four barriers: the vision barrier, the people barrier, the resource barrier, and the management barrier. (1) VISION BARRIER: To overcome the vision barrier, employees must not be kept in the dark. The BSC wants management to be very clear as to what the vision is. When possible place a figure on the  vision . For instance if the goal is to manufacture products without defects 90 % of the time, then it may be made clearer by stating exactly that. That figure of 90% translates the vision to a level that could not be misunderstood. Give the employees the appropriate knowledge base and strategic structure, that makes the entire strategic objective easier to follow. Management should facilitate a total understanding of the strategy and the whole structure in order to enable all the team members to fully understand the strategy and therefore work towards achieving it as a unit. (Kaplan Norton).

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison | Analysis

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison | Analysis The main protagonist of Ralph Ellison invisible man is not the only one who remains unseen as the novel unfolds. Another element also cloaked in invisibility follows our unknown character throughout the novel, changing both beat and tempo as the novel develops. Rather like the invisible man, the ongoing musical beat that runs through out the invisible man’ may not be visible yet it is very clearly felt and heard. It is the distinct incorporation of the inflowing musical beat that allows for an interloping of ideas based upon the visible, the invisible and the creative with the novel. The main theme within the ‘invisible man’ is that of the more obvious theme of invisibility. Ellison explores through the use of music such as in the form of jazz the moments or experiences where invisibility takes control. Such breaks in visibility signify a chance for the protagonist to escape and break the mould of the what can be called ‘constitutional visibility’ allowing for the exploration of ones own identity and individuality. An individuality and identity that is not in any way restricted to what is generally accepted as visible. Such breaks that allow for such explorations to take place within the novel can be seen from the very beginning where in the prologue the protagonist recalls a certain incident: Once I saw a prize-fighter boxing a yokel. The fighter was swift and amazingly scientific. His body was one violent flow of rapid rhythmic action. He hit the yokel a hundred times while the yokel held up his arms in stunned surprise. But suddenly the yokel struck one blow . The smart money hit the canvas. The long shot got the nod. The yokel had simply stepped inside of the opponent’s sense of time. Through such a passage the reader is able to see that there is an alternative to the scientific approach. The yokel uses time and space in order to overpower the violence of science allowing creativity to achieve success. The restriction imposed by science is overcome through the ability to analyze and interpret a situation differently. In the instance it was the yokel’s ability to step into the time frame of the prize-fighter and thus provide for a different strategy towards victory. One that was able to unite creativity and originality. Rather like the same way the ‘invisible man’ uses the music of Louis Armstrong with the combination of the reefer to discover a rather unconventional way of listening to Armstrong’s music, thus in that way offering new ways of interpretation. Through the work of Victor Zuckerkandl, critic Nathaniel Mackey creates a rather interesting argument. Mackey states that ‘because music exists the tangible and visible can not be the whole of the given world. The intangible and invisible is itself a part of the world, something which we encounter, something to which we respond’ this statement can be seen running throughout the ‘invisible man’. It is visible where the protagonist describes the dream like images evoked by the Louis Armstrong’s music. These images run throughout the novel as seen at the very beginning by the incorporation of the prize-fighter and the yokel. These cuts and breaks in the narrative are essential to grounding this feeling and theme of invisibility whilst at the same time allowing Ellison to create improvisation through the use of language. Such technique is central to the very framework of the novel. The novel itself flows like a piece of music, with one incident happening right after the other. Each incident offers a break, a certain point in which the protagonist is given a certain moment in which his identity and individuality are either challenged or asserted. Even so Ellison does not rely on merely the invisible man to convey the W.Bell calls the portrayal of ‘the historical quest of black American for identity in a society whose traditions simultaneously inspire and inhibit their impulse toward freedom and self-realization’.Characters like Trueblood immerge. Although he has committed the sin of incest, trueblood does not allow his guilt to bind him. He turns towards the blues for guidance and repentance. One can even say that trueblood turns inward, looking to himself and to what defines him as an individual. W.Bell says that ‘the courage and discipline that Trueblood discovers in the blues are essential values that the hero must learn by acknowledging his folk heritage’. The character of the junkman that the hero meets later in New York is also a reinforcement of the idea of the blues as being part of the cultural heritage of the black community. The idea of jazz and the blues and the power that they were able to distribute lies in their ability to parallel the then black life. Writing in ‘Living with music’ Ellison is quoted as saying ‘life could be harsh, loud and wrong if it wished, but they lived it fully and when they expressed their attitude toward the world it was with a fluid style that reduced the chaos of living to form’ This idea is reinforced through the meeting of the invisible man with the junkman who unlike Trueblood is not ultimately dismissed by the protagonist, ‘he had me grinning despite myself. I liked his words through I didn’t know the answer. Id known the stuff from childhood, but had forgotten it; had learned it back of school.’.Where as the tainted past of Trueblood causes the invisible man to cast him aside the quizzical performance of the junkman allows for him to grasp at his own heritage. A notion reinforced through the simple act of buying a baked yam from the street vendor soon afterwards.’ I yam what I am ’. It is these grasps at heritage and the acceptance of his own peoples strive for freedom that the invisible man must realise is the essential makeup of his quest for personal individuality and freedom. For they are, part of the make-up of who he is. What must also be noted is that throughout the novel and these incidents, the invisible man seems to have a certain type of plan that each time he strives to achieve. Yet as the novel progresses the plan changes. It is transformed from the mere wish of wanting to graduate and become as highly respected by the white community as Bledsoe. To wanting to work hard and be able to return to his school, to wanting assert himself within the brotherhood. To finally whilst in his hole, wanting only to assert his own humanity. In Ralph Ellison ‘The collected essays of Ralph Ellison. Ellison argues that it was the American dream that drove all Americans, ranging from different European nationalities to come to states and establish a better way of life. Even so, this was not the case for the then African slaves. Once freed these former slaves were now forced into finding a way of life that would enable them to be able to live within this European mix even though they were distinctively non-European. This, Ellison argues, resulted into an even more complex and thorough mix, eventually resulting in to the true beginnings of the American culture. Having no past in the art of Europe, they could use its elements and their inherited sense of style to improvise forms through which they could express their own unique sense of American experience. To Ellison this clearly was parallel to Jazz as it was the one form of art that could both explain and identify the American experience. Just like jazz uses improvisation, to piece together different instruments playing their own spontaneous versions of the chords that create a song, so did the many different cultures and cultural traditions come together to piece the American tradition. This piecing of the American culture and tradition is seen throughout the novel as the protagonists comes face to face with a variety of individuals, raging from different backgrounds that have all come together to form what is termed as ‘American’. Ellison comments in his ‘Shadow and Act’ that: ‘The Blues is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in ones acting consciousness, to finger its jagged edge and to transcend it, not by consolation of philosophy but by squeezing from it a near-tragic, near comic lyricism. As a form the blues is an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed lyrically†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ In other words what Ellison is stating is that the blues offer another medium through which the philosophy of life is brought out. A philosophy as such that revolves through and around the complexities of improvisation. The crude or white-washed walls of science are completely disregarded by Ellison for a far more natural or artistic sense of being. Where ones path is life is defined by the tragedies and experiences he or she goes through, so that we are able to emerge triumphant in the end, whilst temporarily relying on the comforts of the present. This according to Ellison is the true essence of ones freedom of identity. Albert Murray further expands on this in ‘The hero and the blues’ stating that the blues present us with a near ancient tragedy sort of existence where the hero is able to persist through life and through whatever ugliness that life presents to him through what Murray calls ‘a device for making the best of a bad situation’. Such a philosophy can be partly seen through the grandfather’s words that the protagonist hears echoing through out the novel. His, the grandfathers, was a philosophy of yes-sing them. Such a philosophy may be on the surface regarded as a show of submission by the black man to the white mans dominance. Yet to the grandfather it was a way of survival. A way of like Murray says making the best out of a bad situation. In a world where the black community was regarded as lowly and inferior to the white community it is hard to see how a full on offensive would have helped in determine equality. In fact a full on offensive by the black man towards the white man would have left the black man poor, helpless and hungry. This show of submission is part of the grandfathers departing wisdom. A wisdom that urges our protagonist to fight in a defensive rather than offensive mode as this would be the fruitful result. This would be achieved by: ‘‘Live with your head in the lions mouth, I want you to overcome ‘em with yess, undermine’em with grins, agree’em to death and destruction, let ‘em swoller you till they vomit or bust open’’ Although not completely understood by the main protagonist the grandfather had imparted a rather sphinx like riddle of an advice that although appeared to be that of subjection was actually a means of survival. By urging his grandson to say yes he in not urging him to bow down to the white man but rather assert himself. He is saying ‘yes’ knowing that he has the power to say ‘no’. His ‘yes’ is a show of dignity, a statement stating that he is agreeing as a free man, not as a slave, and that that ‘yes’ is a means of survival. The grandfather is not the only one to have picked up on this idea of having to say ‘yes’ in order to survive. Bledsoe is another character who aims to ‘yeses’’ the entire white race to death. Yet the difference between Bledsoe and the grandfather is that Bledsoe does it through complete selfishness. This is the danger that as Bernard W.Bell says Ellison is ultimately implying. à ¢â‚¬Ëœ..the danger of compulsive individualism in a laissez-faire social system based on the conflicting principles of egalitarianism and racism.’ The hero’s grandfather’s words are elusive and open to a wide scope of interpretation, yet for Ellison this was the exact embodiment of the meaning of jazz. Jazz as seen in Ellison’s essay ‘The Charlie Christian Story’ was regarded by Ellison as an art of individual assertion within and against the group. Each true jazz moment springs from a contest in which each artist challenges all the rest; each solo flight or improvisation, represents a definition of his identity: as individual, as member of the collectivity and as a link in the chain of tradition. Thus because jazz finds its very life in an endless improvisation upon traditional materials, the jazzman must lose his identity even as he finds it. Ellison last words echo the very theme of the ‘the invisible man’ and the final act of the hero within the book. For in order to become visible Ellison’s hero has had to become invisible. And although our invisible man seems to have only become invisible by the end of the novel, what is conveyed through the hero himself is that he has been in fact invisible from the very beginning. This invisibility was a direct product of the white man, invisibility evoke through the hero’s blind faith in the white mans word. Although the novels hero does as his grandfather says ‘agree’em’, he does not ‘agree’em to death’. His ‘yeses’’ are ones that do not recognise his own individuality. The individuality of a black man who knows that although by agreeing the issue may not be confronted at least it is put out there. Another character in this novel that has the ability to say yes without being submissive is Mary. You have to take care of yourself, son. Don’t let this Harlem git you. I’m in New York, but New York ain’t in me, understand what I mean? Don’t git corrupted. Mary has chosen to agree in order to survive. Yet her agreement does not stretch as far as corruption ‘I’m in New York, but New York ain’t in me, understand what I mean? Don’t git corrupted’. Mary has created an ideology which allows for her survival, whilst at the same time ensuring her own honesty by not contradicting her own morals. These are the punches the yokel was able to find in order to outwit the prize fighter. These are the parallel examples to ‘the smart money hit the canvas. The long shot got the nod’. The anonymous letter received by the protagonist later on in the novel is the first time the protagonist says ‘yes’ without being submissive. This time his ‘yes’ is accompanied by resentment and fear. Tarps actions of giving his chain link to the invisible man and his words ‘don’t think of it in terms of but two words, yes and no; but it signifies a heap more’, offer another insight into the invisible mans grandfathers words. To be able to find the true meaning behind his grandfather’s word the invisible man chooses invisibility. This invisibility although offers a cloak of protection from the worlds corruption it, is unable to provide an escape from the workings of his own mind In going underground, I whipped it all except the mind, the mind. And the mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived. It is through the workings of the protagonists mind that the reader is told about his experiences and life. It is also through the workings of the same mind that allow the invisible man to come to conclusion. A conclusion which causes him to realise, that although he believed himself truly free he was never free from the workings of his mind. These processes or thoughts are the forces which lead him to realise that Gin, jazz and dreams were not enough. Books were not enough.† .By the end of the novel the invisible man has come to realise his grandfather words as part of his own social responsibility. It is at this point that the role of improvisation has diminished. The invisible man has come to relish his own social responsibility. A responsibility that embodies the individual yet at the same time re establishes the value of the community. A jazz player may improvise in a solo bringing out his own identity yet he must also work together with the rest of the group to bring out the larger part of the song. It is this larger part of the song, the bigger picture that allows for the protagonist to accept his social responsibilities. A bigger picture resulting not through, merely an understanding of improvisation but rather through the simple of act of forgiveness and love. It’s ’winner take nothing’ that is the great truth of our country or of any country. Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in the face of certain defeat. Our fate is to become one, and yet many.

Housing Development Legal Issues

Housing Development Legal Issues Architectural BIM Technology Table of Contents (Jump to) Executive Summary 1.0 Introduction 2.0 St Johns College Respond housing Development 3.0 Evaluation of Legal issues 4.0 Conservation Protected structures 5.0 Duty of Care 6.0 Scope of Works 7.0 Boundary Disputes 8.0 Reflective Learning Bibliography Table of Cases Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 Hymany [Pontoon] Ltd -v- Galkil Ltd t/a Impact Developments IEHC 188 Dempsey Anor -v- Waterford Corporation [2008] IEHC 55 (29 February 2008) Cite as: [2008] IEHC 55 List of Images Fig 1 http://www.mythenconstruction.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/St-Johns-College-Waterford.jpg Fig 2 http://waterfordireland.tripod.com/stjohnscollege.jpg Fig 3 http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,661050,611123,7,10 Fig 4 http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,661050,611123,7,14 Fig 5 http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,661050,611123,7,11 Fig 6- http://waterfordcouncil.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Solutions/s2.html?appid=c6d45bb300e6463db7e9c6bd1df43441 Fig 7 http://waterfordcouncil.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Solutions/s2.html?appid=c6d45bb300e6463db7e9c6bd1df43441 Fig 8 http://waterfordcouncil.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Solutions/s2.html?appid=c6d45bb300e6463db7e9c6bd1df43441 Executive Summary This document will focus on identifying expanding and exploring legal issues which may be encountered regarding the housing development by Respond in partnership with Department of Environment, Local Government and Communities. The project is to consist of 21 apartments in the upper level of the existing St Johns College building and 36 new apartments in a newly build block which will be located on the college site at Richardson’s Folly, Waterford. Mythen construction will be the contractors on site for the project which started in December 2013. The legal issues which will be focus of the project are Conservation Protected structures, Duty of Care, Scope of works and Boundary disputes. Each area will be outlined within the document and furthermore expanded on in order to outline methods of resolving such issues. Legal literature regarding both construction and general law will be used as will appropriate case law in order to widen the scope and provide a more general view of the issues. 1.0 Introduction The main aim of this document is to identify, evaluate and expand on â€Å"the main legal issues likely to arise in relation to the respond housing association development at St Johns College, Richardson’s Folly, and Waterford.† The document will explore legal issues related to Architecture which may occur or be encountered by both an Architect and Architectural Technician on site during the duration of the project mentioned above. In evaluating these issues, past legal cases associated to the topics will be reviewed in order to provide a clearer view of the issues in question, to the relevant laws and how these issues can be resolved. Guidance will also be provided in terms of how these issues can be dealt with and also how they can be foreseen and eliminated at an early stage in the future as to avoid any disputes between all parties involved in the project whether these disputes happen on or off site. Prior to the breakdown of the issues which may arise a short overv iew of St Johns College, the history of the college and a breakdown of the project undertaken by Respond will be outlined in order to provide a wider scope of the project as a whole. 2.0 St Johns College Respond housing Development St Johns College is a Catholic seminary which as mentioned, is located at Richardson’s Folly in Waterford. The college which was founded in 1880 for the Waterford/Lismore diocese. The college was made up of two schools the first being a classical school run by Rev. Thomas Flynn and the second an Academy run by Dr. Geoffrey Keating. The College closed in closed in 1999 due to lack of activity and vocations with the remaining students transferred. In 2007 it was announced that Respond Housing association in partnership with Department of Environment, Local Government and Communities had acquired sections of the site which is a protected structure of approximately 3900sq.m with a proposal of redeveloping the building into social housing. Mythen construction began works on site in December 2013. The development as it stands is to consist of the retrofit/redevelopment of the existing college building which is to include 21 apartments on the upper floors with a new building located on site which will house 36 new apartments (2400 sq.m approx.) the redevelopment will also include communal facilities. Below are images of the proposed and existing buildings with 3 OSI maps showing the site location and the proposed new site. Proposed development Fig 1 Existing building – Fig2 OSI Site plan – Fig 3 Existing building- Fig 4 Proposed new site Fig 5 3.0 Evaluation of Legal issues The following are the legal issues which will be identified, evaluated and expanded on. As mentioned these issues will be broken down in order to identify how these issues can arise, how they can be dealt with and how they can be prevented in the future. Previous legal cases, Legal literature regarding construction and general legal resources will be used to further the reasoning behind such issues and how they may arise. Conservation Protected structures Duty of Care Scope of Works Trespass Boundary Dispute 4.0 Conservation Protected structures The first area to be explored is conservation and protected structures. As the main college building is a protected structure this without doubt will be an issue associated with a project. When a project is undertaken which involves conservation or that of a protected structure it is essential to have an architect who has some experience in conservation or dealing with protected structures. As stated in the Irish Planning and Development act 2000 â€Å"Each owner and each occupier shall, to the extent consistent with the rights and obligations arising out of their respective interests in a protected structure or a proposed protected structure, ensure that the structure, or any element of it which contributes to its special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest, is not endangered†[1]. In keeping with the statement above it is important for a conservation survey to be carried out on the structure prior to commence ment in order to ensure no part of the building is endangered. If with the project in question there is need to either for an addition or deletion an addition as stated by the Irish Planning and Development act 2000 â€Å"in the case of an addition, the addition is necessary or desirable in order to protect a structure, or part of a structure, of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest, whether or not a recommendation has been made under section 53[2]† On the other hand in terms of a deletion the 2000 act states â€Å"in the case of a deletion, the protection of the structure or part is no longer warranted† In order to avoid any disputes or breach of regulations it is essential to carry out work on a protected structure with a high degree of care. It is in everyone’s best interests to ensure that a protected structure is well maintained and preserved accordingly which in turn can eliminate any potential problems which may be encountered during the durati on of construction stage. 5.0 Duty of Care Duty of care can be defined as person or person’s responsibility to act with the same level of care, attention and cautiousness as a person in a similar situation when carrying out an act, ensuring that there is no possibly of danger or endangerment. For example a designer should strive to achieve the same level of competency as a designer within the same discipline when carrying out works ensuring that he has carried out the associated works with a reasonable amount of care. For example if an Architect fails to comply with building regulations this can be seen as a breach of his/her duty of care given that they have failed to ensure the safety of the building occupants once works have been completed failure to comply with such regulations may also lead to potential damage to the building.[3] When it comes to any kind of building project there will always be a duty of care whether it be to the structure itself, to the client and the persons working on the site. Both the contra ctor and Architect hold a duty of care in terms of the proposed development being fit for purpose and also that the construction has been carried out in a competent manor including the drawings which were prepared for the project. To give an example in terms of duty of care being breached by one party if the contractor feels as though the Architect is incompetent and that his/her drawings are not too a standard in which can be used to successfully and safely carry out the associated works the contractor may feel that the Architect is in breach of their duty of care and vice versa if the contractor/builder is not constructing the building in a safe and sufficient manner then the architect may feel the builder is in breach of his/her duty of care. In terms of an example of duty of care outside of construction the case of case of Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 is a fitting example as it came down to that it was the manufacturers duty of care to ensure the product was fit for human consumption and when it subsequently was found to not be fit for human consumption it was proven that it was a breach of duty of care on the manufactures side. [4] To ensure there are no disputes regarding duty of care it is crucial that all parties involved from the design team to the construction team are competent enough with their responsibilities to sufficiently successfully and safely complete the project without breaching their duty of care and also that they understand they have a duty of care and that this must be adhered too. 6.0 Scope of Works As per the RIAI Standard form of contract 2012 review by Tony Cunningham[5] scope of works can be defined as â€Å"The contractor must complete the works in accordance with the Contract Documents to the satisfaction of the Architect. The contractor must also comply with Architects Instructions†[6]. Prior to works commencing on the Respond housing development at St Johns College all works to be completed would have been outlined within the contract such as the contractor’s roles and responsibilities on site as well as off site. Cunningham also goes onto mention within the review that if the contractor fails to deliver the specified works outlined then he/she may be held liable with the cost of such implications either being added to or reduced from the contract sum. The Architect also holds the power to appoint a new contractor to site in order to complete the unfinished works left by the previous contractor whilst also charging incomplete work to the original contractor . Given the scale of the project at St Johns College this could potentially be a problem during the duration of the works. In the case of Hymany [Pontoon] Ltd -v- Galkil Ltd t/a Impact Developments [2011] IEHC 188[7] although the contractor had failed to complete some of the work which was outlined within the contract the judge deemed that the contractor could not be held responsible given the fact the scope of works outlined in the contract was broad and with very little specificity. Hymany [Pontoon] Ltd -v- Galkil Ltd t/a Impact Developments shows how in order for the contractor to fulfill the scope of works correctly it is essential that the scope of works is carefully outlined in depth in order to eliminate confusion which in turn could cause a dispute between the architect and contractors or vice versa. 7.0 Boundary Disputes When it comes to diputes involving boundarys there can be a number of factors or variables involved. In most cases involving boundary disputes it comes down to incorrect mapping which defines the boundarys of a site in position which in reality it may not be the correct position[8]. In order to attempt to define where a boundary lies the deployment of a professional surveyor to give his/her opinion on where the boundary lies may be crucial at the early stage in terms of elimating future disputes regarding the asscoiated boundary. In terms of St Johns College respond development from the pictures below the site of the develoment is outlined in blue with a smaller site also outlined in Fig6. There could potenially be a dispute if it is taken that the new development enchroaches onto the smaller site as this could also fall under prtivate nuisance. If there is no visible boundary between the two sites at St Johns College this may also cause a potenial dispute. In order to reslove a boun dary dispute it will take a combination of both surveyors and lawyers. The lawyers will provided the releavnt information regarding the deeds and documentation which the surveyor will use in their investiagtion into providing the legal position of the boundary. The majority of boundary disputes can also be resolved using mediation as it can keep a civil relationship between both parties while preventing costly legal fees.[9] [10] St Johns Boundary – Fig 6 Proposed Site Boundary – Fig 7 Secondary Site – Fig 8 8.0 Reflective Learning Overall given the scale of the St Johns College project it is highly likely that one or more of these issues will arise on site during the duration of the project. Although the issues mentioned can be resolved it can also be a lot more difficult to anticipate them. In saying this there are, as mentioned, ways in which they can be dealt with early on to try and avoid any disputes and intern make for a easier more succesful project but this does not always happen on bigger projects.The majority of the issues which are encountered on and off site on projects can be eliminated through good detailed planning and also ensuring all parties undertand the terms outlined in the various contracts asscoiated with the works. The legal issues exlpored within the document have provided a wider scope personally which is very benifical in terms of the future and future employment as I now have a greater understanding of what each one entails. I feel as though the project as whole was worthwhile and r ewarding.I feel as though my ability to compile a document of this nature has improved as has my general knowledge of contracts law and construction law. Bibliography Textbooks – Canny, J (2001).Construction and Building Law. Dublin: Round Hall Ltd. p23-27..57- 62 Speight, A Stone, G. (1996). The English Law of Tort. In: Speight, A Stone, G Architects Legal Handbook. 6th ed. Great Britain: Reed Educational Professional Publishing Ltd 1996. Scriven, J, Pritchard, N, Delmon, J (1999).A Contractual Guide to Major Construction Projects. London: Sweet Maxwell. Part 2 p8-21 Part 3 p17-32. Websites Base Surveys Ltd. (2010).Causes of Boundary Disputes.Available: http://www.baselinesurveys.ie/Causes of Boundary Disputes.html. Last accessed 18th March 2015 Cunningham, T. (2013).The RIAI Standard Form of Contract 2012 Edition: a Review.Available: http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005context=beschreoth. Last accessed 18th March 2015. Irish Planning Development Act 200. (2000).Planning Development Act 2000.Available: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0030/sec0058.html#sec58 Last Accessed 18th March 2015 Irish Planning Development Act 200. (2000).Planning Development Act 2000.Available: http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0030/sec0054.html#sec54. Last accessed 18th March 2015 OReilly, N, Shine, P. (2013).Beyond the bounds: resolving boundary disputes.Available: http://www.surveyorsjournal.ie/index.php/beyond-bounds-resolving-boundary-disputes/. Last accessed 18th March 2015 Journals – Smith, H. (2011). Construction dispute avoidance newsletter. Available: http://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/-/media/HS/T21121146.pdf. Last accessed 5th March 2014 1 [1] http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0030/sec0058.html#sec58 [2] http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2000/en/act/pub/0030/sec0054.html#sec54 [3] Construction dispute avoidance newsletter http://www.herbertsmithfreehills.com/-/media/HS/T21121146.pdf [4] Donoghue v Stevenson [1932] AC 562 [5] Tony Cunningham Dublin Institute of Technology [6] http://arrow.dit.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005context=beschreoth [7] Hymany [Pontoon] Ltd -v- Galkil Ltd t/a Impact Developments IEHC 188 [8] http://www.baselinesurveys.ie/Causes of Boundary Disputes.html [9] http://www.surveyorsjournal.ie/index.php/beyond-bounds-resolving-boundary-disputes/ [10] http://waterfordcouncil.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Solutions/s2.html?appid=c6d45bb300e6463db7e9c6bd1df43441

The Importance of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie Essay -- Glass Mena

The Importance of Symbolism in The Glass Menagerie  Ã‚      Tom Wingfield is the narrator and a major character in Tennessee William’s timeless play, The Glass Menagerie. Through the eyes of Tom, the viewer gets a glance into the life of his family in the pre-war depression era; his mother, a Southern belle desperately clinging to the past; his sister, a woman too fragile to function in society; and himself, a struggling, young poet working at a warehouse to pay the bills. Williams has managed to create a momentous play using a combination of different elements, including symbolism. Three noteworthy examples of symbolism are the fire escape, a sense of hope and an escape both to the outside world and from it; the glass menagerie itself, a symbol for Laura’s fragility and uniqueness; and rainbows, symbols of unrealized hopes and aspirations. Through the use of these symbols, a greater understanding of the humanistic theme that unfulfilled hopes and desires are an unwanted, but important aspect of the real world is achieved, and The Glass Menagerie is crafted into a meaningful classic drama.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Symbols are a major part of this play that Tom, who is a poet, admits he has a weakness for. One of the first to be presented in the story is the fire escape that ... ...Masterplots, ed. Frank M. Magill. Revised Second Ed. Vol. 5. Pasadena: Salem Press, 1996. Bigsby, C. W. E. â€Å"Entering the Glass Menagerie.† The Cambridge Companion to Tennessee Williams, ed. Matthew C. Roudane. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Scheye, Thomas E. â€Å"The Glass Menagerie: ‘It’s not tragedy, Freckles.’.† Tennessee Williams: A Tribute, ed. Jac Tharpe. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1977. Williams, Tennessee. Conversations with Tennessee Williams, ed. Albert Devlin. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1986. Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. New York: New Directions Publishing, 1945.

Essay --

Genocide, assimilation, and segregation-- these are all forms of cultural and ethnic cleansing that we as Canadians do not necessarily associate with what it means to be a Canadian, rather they are terms that we associate with occurrences in distant, dangerous and abysmal places (Fleras, 2012; p. 10). However, these terms are evidently applicable to the treatment of Aboriginals during the time of European colonization of Canada. Genocide is considered to â€Å"be the most serious of punishable crimes under international law†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fleras, 2010; p. 11); unfortunately, genocide has been inflicted upon Aboriginals in numerous forms as they suffered a loss of cultural identity through European-colonization. Assimilation has also affected Aboriginals as through the use of residential schools, Aboriginal children were taken from their families and forced to learn the dominant white way of life and abandon their culture (Fleras, 2010; p.13). Segregation of Aboriginals has also occu rred, as reserves are restricted purely for individuals with Indian citizenship, hence keeping Aboriginals separate from the dominant culture (Fleras, 2010; p. 15). There is a lack of awareness on the horrendous and disgusting treatment of the original Canadian settlers, Aboriginals, which can be partially attributed to a narrative that has helped create the image of what it means to be a Canadian, a narrative that has provided the belief that white Europeans were the first to settle on Canadian land and has painted a picture of white settlers struggling to survive on their discovered Canadian land. This narrative has been termed the ‘frontier narrative’, and it truly has shaped Aboriginals lives in Canada. This paper will provide first and foremost a clear definition o... ...in attempting to alter the policies and practices that keep them in their marginalized position, however one obstacle being that â€Å"conventions that refer to the rules may change, but rules that inform the conventions rarely do† (Fleras, 2010; p. 185). The frontier narrative has inadvertently placed a veil over Canadians that keep feelings of guilt and responsibility for the cruelty towards Aboriginals invisible, and simultaneously keeps visible the belief that it is because of the white-settlers that Canada has become what it has today. Some may argue that the frontier narrative is no longer relevant to Canada’s multicultural society, however as demonstrated, it is clear that the narrative has manifested itself and has played and continues to play a crucial role in the structuring of Canadian society and treatment of Aboriginals; the true first-settlers of Canada. Essay -- Genocide, assimilation, and segregation-- these are all forms of cultural and ethnic cleansing that we as Canadians do not necessarily associate with what it means to be a Canadian, rather they are terms that we associate with occurrences in distant, dangerous and abysmal places (Fleras, 2012; p. 10). However, these terms are evidently applicable to the treatment of Aboriginals during the time of European colonization of Canada. Genocide is considered to â€Å"be the most serious of punishable crimes under international law†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Fleras, 2010; p. 11); unfortunately, genocide has been inflicted upon Aboriginals in numerous forms as they suffered a loss of cultural identity through European-colonization. Assimilation has also affected Aboriginals as through the use of residential schools, Aboriginal children were taken from their families and forced to learn the dominant white way of life and abandon their culture (Fleras, 2010; p.13). Segregation of Aboriginals has also occu rred, as reserves are restricted purely for individuals with Indian citizenship, hence keeping Aboriginals separate from the dominant culture (Fleras, 2010; p. 15). There is a lack of awareness on the horrendous and disgusting treatment of the original Canadian settlers, Aboriginals, which can be partially attributed to a narrative that has helped create the image of what it means to be a Canadian, a narrative that has provided the belief that white Europeans were the first to settle on Canadian land and has painted a picture of white settlers struggling to survive on their discovered Canadian land. This narrative has been termed the ‘frontier narrative’, and it truly has shaped Aboriginals lives in Canada. This paper will provide first and foremost a clear definition o... ...in attempting to alter the policies and practices that keep them in their marginalized position, however one obstacle being that â€Å"conventions that refer to the rules may change, but rules that inform the conventions rarely do† (Fleras, 2010; p. 185). The frontier narrative has inadvertently placed a veil over Canadians that keep feelings of guilt and responsibility for the cruelty towards Aboriginals invisible, and simultaneously keeps visible the belief that it is because of the white-settlers that Canada has become what it has today. Some may argue that the frontier narrative is no longer relevant to Canada’s multicultural society, however as demonstrated, it is clear that the narrative has manifested itself and has played and continues to play a crucial role in the structuring of Canadian society and treatment of Aboriginals; the true first-settlers of Canada.

United States Attack And Ballistic Nuclear Submarines :: essays papers

United States Attack And Ballistic Nuclear Submarines The United States Navy has developed over the years to form one of the world's most powerful forces. The nuclear submarine is one of the major components responsible for achieving this status. The nuclear submarines have evolved over time in: design, construction, and weapons to become the most feared deterrence force ever. Tom Clancy, a well-known author and naval expert describes nuclear attack submarines (SSN&rsquos) in an excellent fashion by commenting: The modern SSN is a stealth platform with 70 percent of the worlds surface under which to hide, its endurance determined not by fuel but by the amount of food that may be crammed into the hull, and its operational limitations determined more by the skill of the commander and crew than by external factors. (XIX) Clancy also gives the complete story of nuclear submarines from the beginning. The idea of nuclear energy to power navy submarines came from an improbable origin; a United States naval officer named Hyman G. Rickover. After World War II, Rickover was transferred to the engineering department of the United States Navy. While there, he was responsible for envisioning the idea of placing small nuclear reactors in submarines and surface ships. With these reactors, vessels could travel great distances without having to replenish the their fuel supply. Most importantly for submarines, it would now allow them to stay submerged for longer periods of times instead of having to come to the surface to give air to then diesel engines (Clancy 10). According to Clancy, Rickover&rsquos main focus was submarines. In the early 1950&rsquos, a contract was signed for the production of the first nuclear submarine in the world. The boat was to be named the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) and built by Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. The nuclear reactor in the Nautilus generated steam for the turbines as a result of pressurized water. This development was far more promising than the now Admiral Rickover and the Navy had ever dreamed (Clancy 10-11). Dalgleish and Schweikart include that when the boat was launched in 1954, it passed both performance and technological barriers. Being similar to submarines developed after 1944, the boat&rsquos speed was greater underwater than above, it did not have surface often to replenish batteries, and could remain underwater for a length of sixty days. The Nautilus became the first ever vessel to travel the Arctic from the Pacific to the Atlantic. While initiating an entirely new dimension for submarine operations, it was the first submarine to arrive at the North Pole (Dalgleish and Schweikart 6). A web site dedicated to United States submarines gives statistics about

Bag of Bones CHAPTER FIFTEEN

State your name for the record.' ‘Michael Noonan.' ‘Your address?' ‘Derry is my permanent address, 14 Benton Street, but I also maintain a home in TR-90, on Dark Score Lake. The mailing address is Box 832. The actual house is on Lane Forty-two, off Route 68.' Elmer Durgin, Kyra Devore's guardian ad litem, waved a pudgy hand in front of his face, either to shoo away some troublesome insect or to tell me that was enough. I agreed that it was. I felt rather like the little girl in Our Town, who gave her address as Grover's Corner, New Hampshire, America, the Northern Hemisphere, the World, the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy, the Mind of God. Mostly I was nervous. I'd reached the age of forty still a virgin in the area of court proceedings, and although we were in the conference room of Durgin, Peters, and Jarrette on Bridge Street in Castle Rock, this was still a court proceeding. There was one mentionably odd detail to these festivities. The stenographer wasn't using one of those keyboards-on-a-post that look like adding machines, but a Stenomask, a gadget which fit over the lower half of his face. I had seen them before, but only in old black-and-white crime movies, the ones where Dan Duryea or John Payne is always driving around in a Buick with portholes on the sides, looking grim and smoking a Camel. Glancing over into the corner and seeing a guy who looked like the world's oldest fighter-pilot was weird enough, but hearing everything you said immediately repeated in a muffled monotone was even weirder. ‘Thank you, Mr. Noonan. My wife has read all your books and says you are her favorite author. I just wanted to get that on the record.' Durgin chuckled fatly. Why not? He was a fat guy. Most fat people I like they have expansive natures to go with their expansive waistlines. But there is a subgroup which I think of as the Evil Little Fat Folks. You don't want to fuck with the ELFFS if you can help it; they will burn your house and rape your dog if you give them half an excuse and a quarter of an opportunity. Few of them stand over five-foot-two (Durgin's height, I estimated), and many are under five feet. They smile a lot, but their eyes don't smile. The Evil Little Fat Folks hate the whole world. Mostly they hate folks who can look down the length of their bodies and still see their own feet. This included me, although just barely. ‘Please thank your wife for me, Mr. Durgin. I'm sure she could recommend one for you to start on.' Durgin chuckled. On his right, Durgin's assistant a pretty young woman who looked approximately seventeen minutes out of law school chuckled. On my left, Romeo Bissonette chuckled. In the corner, the world's oldest F- 111 pilot only went on muttering into his Stenomask. ‘I'll wait for the big-screen version,' he said. His eyes gave an ugly little gleam, as if he knew a feature film had never been made from one of my books only a made-for-TV movie of Being Two that pulled ratings roughly equal to the National Sofa Refinishing Championships. I hoped that we'd completed this chubby little fuck's idea of the pleasantries. ‘I am Kyra Devore's guardian ad litem,' he said. ‘Do you know what that means, Mr. Noonan?' ‘I believe I do.' ‘It means,' Durgin rolled on, ‘that I've been appointed by Judge Rancourt to decide if I can where Kyra Devore's best interests lie, should a custody judgment become necessary. Judge Rancourt would not, in such an event, be required to base his decision on my conclusions, but in many cases that is what happens.' He looked at me with his hands folded on a blank legal pad. The pretty assistant, on the other hand, was scribbling madly. Perhaps she didn't trust the fighter-pilot. Durgin looked as if he expected a round of applause. ‘Was that a question, Mr. Durgin?' I asked and Romeo Bissonette delivered a light, practiced chip to my ankle. I didn't need to look at him to know it wasn't an accident. Durgin pursed lips so smooth and damp that he looked as if he were wearing a clear gloss on them. On his shining pate, roughly two dozen strands of hair were combed in smooth little arcs. He gave me a patient, measuring look. Behind it was all the intransigent ugliness of an Evil Little Fat Folk. The pleasantries were over, all right. I was sure of it. ‘No, Mr. Noonan, that was not a question. I simply thought you might like to know why we've had to ask you to come away from your lovely lake on such a pleasant morning. Perhaps I was wrong. Now, if ‘ There was a peremptory knock on the door, followed by your friend and his, George Footman. Today Cleveland Casual had been replaced by a khaki Deputy Sheriff's uniform, complete with Sam Browne belt and sidearm. He helped himself to a good look at the assistant's bustline, displayed in a blue silk blouse, then handed her a folder and a cassette tape recorder. He gave me one brief gander before leaving. I remember you, buddy, that glance said. The smartass writer, the cheap date. Romeo Bissonette tipped his head toward me. He used the side of his hand to bridge the gap between his mouth and my ear. ‘Devore's tape,' he said. I nodded to show I understood, then turned to Durgin again. ‘Mr. Noonan, you've met Kyra Devore and her mother, Mary Devore, haven't you?' How did you get Mattie out of Mary, I wondered . . . and then knew, just as I had known about the white shorts and halter top. Mattie was how Ki had first tried to say Mary. ‘Mr. Noonan, are we keeping you up?' ‘There's no need to be sarcastic, is there?' Bissonette asked. His tone was mild, but Elmer Durgin gave him a look which suggested that, should the ELFFS succeed in their goal of world domination, Bissonette would be aboard the first gulag-bound boxcar. ‘I'm sorry,' I said before Durgin could reply. ‘I just got derailed there for a second or two.' ‘New story idea?' Durgin asked, smiling his glossy smile. He looked like a swamp-toad in a sportcoat. He turned to the old jet pilot, told him to strike that last, then repeated his question about Kyra and Mattie. Yes, I said, I had met them. ‘Once or more than once?' ‘More than once.' ‘How many times have you met them?' ‘Twice.' ‘Have you also spoken to Mary Devore on the phone?' Already these questions were moving in a direction that made me uncomfortable. ‘Yes.' ‘How many times?' ‘Three times.' The third had come the day before, when she had asked if I would join her and John Storrow for a picnic lunch on the town common after my deposition. Lunch right there in the middle of town before God and everybody . . . although, with a New York lawyer to play chaperone, what harm in that? ‘Have you spoken to Kyra Devore on the telephone?' What an odd question! Not one anybody had prepared me for, either. I supposed that was at least partly why he had asked it. ‘Mr. Noonan?' ‘Yes, I've spoken to her once.' ‘Can you tell us the nature of that conversation?' ‘Well . . . ‘ I looked doubtfully at Bissonette, but there was no help there. He obviously didn't know, either. ‘Mattie ‘ ‘Pardon me?' Durgin leaned forward as much as he could. His eyes were intent in their pink pockets of flesh. ‘Mattie?' ‘Mattie Devore. Mary Devore.' ‘You call her Mattie?' ‘Yes,' I said, and had a wild impulse to add: In bed! In bed I call her that! ‘Oh Mattie, don't stop, don't stop,' I cry!' ‘It's the name she gave me when she introduced herself. I met her ‘ ‘We may get to that, but right now I'm interested in your telephone conversation with Kyra Devore. When was that?' ‘It was yesterday.' ‘July ninth, 1998.' ‘Yes.' ‘Who placed that call?' ‘Ma . . . Mary Devore.' Now he'll ask why she called, I thought, and I'll say she wanted to have yet another sex marathon, foreplay to consist of feeding each other chocolate-dipped strawberries while we look at pictures of naked malformed dwarves. ‘How did Kyra Devore happen to speak to you?' ‘She asked if she could. I heard her saying to her mother that she had to tell me something.' ‘What was it she had to tell you?' ‘That she had her first bubble bath.' ‘Did she also say she coughed?' I was quiet, looking at him. In that moment I understood why people hate lawyers, especially when they've been dusted over by one who's good at the job. ‘Mr. Noonan, would you like me to repeat the question?' ‘No,' I said, wondering where he'd gotten his information. Had these bastards tapped Mattie's phone? My phone? Both? Perhaps for the first time I understood on a gut level what it must be like to have half a billion dollars. With that much dough you could tap a lot of telephones. ‘She said her mother pushed bubbles in her face and she coughed. But she was ‘ ‘Thank you, Mr. Noonan, now let's turn to ‘ ‘Let him finish,' Bissonette said. I had an idea he had already taken a bigger part in the proceedings than he had expected to, but he didn't seem to mind. He was a sleepy-looking man with a bloodhound's mournful, trustworthy face. ‘This isn't a courtroom, and you're not cross-examining him.' ‘I have the little girl's welfare to think of,' Durgin said. He sounded both pompous and humble at the same time, a combination that went together like chocolate sauce on creamed corn. ‘It's a responsibility I take very seriously. If I seemed to be badgering you, Mr. Noonan, I apologize.' I didn't bother accepting his apology that would have made us both phonies. ‘All I was going to say is that Ki was laughing when she said it. She said she and her mother had a bubble-fight. When her mother came back on, she was laughing, too.' Durgin had opened the folder Footman had brought him and was paging rapidly through it while I spoke, as if he weren't hearing a word. ‘Her mother . . . Mattie, as you call her.' ‘Yes. Mattie as I call her. How do you know about our private telephone conversation in the first place?' ‘That's none of your business, Mr. Noonan.' He selected a single sheet of paper, then closed the folder. He held the paper up briefly, like a doctor studying an X-ray, and I could see it was covered with single-spaced typing. ‘Let's turn to your initial meeting with Mary and Kyra Devore. That was on the Fourth of July, wasn't it?' ‘Yes.' Durgin was nodding. ‘The morning of the Fourth. And you met Kyra Devore first.' ‘Yes.' ‘You met her first because her mother wasn't with her at that time, was she?' ‘That's a badly phrased question, Mr. Durgin, but I guess the answer is yes.' ‘I'm flattered to have my grammar corrected by a man who's been on the bestseller lists,' Durgin said, smiling. The smile suggested that he'd like to see me sitting next to Romeo Bissonette in that first gulag-bound boxcar. ‘Tell us about your meeting, first with Kyra Devore and then with Mary Devore. Or Mattie, if you like that better.' I told the story. When I was finished, Durgin centered the tape player in front of him. The nails of his pudgy fingers looked as glossy as his lips. ‘Mr. Noonan, you could have run Kyra over, isn't that true?' ‘Absolutely not. I was going thirty-five that's the speed limit there by the store. I saw her in plenty of time to stop.' ‘Suppose you had been coming the other way, though heading north instead of south. Would you still have seen her in plenty of time?' That was a fairer question than some of his others, actually. Someone coming the other way would have had a far shorter time to react. Still . . . ‘Yes,' I said. Durgin went up with the eyebrows. ‘You're sure of that?' ‘Yes, Mr. Durgin. I might have had to come down a little harder on the brakes, but ‘ ‘At thirty-five.' ‘Yes, at thirty-five. I told you, that's the speed limit ‘ ‘ -on that particular stretch of Route 68. Yes, you told me that. You did. Is it your experience that most people obey the speed limit on that part of the road?' ‘I haven't spent much time on the TR since 1993, so I can't ‘ ‘Come on, Mr. Noonan this isn't a scene from one of your books. Just answer my questions, or we'll be here all morning.' ‘I'm doing my best, Mr. Durgin.' He sighed, put-upon. ‘You've owned your place on Dark Score Lake since the eighties, haven't you? And the speed limit around the Lakeview General Store, the post office, and Dick Brooks's All-Purpose Garage what's called The North Village hasn't changed since then, has it?' ‘No,' I admitted. ‘Returning to my original question, then in your observation, do most people on that stretch of road obey the thirty-five-mile-an-hour limit?' ‘I can't say if it's most, because I've never done a traffic survey, but I guess a lot don't.' ‘Would you like to hear Castle County Sheriffs Deputy Footman testify on where the greatest number of speeding tickets are given out in TR-90, Mr. Noonan?' ‘No,' I said, quite honestly. ‘Did other vehicles pass you while you were speaking first with Kyra Devore and then with Mary Devore?' ‘Yes.' ‘How many?' ‘I don't know exactly. A couple.' ‘Could it have been three?' ‘I guess.' ‘Five?' ‘No, probably not so many.' ‘But you don't know, exactly, do you?' ‘Because Kyra Devore was upset.' ‘Actually she had it together pretty well for a ‘ ‘Did she cry in your presence?' ‘Well . . . yes.' ‘Did her mother make her cry?' ‘That's unfair.' ‘As unfair as allowing a three-year-old to go strolling down the middle of a busy highway on a holiday morning, in your opinion, or perhaps not quite as unfair as that?' ‘Jeepers, lay off,' Mr. Bissonette said mildly. There was distress on his bloodhound's face. ‘I withdraw the question,' Durgin said. ‘Which one?' I asked. He looked at me tiredly, as if to say he had to put up with assholes like me all the time and he was used to how we behaved. ‘How many cars went by from the time you picked the child up and carried her to safety to the time when you and the Devores parted company?' I hated that ‘carried her to safety' bit, but even as I formulated my answer, the old guy was muttering the question into his Stenomask. And it was in fact what I had done. There was no getting around it. ‘I told you, I don't know for sure.' ‘Well, give me a guesstimate.' Guesstimate. One of my all-time least favorite words. A Paul Harvey word. ‘There might have been three.' ‘Including Mary Devore herself?. Driving a ‘ He consulted the paper he'd taken from the folder. ‘ a 1982 Jeep Scout?' I thought of Ki saying Mattie go fast and understood where Durgin was heading now. And there was nothing I could do about it. ‘Yes, it was her and it was a Scout. I don't know what year.' ‘Was she driving below the posted speed limit, at the posted speed limit, or above the posted speed limit when she passed the place where you were standing with Kyra in your arms?' She'd been doing at least fifty, but I told Durgin I couldn't say for sure. He urged me to try I know you are unfamiliar with the hangman's knot, Mr. Noonan, but I'm sure you can make one if you really work at it and I declined as politely as I could. He picked up the paper again. ‘Mr. Noonan, would it surprise you to know that two witnesses Richard Brooks, Junior, the owner of Dick's All-Purpose Garage, and Royce Merrill, a retired carpenter claim that Mrs. Devore was doing well over thirty-five when she passed your location?' ‘I don't know,' I said. ‘I was concerned with the little girl.' ‘Would it surprise you to know that Royce Merrill estimated her speed at sixty miles an hour?' ‘That's ridiculous. When she hit the brakes she would have skidded sideways and landed upside down in the ditch.' ‘The skid-marks measured by Deputy Footman indicate a speed of at least fifty miles an hour,' Durgin said. It wasn't a question, but he looked at me almost roguishly, as if inviting me to struggle a little more and sink a little deeper into this nasty pit. I said nothing. Durgin folded his pudgy little hands and leaned over them toward me. The roguish look was gone. ‘Mr. Noonan, if you hadn't carried Kyra Devore to the side of the road if you hadn't rescued her mightn't her own mother have run her over?' Here was the really loaded question, and how should I answer it? Bissonette was certainly not flashing any helpful signals; he seemed to be trying to make meaningful eye-contact with the pretty assistant. I thought of the book Mattie was reading in tandem with ‘Bartleby' Silent Witness, by Richard North Patterson. Unlike the Grisham brand, Patterson's lawyers almost always seemed to know what they were doing. Objection, Your honor, calls for speculation on the part of the witness. I shrugged. ‘Sorry, counsellor, can't say left my crystal ball home.' Again I saw the ugly flash in Durgin's eyes. ‘Mr. Noonan, I can assure you that if you don't answer that question here, you are apt to be called back from Malibu or Fire Island or wherever it is you're going to write your next opus to answer it later on.' I shrugged. ‘I've already told you I was concerned with the child. I can't tell you how fast the mother was going, or how good Royce Merrill's vision is, or if Deputy Footman even measured the right set of skid-marks. There's a whole bunch of rubber on that part of the road, I can tell you. Suppose she was going fifty? Even fifty-five, let's say that. She's twenty-one years old, Durgin. At the age of twenty-one, a person's driving skills are at their peak. She probably would have swerved around the child, and easily.' ‘I think that's quite enough.' ‘Why? Because you're not getting what you wanted?' Bissonette's shoe clipped my ankle again, but I ignored it. ‘If you're on Kyra's side, why do you sound as though you're on her grandfather's?' A baleful little smile touched Durgin's lips. The kind that says Okay, smart guy, you want to play? He pulled the tape-recorder a little closer to him. ‘Since you have mentioned Kyra's grandfather, Mr. Maxwell Devore of Palm Springs, let's talk about him a little, shall we?' ‘It's your show.' ‘Have you ever spoken with Maxwell Devore?' ‘Yes.' ‘In person or on the phone?' ‘Phone.' I thought about adding that he had somehow gotten hold of my unlisted number, then remembered that Mattie had, too, and decided to keep my mouth shut on that subject. ‘When was this?' ‘Last Saturday night. The night of the Fourth. He called while I was watching the fireworks.' ‘And was the subject of your conversation that morning's little adventure?' As he asked, Durgin reached into his pocket and brought out a cassette tape. There was an ostentatious quality to this gesture; in that moment he looked like a parlor magician showing you both sides of a silk handkerchief. And he was bluffing. I couldn't be sure of that . . . and yet I was. Devore had taped our conversation, all right that underhum really had been too loud, and on some level I'd been aware of that fact even while I was talking to him and I thought it really was on the cassette Durgin was now slotting into the cassette player . . . but it was a bluff. ‘I don't recall,' I said. Durgin's hand froze in the act of snapping the cassette's transparent loading panel shut. He looked at me with frank disbelief . . . and something else. I thought the something else was surprised anger. ‘You don't recall? Come now, Mr. Noonan. Surely writers train themselves to recall conversations, and this one was only a week ago. Tell me what you talked about.' ‘I really can't say,' I told him in a stolid, colorless voice. For a moment Durgin looked almost panicky. Then his features smoothed. One polished fingernail slipped back and forth over keys marked REW, FF, PLAY, and REC. ‘How did Mr. Devore begin the conversation?' he asked. ‘He said hello,' I said mildly, and there was a short muffled sound from behind the Stenomask. It could have been the old guy clearing his throat; it could have been a suppressed laugh. Spots of color were blooming in Durgin's cheeks. ‘After hello? What then?' ‘I don't recall.' ‘Did he ask you about that morning?' ‘I don't recall.' ‘Didn't you tell him that Mary Devore and her daughter were together, Mr. Noonan? That they were together picking flowers? Isn't that what you told this worried grandfather when he inquired about the incident which was the talk of the township that Fourth of July?' ‘Oh boy,' Bissonette said. He raised one hand over the table, then touched the palm with the fingers of the other, making a ref's T. ‘Time out.' Durgin looked at him. The flush in his cheeks was more pronounced now, and his lips had pulled back enough to show the tips of small, neatly capped teeth. ‘What do you want?' he almost snarled, as if Bissonette had just dropped by to tell him about the Mormon Way or perhaps the Rosicrucians. ‘I want you to stop leading this guy, and I want that whole thing about picking flowers stricken from the record,' Bissonette said. ‘Why?' Durgin snapped. ‘Because you're trying to get stuff on the record that this witness won't say. If you want to break here for awhile so we can make a conference call to Judge Rancourt, get his opinion ‘ ‘I withdraw the question,' Durgin said. He looked at me with a kind of helpless, surly rage. ‘Mr. Noonan, do you want to help me do my job?' ‘I want to help Kyra Devore if I can,' I said. ‘Very well.' He nodded as if no distinction had been made. ‘Then please tell me what you and Maxwell Devore talked about.' ‘I can't recall.' I caught his eyes and held them. ‘Perhaps,' I said, ‘you can refresh my recollection.' There was a moment of silence, like that which sometimes strikes a high-stakes poker game just after the last of the bets have been made and just before the players show their hands. Even the old fighter-pilot was quiet, his eyes unblinking above the mask. Then Durgin pushed the cassette player aside with the heel of his hand (the set of his mouth said he felt about it just then as I often felt about the telephone) and went back to the morning of July Fourth. He never asked about my dinner with Mattie and Ki on Tuesday night, and never returned to my telephone conversation with Devore the one where I had said all those awkward and easily disprovable things. I went on answering questions until eleven-thirty, but the interview really ended when Durgin pushed the tape-player away with the heel of his hand. I knew it, and I'm pretty sure he did, too. ‘Mike! Mike, over here!' Mattie was waving from one of the tables in the picnic area behind the town common's bandstand. She looked vibrant and happy. I waved back and made my way in that direction, weaving between little kids playing tag, skirting a couple of teenagers making out on the grass, and ducking a Frisbee which a leaping German shepherd caught smartly. There was a tall, skinny redhead with her, but I barely got a chance to notice him. Mattie met me while I was still on the gravel path, put her arms around me, hugged me it was no prudey little ass-poking-out hug, either and then kissed me on the mouth hard enough to push my lips against my teeth. There was a hearty smack when she disengaged. She pulled back and looked at me with undisguised delight. ‘Was it the biggest kiss you've ever had?' ‘The biggest in at least four years,' I said. ‘Will you settle for that?' And if she didn't step away from me in the next few seconds, she was going to have physical proof of how much I had enjoyed it. ‘I guess I'll have to.' She turned to the redheaded guy with a funny kind of defiance. ‘Was that all right?' ‘Probably not,' he said, ‘but at least you're not currently in view of those old boys at the All-Purpose Garage. Mike, I'm John Storrow. Nice to meet you in person.' I liked him at once, maybe because I'd come upon him dressed in his three-piece New York suit and primly setting out paper plates on a picnic table while his curly red hair blew around his head like kelp. His skin was fair and freckled, the kind which would never tan, only burn and then peel in great eczema-like patches. When we shook, his hand seemed to be all knuckles. He had to be at least thirty, but he looked Mattie's age, and I guessed it would be another five years before he was able to get a drink without showing his driver's license. ‘Sit down,' he said. ‘We've got a five-course lunch, courtesy of Castle Rock Variety grinders, which are for some strange reason called ‘Italian sandwiches' up here . . . mozzarella sticks . . . garlic fries . . . Twinkies.' ‘That's only four,' I said. ‘I forgot the soft-drink course,' he said, and pulled three long-neck bottles of S'OK birch beer out of a brown bag. ‘Let's eat. Mattie runs the library from two to eight on Fridays and Saturdays, and this would be a bad time for her to be missing work.' ‘How did the readers' circle go last night?' I asked. ‘Lindy Briggs didn't eat you alive, I see.' She laughed, clasped her hands, and shook them over her head. ‘I was a hit! An absolute smashola! I didn't dare tell them I got all my best insights from you ‘ ‘Thank God for small favors,' Storrow said. He was freeing his own sandwich from its string and butcher-paper wrapping, doing it carefully and a little dubiously, using just the tips of his fingers. ‘ so I said I looked in a couple of books and found some leads there. It was sort of wonderful. I felt like a college kid.' ‘Good.' ‘Bissonette?' John Storrow asked. ‘Where's he? I never met a guy named Romeo before.' ‘Said he had to go right back to Lewiston. Sorry.' ‘Actually it's best we stay small, at least to begin with.' He bit into his sandwich they come tucked into long sub rolls and looked at me, surprised. ‘This isn't bad.' ‘Eat more than three and you're hooked for life,' Mattie said, and chomped heartily into her own. ‘Tell us about the depo,' John said, and while they ate, I talked. When I finished, I picked up my own sandwich and played a little catch-up. I'd forgotten how good an Italian can be sweet, sour, and oily all at the same time. Of course nothing that tastes that good can be healthy; that's a given. I suppose one could formulate a similar postulate about full-body hugs from young girls in legal trouble. ‘Very interesting,' John said. ‘Very interesting indeed.' He took a mozzarella stick from its grease-stained bag, broke it open, and looked with a kind of fascinated horror at the clotted white gunk inside. ‘People up here eat this?' he asked. ‘People in New York eat fish-bladders,' I said. ‘Raw.' ‘Touch? ¦' He dipped a piece into the plastic container of spaghetti sauce (in this context it is called ‘cheese-dip' in western Maine), then ate it. ‘Well?' I asked. ‘Not bad. They ought to be a lot hotter, though.' Yes, he was right about that. Eating cold mozzarella sticks is a little like eating cold snot, an observation I thought I would keep to myself on this beautiful midsummer Friday. ‘If Durgin had the tape, why wouldn't he play it?' Mattie asked. ‘I don't understand.' John stretched his arms out, cracked his knuckles, and looked at her benignly. ‘We'll probably never know for sure,' he said. He thought Devore was going to drop the suit it was in every line of his body-language and every inflection of his voice. That was hopeful, but it would be good if Mattie didn't allow herself to become too hopeful. John Storrow wasn't as young as he looked, and probably not as guileless, either (or so I fervently hoped), but he was young. And neither he nor Mattie knew the story of Scooter Larribee's sled. Or had seen Bill Dean's face when he told it. ‘Want to hear some possibilities?' ‘Sure,' I said. John put down his sandwich, wiped his fingers, and then began to tick off points. ‘First, he made the call. Taped conversations have a highly dubious value under those circumstances. Second, he didn't exactly come off like Captain Kangaroo, did he?' ‘No.' ‘Third, your fabrication impugns you, Mike, but not really very much, and it doesn't impugn Mattie at all. And by the way, that thing about Mattie pushing bubbles in Kyra's face, I love that. If that's the best they can do, they better give it up right now. Last and this is where the truth probably lies I think Devore's got Nixon's Disease.' ‘Nixon's Disease?' Mattie asked. ‘The tape Durgin had isn't the only tape. Can't be. And your father-in-law is afraid that if he introduces one tape made by whatever system he's got in Warrington's, we might subpoena all of them. And I'd damn well try.' She looked bewildered. ‘What could be on them? And if it's bad, why not just destroy them?' ‘Maybe he can't,' I said. ‘Maybe he needs them for other reasons.' ‘It doesn't really matter,' John said. ‘Durgin was bluffing, and that's what matters.' He hit the heel of his hand lightly against the picnic table. ‘I think he's going to drop it. I really do.' ‘It's too early to start thinking like that,' I said at once, but I could tell by Mattie's face shining more brightly than ever that the damage was done. ‘Fill him in on what else you've been doing,' Mattie told John. ‘Then I've got to get to the library.' ‘Where do you send Kyra on your workdays?' I asked. ‘Mrs. Cullum's. She lives two miles up the Wasp Hill Road. Also in July there's VBS from ten until three. That's Vacation Bible School. Ki loves it, especially the singing and the flannel-board stories about Noah and Moses. The bus drops her off at Arlene's, and I pick her up around quarter of nine.' She smiled a little wistfully. ‘By then she's usually fast asleep on the couch.' John held forth for the next ten minutes or so. He hadn't been on the case long, but had already started a lot of balls rolling. A fellow in California was gathering facts about Roger Devore and Morris Ridding (‘gathering facts' sounded so much better than ‘snooping'). John was particularly interested in learning about the quality of Roger Devore's relations with his father, and if Roger was on record concerning his little niece from Maine. John had also mapped out a campaign to learn as much as possible about Max Devore's movements and activities since he'd come back to TR-90. To that end he had the name of a private investigator, one recommended by Romeo Bissonette, my rent-a-lawyer. As he spoke, paging rapidly through a little notebook he drew from the inside pocket of his suitcoat, I remembered what he'd said about Lady Justice during our telephone conversation: Slap some handcuffs on that broad's wrists and some tape over her mouth to go along with the blindfold, rape her and roll her in the mud. That was maybe a bit too strong for what we were doing, but I thought at the very least we were shoving her around a little. I imagined poor Roger Devore up on the stand, having flown three thousand miles in order to be questioned about his sexual preferences. I had to keep reminding myself that his father had put him in that position, not Mattie or me or John Storrow. ‘Have you gotten any closer to a meeting with Devore and his chief legal advisor?' I asked. ‘Don't know for sure. The line is in the water, the offer is on the table, the puck's on the ice, pick your favorite metaphor, mix em and match em if you desire.' ‘Got your irons in the fire,' Mattie said. ‘Your checkers on the board,' I added. We looked at each other and laughed. John regarded us sadly, then sighed, picked up his sandwich, and began to eat again. ‘You really have to meet him with his lawyer more or less dancing attendance?' I asked. ‘Would you like to win this thing, then discover Devore can do it all again based on unethical behavior by Mary Devore's legal resource?' John returned. ‘Don't even joke about it!' Mattie cried. ‘I wasn't joking,' John said. ‘It has to be with his lawyer, yes. I don't think it's going to happen, not on this trip. I haven't even got a look at the old cockuh, and I have to tell you my curiosity is killing me.' ‘If that's all it takes to make you happy, show up behind the backstop at the softball field next Tuesday evening,' Mattie said. ‘He'll be there in his fancy wheelchair, laughing and clapping and sucking his damned old oxygen every fifteen minutes or so.' ‘Not a bad idea,' John said. ‘I have to go back to New York for the weekend I'm leaving aprs Osgood but maybe I'll show up on Tuesday. I might even bring my glove.' He began clearing up our litter, and once again I thought he looked both prissy and endearing at the same time, like Stan Laurel wearing an apron. Mattie eased him aside and took over. ‘No one ate any Twinkles,' she said, a little sadly. ‘Take them home to your daughter,' John said. ‘No way. I don't let her eat stuff like this. What kind of mother do you think I am?' She saw our expressions, replayed what she'd just said, then burst out laughing. We joined her. Mattie's old Scout was parked in one of the slant spaces behind the war memorial, which in Castle Rock is a World War I soldier with a generous helping of birdshit on his pie-dish helmet. A brand-new Taurus with a Hertz decal above the inspection sticker was parked next to it. John tossed his briefcase reassuringly thin and not very ostentatious into the back seat. ‘If I can make it back on Tuesday, I'll call you,' he told Mattie. ‘If I'm able to get an appointment with your father-in-law through this man Osgood, I will also call you.' ‘I'll buy the Italian sandwiches,' Mattie said. He smiled, then grasped her arm in one hand and mine in the other. He looked like a newly ordained minister getting ready to marry his first couple. ‘You two talk on the telephone if you need to,' he said, ‘always remembering that one or both lines may be tapped. Meet in the market if you happen to. Mike, you might feel a need to drop by the local library and check out a book.' ‘Not until you renew your card, though,' Mattie said, giving me a demure glance. ‘But no more visits to Mattie's trailer. Is that understood?' I said yes; she said yes; John Storrow looked unconvinced. It made me wonder if he was seeing something in our faces or bodies that shouldn't be there. ‘They are committed to a line of attack which probably isn't going to work,' he said. ‘We can't risk giving them the chance to change course. That means innuendos about the two of you; it also means innuendos about Mike and Kyra.' Mattie's shocked expression made her look twelve again. ‘Mike and Kyra! What are you talking about?' ‘Allegations of child molestation thrown up by people so desperate they'll try anything.' ‘That's ridiculous,' she said. ‘And if my father-in-law wanted to sling that kind of mud ‘ John nodded. ‘Yes, we'd be obligated to sling it right back. Newspaper coverage from coast to coast would follow, maybe even Court TV, God bless and save us. We want none of that if we can avoid it. It's not good for the grownups, and it's not good for the child. Now or later.' He bent and kissed Mattie's cheek. ‘I'm sorry about all this,' he said, and he did sound genuinely sorry. ‘Custody's just this way.' ‘I think you warned me. It's just that . . . the idea someone might make a thing like that up just because there was no other way for them to win . . . ‘ ‘Let me warn you again,' he said. His face came as close to grim as its young and good-natured features would probably allow. ‘What we have is a very rich man with a very shaky case. The combination could be like working with old dynamite.' I turned to Mattie. ‘Are you still worried about Ki? Still feel she's in danger?' I saw her think about hedging her response out of plain old Yankee reserve, quite likely and then deciding not to. Deciding, perhaps, that hedging was a luxury she couldn't afford. ‘Yes. But it's just a feeling, you know.' John was frowning. I supposed the idea that Devore might resort to extralegal means of obtaining what he wanted had occurred to him, as well. ‘Keep your eye on her as much as you can,' he said. ‘I respect intuition. Is yours based on anything concrete?' ‘No,' Mattie answered, and her quick glance in my direction asked me to keep my mouth shut. ‘Not really.' She opened the Scout's door and tossed in the little brown bag with the Twinkies in it she had decided to keep them after all. Then she turned to John and me with an expression that was close to anger. ‘I'm not sure how to follow that advice, anyway. I work five days a week, and in August, when we do the microfiche update, it'll be six. Right now Ki gets her lunch at Vacation Bible School and her dinner from Arlene Cullum. I see her in the mornings. The rest of the time . . . ‘ I knew what she was going to say before she said it; the expression was an old one. ‘ . . . she's on the TR.' ‘I could help you find an au pair,' I said, thinking it would be a hell of a lot cheaper than John Storrow. ‘No,' they said in such perfect unison that they glanced at each other and laughed. But even while she was laughing, Mattie looked tense and unhappy. ‘We're not going to leave a paper trail for Durgin or Devore's custody team to exploit,' John said. ‘Who pays me is one thing. Who pays Mattie's child-care help is another.' ‘Besides, I've taken enough from you,' Mattie said. ‘More than I can sleep easy on. I'm not going to get in any deeper just because I've been having megrims.' She climbed into the Scout and closed the door. I rested my hands on her open window. Now we were on the same level, and the eye-contact was so strong it was disconcerting. ‘Mattie, I don't have anything else to spend it on. Really.' ‘When it comes to John's fee, I accept that. Because John's fee is about Ki.' She put her hand over mine and squeezed briefly. ‘This other is about me. All right?' ‘Yeah. But you need to tell your babysitter and the people who run this Bible thing that you've got a custody case on your hands, a potentially bitter one, and Kyra's not to go anywhere with anyone, even someone they know, without your say-so.' She smiled. ‘It's already been done. On John's advice. Stay in touch, Mike.' She lifted my hand, gave it a hearty smack, and drove away. ‘What do you think?' I asked John as we watched the Scout blow oil on its way to the new Prouty Bridge, which spans Castle Street and spills outbound traffic onto Highway 68. ‘I think it's grand she has a well-heeled benefactor and a smart lawyer,' John said. He paused, then added: ‘But I'll tell you some-thing she somehow doesn't feel lucky to me at all. There's a feeling I get . . . I don't know . . . ‘ ‘That there's a cloud around her you can't quite see.' ‘Maybe. Maybe that's it.' He raked his hands through the restless mass of his red hair. ‘I just know it's something sad.' I knew exactly what he meant . . . except for me there was more. I wanted to be in bed with her, sad or not, right or not. I wanted to feel her hands on me, tugging and pressing, patting and stroking. I wanted to be able to smell her skin and taste her hair. I wanted to have her lips against my ear, her breath tickling the fine hairs within its cup as she told me to do what I wanted, whatever I wanted. I got back to Sara Laughs shortly before two o'clock and let myself in, thinking about nothing but my study and the IBM with the Courier ball. I was writing again writing. I could still hardly believe it. I'd work (not that it felt much like work after a four-year layoff) until maybe six o'clock, swim, then go down to the Village Cafe for one of Buddy's cholesterol-rich specialties. The moment I stepped through the door, Bunter's bell began to ring stridently. I stopped in the foyer, my hand frozen on the knob. The house was hot and bright, not a shadow anywhere, but the gooseflesh forming on my arms felt like midnight. ‘Who's here?' I called. The bell stopped ringing. There was a moment of silence, and then a woman shrieked. It came from everywhere, pouring out of the sunny, mote-laden air like sweat out of hot skin. It was a scream of outrage, anger, grief . . . but mostly, I think, of horror. And I screamed in response. I couldn't help it. I had been frightened standing in the dark cellar stairwell, listening to the unseen fist thump on the insulation, but this was far worse. It never stopped, that scream. It faded, as the child's sobs had faded; faded as if the person screaming was being carried rapidly down a long corridor and away from me. At last it was gone. I leaned against the bookcase, my palm pressed against my tee-shirt, my heart galloping beneath it. I was gasping for breath, and my muscles had that queer exploded feel they get after you've had a bad scare. A minute passed. My heartbeat gradually slowed, and my breathing slowed with it. I straightened up, took a tottery step, and when my legs held me, took two more. I stood in the kitchen doorway, looking across to the living room. Above the fireplace, Bunter the moose looked glassily back at me. The bell around his neck hung still and chimeless. A hot sunpoint glowed on its side. The only sound was that stupid Felix the Cat clock in the kitchen. The thought nagging at me, even then, was that the screaming woman had been Jo, that Sara Laughs was being haunted by my wife, and that she was in pain. Dead or not, she was in pain. ‘Jo?' I asked quietly. ‘Jo, are you ‘ The sobbing began again the sound of a terrified child. At the same moment my mouth and nose once more filled with the iron taste of the lake. I put one hand to my throat, gagging and frightened, then leaned over the sink and spat. It was as it had been before instead of voiding a gush of water, nothing came out but a little spit. The waterlogged feeling was gone as if it had never been there. I stayed where I was, grasping the counter and bent over the sink, probably looking like a drunk who has finished the party by upchucking most of the night's bottled cheer. I felt like that, too stunned and bleary, too overloaded to really understand what was going on. At last I straightened up again, took the towel folded over the dishwasher's handle, and wiped my face with it. There was tea in the fridge, and I wanted a tall, ice-choked glass of it in the worst way. I reached for the doorhandle and froze. The fruit and vegetable magnets were drawn into a circle again. In the center was this: help im drown That's it, I thought. I'm getting out of here. Right now. Today. Yet an hour later I was up in my stifling study with a glass of tea on the desk beside me (the cubes in it long since melted), dressed only in my bathing trunks and lost in the world I was making the one where a private detective named Andy Drake was trying to prove that John Shackleford was not the serial killer nicknamed Baseball Cap. This is how we go on: one day at a time, one meal at a time, one pain at a time, one breath at a time. Dentists go on one root-canal at a time; boat-builders go on one hull at a time. If you write books, you go on one page at a time. We turn from all we know and all we fear. We study catalogues, watch football games, choose Sprint over AT. We count the birds in the sky and will not turn from the window when we hear the footsteps behind us as something comes up the hall; we say yes, I agree that clouds often look like other things fish and unicorns and men on horseback but they are really only clouds. Even when the lightning flashes inside them we say they are only clouds and turn our attention to the next meal, the next pain, the next breath, the next page. This is how we go on.