A Reflection on Dads Old Cottage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Reflection on Dads Old Cottage - Essay Example The few daffodils at the entrance smile at me. The leaves and the remaining trees, as well as everything in the surrounding, would have probably loved to be heard as to the events that have often taken place. At the same time, I felt it was also the time for everything in the surrounding to listen to me pour out the nostalgic feelings that filled me; how just the other day we lived in the structure with dad, mommy and my sisters and how things have changed beyond the point of no return. At the door, I am welcome by the woodpecker, which takes a flight. As the door opens, it seems to it cannot mince the joy of meeting one of its masters again, as evidenced by the production of screech sounds by the hinges. As I get in, I find the building inclusions smiling at me. The pictures on the wall, the furniture, the falling ceiling seem to be saying ‘son, welcome back. We have never missed you’. It is a place that one would love to stay in. I take a walk around to explore the ful l feelings. I rediscover the other part of this world. I discern that the structure stands isolated at the end of the ranch. The structure is now old seems to be on the final stages of its life. By looking at the structure, one can derive a lot of unpleasant memories. The remaining trees and few stumps do not seem to be moved by the unfolding events. As walk, my feet interact with the dried leaves that seem to give unwelcoming sound. Even the few daffodils at the entrance can only be described as lonely and displaced. The woodpecker has taken over the cottage door and takes a scary flight. As I open the door, it is apparent the hinges were hardly prepared to see me again. As I come to face with what is in the building, everything, including the pictures on the wall, the furniture and the falling ceiling seem to be lamenting on why I had forsaken them. The only smell is that of the decomposing woods and memories.

Test System Essay Example for Free

Test System Essay Answer the following questions (you may use MS Project Help): 1) What are the three base calendars included in MS Project and what are the default values of each? a) Standard Default base calendar, Monday to Friday, 8 to 5, lunch noon to 1. This is the default base calendar used for the project, for tasks and for resources. b) Night Shift Usually for graveyard shift, 11 PM to 8 AM, five days a week, lunch 3 AM to 4 AM. c) 24 Hours – Work never stops here. Typically used for projects in a manufacturing situation, midnight until midnight 7 days a week. 2) What is the difference between a base calendar and a resource calendar? d) A base calendar defines the usual working and nonworking times and days, and exceptions, such as holidays, for the project or for a group of resources. Resource calendars ensure that resources are scheduled only when theyre available for work. This includes the resource’s vacations and off times. 3) Why schedule one project meeting after completion of the last task, Test System? e) This would be a final meeting to discuss the success or failure of the system test. If the test was successful, the project team will be released to their other duties or projects. If the test was a failure, the team meeting will allow discussion on how to proceed to address the issues that caused the failure. 4) Give an example of when you would assign a 24-hour calendar to a resource. f) You would assign a 24-hour calendar to a contractor or an outside source, they work on their own time within the required days. If you were doing a senior project, what would be the base calendar you would use for students working on the project and what adjustments would you make to it? * I would make it working hours of 6-10p Mon-Wed (3x/week) and possibly another day if needed and they would also have school holidays off as well.

How to Babysit Four Kids :: Process Essays

How to Babysit Four Kids   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   My mom, who skillfully manages four children, works Tuesday evenings - she calls it time out. As I walked in the house on a recent Tuesday evening, I hear Meghan screaming. Tim is mercilessly teasing her by hiding her teddy bear.   Pat is hollering from the basement at Tim; and the phone is ringing.   The ringing stops, which means Maura got it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When Meghan hears me enter she runs crying "Tim's teasing me and I'm hungry."   I ask the kids, "Why didn't you feed her?"   Tim responds, "she didn't say she was hungry."   Pat runs up from the basement and reminds me I have to take him to guitar practice now or he'll be late.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Maura bounces down the steps, pokes her finger in my ribs and shouts, "I need help with my Algebra but give me the keys 'cause I have to run to school to get my history book and Mom says give Meghan a bath before you put her to bed and have the kitchen looking as nice as it did when she left, which was spotless."   I won't tell you how I reacted that evening.   As married-with-children typically means both partners are working, the need to cope with such situations has become a daily necessity.   For you fathers, who haven't acquired the natural mothering instincts, here are some pointers I've learned the hard way to ease the pressures of work and family: Don't think that by ignoring the family they'll go away.   If pressures at home build because of schedules, personalities, etc. deal with them.   Rather than react to events like I did, create the action.   Be prepared for those evenings or weekends when you're the only cook, cleaner and ente rtainer.   On my fateful Tuesday, I should have phoned home before leaving work to discuss plans for the evening. Plan family schedules in advance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Have a large calendar hung prominently in the busiest room in the house and preferably near a phone.  Ã‚   Schedule activities immediately on the calendar.   My mom has informed me of major family plans while I was watching Pitt play on TV.   Because I didn't tune into the discussion, when the time came for me to be at whatever event she was talking about at the right time and place, and with the right kid it didn't happen. Have a few tricks up your sleeve.

Alice Walkers depiction of men in The Color Purple Essay

Alice Walkers depiction of men in The Color Purple has been controversial. Explore the opinions of the two critics printed below and explain your own view of the way Walker presents men in The Colour Purple. In The Color Purple, Alice Walker’s depiction of men has been seen by some as controversial. Walker seems to be attacking black men because of their mistreatment of black women. Although, there is another force at work in this powerful, and emotional, book. That force is the unwitting testimony which Walker cannot control, because it was not deliberately written to be part of her story. Between the lines of her story is the strong message of personal rage: rage which cannot be hidden. The rage can be seen throughout the novel in numerous forms; the words used by Walker, that are strong and emotive; the portrayal of the characters, from innocent, like Celie, to evil, like Mr. Alphonso and the realism in which the characters are brought to life, because of the real anger used to describe them. Therefore, in considering the opinions of the two opposing critics, this circumstance must be borne in mind. The first critic, Tony Brown, wrote an article about The Color Purple for the Carolina Peacemaker. He has many views on the book, and expresses those views confidently. Brown admits in his article that some men have raped their daughters, â€Å"†¦ some black men have raped their daughters,† However, immediately afterwards, he is stating his defence of black men. He defends himself instantly, saying that the majority of black men have not. He then speaks of the problem that black men have when it comes to loving, saying the love has â€Å"†¦ been drained out by the brutality of a society panic-stricken over black masculinity. † Brown then goes on to tackle the issue of lesbian affairs in the book, and that they give women â€Å"†¦ emotional and sexual salvation†¦ † He defends his position saying that this is not the case in the real world, even though many frustrated black women seem to want to believe. Brown then admits that some black men are like Walker’s characters, he says they are but, â€Å"†¦ sad examples†¦ † He also says the book focuses only on the failings of black men, and that black men are being abused by a white mans movie. He is blaming everyone else. Famous black men are mentioned by Brown in his argument, and the fact that they were non-incestuous and non-brutalizing and had healthy relationships with women. He states that, â€Å"Their women never needed a ‘Shug’. † Brown fails to support his argument about famous black males though, he merely mentions their names briefly. Brown blames the publishers in the final part of the extract. He says that white men and women only publish books by black women, or homosexual black men, and then label them as being the ‘black experience’. Brown is constantly blaming others throughout his extract, he never accepts responsibility for the actions of black men; he merely shirks the blame to other people. The second critic writes as a response to Brown’s article, their name is not given. Their argument defends The Color Purple, and retorts to Brown’s scathing attack of Walker’s depiction of men in the book. The critic opens their response with the line that states the book is, â€Å"†¦ strictly fiction†¦ † They stress though, that Walker has written about real suffering, and the ideas were not conjured up by the imagination of Walker. The critic then speaks of the books content, and speaks of Walker’s characterisation. The critic gives Celie as an example of a woman who grew from her own strength, â€Å"†¦ a self-assured, strong woman†¦ † even if it was at the ‘expense’ of a few male egos. After stating the facts in the book and showing the main character development, the critic then launches a scathing attack upon black men, saying that, â€Å"†¦ the shoe is such a good fit that it becomes downright uncomfortable†¦ † Meaning that, the black men are offended, because the book is too truthful for their liking. The critic then emphasises that Walker’s message is that of oppression, and that it is, â€Å"†¦ ugly no matter what colour it is. † They state that oppression is wrong, and that the message given by the book mustn’t be forgotten, or else the ugliness will live on, and continue to breed. In the closing lines of the critic’s argument, the critic states that the book is a story about black women; not a book that is against black men. Brown is then contradicted by the anonymous critic, as they write that Walker’s is a feminist book, and that it is not specifically against black men, even though black men are on the defensive because of it, â€Å"†¦ black men protesting and licking their wounded egos. † Both critics focused on actual events in the book; relationships in the book; the powerful difference between men and women; the differences between sex and the raw influence in sexual matters. In spite of this, both critics overlooked the power in the book, that being of Alice Walker’s real message which encompasses so much of bitterness and grief experienced by black people in the USA. In my opinion, the men in The Color Purple presented during anger, Walker’s anger when writing. Therefore, the presentation of men is biased. Personally speaking, I think the depiction of men in the novel is true; that is, all aspects of the male personality are represented by Walker’s characters, from kindness in Reverend Mr (Samuel) to brutal cruelty, seen in Albert. The way in which Walker writes, with such conviction and passion about her characters makes the depiction true, it cannot be fained. The slightly biased view on the male characters in the novel is so because Walker only shows two good black, male characters; Samuel and Harpo. Harpo cares deeply for his family, and loves them sincerely, but his sensitivity causes him to be dominated over by his wife. Samuel does so much to help Nettie; he takes her in after Albert’s assault on her. He educates her, shows her new and exciting places abroad. The marriage between Samuel and Corrine also knows no cruelty, no violence or sexual abuse. This example is compared to several other male characters that are portrayed as raging, unprincipled creatures. An example of a raging, unprincipled creature, as shown by Walker, would be Mr. Alphonso, he rapes his own step-daughter, on more than one occasion, and then when Celie gave birth to two children, he gave them away. This was not the act of a decent human being.

How to Differentiate Hrd and T&D

In the early 1980s, the field of personnel management shifted its function from handling staffing and related administrative activities to the development of people as a resource of the organization (Sims, R. 2006). Thus, here comes the field of Human Resource Development (HRD). The term HRD started out first simply as â€Å"training†, then involved into â€Å"training and development†(T&D), and finally into HRD. Therefore, some confusion arise relating to the difference between Human Resource Development and â€Å"training and development†.In order to differentiate HRD and T&D, the author illustrates this essay by clarifying the definition of HRD and T&D, their respective main purpose, and the strategies of each term. I. Definition 1. Definition of HRD Because of the evolving nature of HRD, defining HRD is difficult. The first definition of HRD offered by Harbison and Myers related HRD to broad contexts, including economy, political, social and culture contexts, rather than just individuals and organizations.They defined HRD as a process to increase the knowledge, skills and capacities of all the people in a society: â€Å"In economic terms, it could be described as the accumulation of human capital and its effective investment in the development of an economy. In political terms, HRD prepares people for adult participation in the political process, particularly as citizens in a democracy. From the social and cultural points of view, the development of human resources helps people lead fuller and richer lives, less bound to tradition. †(Harbison and Myers, 1964)HRD was also referred as a learning experience provided by employees, leading to the improvement of their performance and/all personal growth (Nadler and Nadler, 1989). A recent definition from Swanson (2009) explained the term HRD as a process of developing and unleashing expertise which aimed at improving organizational system, work process, team, and individual performance . 2. Definition of T&D Generally speaking, training and development is defined as a field concerned with organizational activity whose objective is to improve the performance of individuals and groups in organizational context.To be specific, writers of some literatures have divided the term T&D into two independent parts: â€Å"training† and â€Å"development†. Separated definition for each word is created, which makes the definition of training and development quite straightforward. Training was defined as a â€Å"planned and systematic process to modify or develop attitude, knowledge or skills through learning experiences, to achieve effective performance in an activity or range of activities. † (Garavan et al. ,1995; Harrison, 1993; Reid et al. 1994) .A separate definition of development was that â€Å"the growth or realization of a person’s ability through conscious or unconscious learning, which usually includes elements of planned study and experi ence supported by coaching and counseling† (Wilson, 1999). Similarities can be seen from these definitions that both HRD and T&D provide human resource with learning to improve performance. However, their emphasises are different according to the definitions. T&D focuses more on the improvement of individual performance, whereas HRD is a business approach which plays a crucial role in the improvement of whole organizational.II. Main Purpose of HRD and T&D 1. Main purpose of HRD The key functions of HRD are individual development, organizational development, career development and performance improvement. Actually, the main purpose of HRD is under debate of researchers and practitioners. Should it focus on increasing the performance requirements of its organizations and enhancing the productivity of the workforce or on developing the individual competency and skills? When practiced in productive organizations, HRD should contribute directly to the organization’s goal.As a result, performance improvement becomes the main purpose of HRD. There are many aspects that HRD could improve performance: individual, process, as well as organizational levels. For instance, performance is impeded when the goal of an organization do not fit various internal and external realities (culture, for example). HRD could solve this problem by formulating a goal that fit in the organizational culture while a culture change process being implemented in order to support the goal of the organization. 2. Main purpose of T&DIn many literatures, the purpose of T&D concentrates on individual development. There is need to train and retrain the employees on continuous basis. T&D has the goal of influencing basic values and beliefs of individual. Meanwhile, there are also technical and management T&D programmes related to systems and procedures appeal to the inherent logic, and the planning methods and people skills appeal to the strategies of succeed. The relationship (or differe nce) of HRD and T&D (and other HRD functions) could be illustrated by figure1:Figure1 (Haslinda, 2009) Although the main purpose of T&D is individual development, which is one of the four key functions of HRD, we can not say that T&D is a subset of HRD. HRD and T&D are discrete entities. HRD is the integrated use of T&D, organizational development, career development and performance development to improve individual, group, and organizational effectiveness. III. Strategies of HRD and T&D 1. Strategies of HRD To contribute to the goals and missions of the organization, efforts of making HRD strategies must take place.First, there should be a clear overview of the relationship between the organization’s missions, strategic agenda, and competitive environment. Followed by an assessment of the current capacity of workforce, special needs are identified. An evaluation system needs to be built in order to examine if the target competencies indeed enhance the actualization of organi zational goals. Finally, the organization needs senior leadership and a culture that support lifelong learning of the work role of each employee. 2. Strategies of T&DTraining and development in an organization also requires a mechanism that establishes the competencies required by an organization to achieve success. Therefore, the strategy of T&D includes 1) identifying the employees’ training needs, 2) finding out the HR strategic plan, 3) establishing personal developing plans and 4) evaluating the T&D outcomes by assessment. The process could be revised over and over again. The strategies of HRD and T&D have several points in common. However, those tiny distinctions make HRD a more strategically orientated organizational process.

Money and Federalism Essay example

Money and Federalism Essay example Money and Federalism Essay example Money and Federalism Interdependence of sectors of society compelled government to take larger role. Another factor: Federal government has a superior ability to tax and borrow. Why? Why? States and localities are in an inherently competitive situation with regard to taxation. People and business can move to another state or locality. National government dependent on personal and corporate income tax. State and localities: license fees and property taxes. Federal Government and Money Can raise more taxes than do all the 50 states. Can control the American dollar (the Federal Reserve). Can borrow money to cover its deficits. States and localities can go bankrupt - harder to find credit. Fiscal Federalism Federal government’s revenue raising advantage has helped make money the basis for many of the relations between the national government and state and local government. Carrot and stick approach. Principle method: Grants in Aid. Grants in Aid: The Carrots Defined as: money paid by one level of government to another level of government to be spent for a specific purpose. Have been used to fund projects in: mass transportation health care urban renewal drug rehab housing crime Three types of Grants Categorical- grants given for specific purposes Block- grants given for general purposes Revenue Sharing - grants given with no strings/direction given for its disbursement Two types of categorical grants Formula: those that are distributed according to a formula. Project grants: awarded on a competitive basis through a federal agency The Stick Approach Direct Orders: legal measures adopted by the national government and enforced by civil and criminal penalties that require certain actions by state and local governments. Equal Opportunity Act of 1972: Barred job discrimination by state and local governments on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin. Another Example: Direct Order Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: requires that local governments see to it that all fixed rate public transportation systems be made accessible to the disabled as well as other new public transportation facilities. The national government passes a law that DIRECTLY requires some action on the part of state and local governments. The Stick: Preemption Preemption is the national government’s removal of an area of authority from state and local governments. Example: Clean Air Act 1990, Amendments in 1989 dealing with hazardous and solid waste, Water Quality Act of 1987. Took away state authority and often imposes costs in form of unfunded mandates. Partial Preemption Occurs when the national government establishes minimum standards in certain areas and authorizes state and local governments to exercise primary responsibility for

Learn the Conjugates of Peser (to Weigh) in French

Learn the Conjugates of Peser (to Weigh) in French Meaning to weigh, the French verb  peser  is used for measurements, but it can also be used to say to ponder, as in to weigh the consequences. Its an interesting verb and the conjugations require a stem change, which does make it a little trickier than others. Dont worry, though, a quick lesson in  pesers most useful forms will explain everything. The Basic Conjugations of  Peser Peser is a stem-changing verb. Not only do you have to concern yourself with adding the correct ending, theres also a difference in spelling to watch for. This change comes primarily in the present and future tenses of the indicative mood, though it will appear elsewhere as well. As you can see in the chart, there are times in which the  e  of the verb stem is accented  Ãƒ ¨. This happens often in verbs that end in  -e_er. Other than that,  peser  is conjugated much like any regular -er  verb.  Youll apply the same endings as you would for words like  tomber  (to fall) and that does make this a little easier for experienced French students. Beginning with the verb stem (or radical), which is  pes-, match the subject pronoun and the tense in the chart. This will help you learn that  je pà ¨se  means I am weighing and that  nous pesions  means we weighed. Present Future Imperfect je pse pserai pesais tu pses pseras pesais il pse psera pesait nous pesons pserons pesions vous pesez pserez pesiez ils psent pseront pesaient The Present Participle of  Peser The present participle of peser does not require the stem change. Instead, youll simply add -ant to the verb stem to create the word pesant. Peser  in the Compound Past Tense Passà © composà ©Ã‚  is the French compound past tense and it is used frequently. To form it, youll need to conjugate the auxiliary verb  avoir  to the present tense and follow it with the  past participle  pesà ©.  The results are phrases such as  jai pesà ©Ã‚  for I weighed and  nous avons pesà ©Ã‚  for we weighed. More Simple Conjugations of  Peser Peser  can also be useful in a few other simple conjugations. For instance, if youre uncertain if something is being weighed, you can use  the subjunctive. On the other hand, if the weighing is dependent on certain conditions,  the conditional  is used.   The passà © simple  and  the imperfect subjunctive  are literary tenses and youll encounter these most often in formal French writing. Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je pse pserais pesai pesasse tu pses pserais pesas pesasses il pse pserait pesa pest nous pesions pserions pesmes pesassions vous pesiez pseriez pestes pesassiez ils psent pseraient pesrent pesassent The  only time when its okay to drop the subject pronoun is when youre using  peser  in  the imperative.  This is for short statements that get to the point, so use  pà ¨se  rather than tu pà ¨se. Imperative (tu) pse (nous) pesons (vous) pesez