My ambitions in life Essay

My name is Jennis Dave Mirafuentes, I am now 16 years old. Were all 5 children in my father side, why I say in my father side only? It is because my father before was having his first family but they were separated because of some instances. We have 3 girls that is daughter of my father in his first wife and we are 2 in my mother side and we are both boys. We are now living in Km. 8 Ulas, Davao City. I finnish my primary study in Talomo Central Elementary School and my secondary in Talomo National High School. My first ambition in life when I was only a child is to become an architect because I love making an illustration of an house before but it was changed when I grow up because I realize that having an architecture course is difficult. When I was in my fourth year in high school I was still thinking of what course I will take in college. And from that time I realize in myself what if I will follow the steps of my mother. I will continue her job in teaching other people because before my mother was graduated of education and she is also a board passer but when the time that she raise me and my younger brother she doesn’t have enough time in teaching so that she decide to stop teaching and focus in caring of us. That’s why I decided to become a BS-Math student, Math because it was my favorite subject. Why I should become a teacher? Maybe now I still don’t have an ability to teach wisely other people but I didn’t refuse my ambition because the reason I studied is to learn the techniques on how to become an effective teacher. Maybe now I was only holding one quality to become a teacher and that is my determination and willingness to teach.

Nursing Home Abuse Essay

Approximately 1.4 million elderly people reside in long term care facilities, such as nursing homes. The families that admit their loved ones to these long term care facilities believe that excellent care is being provided to them. Many of the residents in nursing home settings receive adequate health care, but a numerous amount of other residents are subjected to abuse and neglect. It is believed that nearly one-third of all nursing homes have residents that are subjected to abuse either by staff or other residents (Masters in Health Care). Definitions of elder abuse vary. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what actions or inactions constitute abuse. Besides a variety of definitions, the major types of abuse that occur in nursing homes are categorized into physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, financial or material exploitation. The solution to such nursing home abuse is rather simple. To prevent the inhumane treatment of the elderly in nursing homes, the nursing shortage needs to be addressed. The scandal of elder abuse in nursing homes appears to be new phenomena, but in reality this god forsaken crime has occurred for decades. Due to an elder’s physical and cognitive make up, they are not able to defend themselves from the heinous acts of abuse by their caregivers. Abuse in nursing homes is mainly thought of as physical aggression, but the elderly are subjected to psychological abuse also. One would think that no man or woman could commit abuse onto a helpless individual; however the issue of elderly abuse in nursing homes has been a growing problem. In 2003, there were 20,673 complaints of abuse, gross neglect, and exploitation on behalf of nursing home and â€Å"board and care† residents (American Association for Justice). By 2010 the number of elderly abuse complaints rose to a number between one million and two million (National Center on Elder Abuse). A study prepared by the staff of the Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee found that thirty percent of nursing homes in the United States (5,283 facilities) were cited for almost nine-thousand instances of abuse over a recent two year period. The common problems of the study included untreated bedsores, inadequate medical care, malnutrition, dehydration, preventable accidents, and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. These common problems can be categorized into the major types of elder abuse in nursing homes. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial exploitation are considered the major types of such abuse. Physical abuse is defined by the use of physical force that may result in bodily injury, physical pain, or impairment. Physical abuse may include but is not limited to such acts of violence as striking (with or without an object), hitting, beating, pushing, shoving, shaking, slapping, kicking, pinching, and burning. In addition, inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints, force-feeding, and physical punishment of any kind also are examples of physical abuse (National Center on Elder Abuse). Nearly sixteen-percent of nursing home abuse cases involve physical abuse (Brent & Adams). An article published by ABC news interviewed Helen Love, a 75 year-old grandmother of three that was a victim of nursing home abuse. Helen told ABC, â€Å"He choked me and he went and broke my neck. He broke my wrist bones, in my hand. He put his hand over my mouth.† Two days after the interview, Helen Love died. Nursing home officials did not report her beating to a state official who was at the nursing home at the time. Ultimately, though, Love’s attacker served a year in prison. An investigation revealed that he had been fired by two previous nursing homes for aggressive behavior. A report by the Senate Select Committee on Aging found that many nursing home abuse cases are not immediately reported to law enforcement official (Robinson). In fact, a recent report indicated that one in fourteen incidents of elder abuse where not reported to the authorities (American Association of Justice). Emotional or psychological abuse is defined as the infliction of anguish, pain, or distress through verbal or nonverbal acts. Emotional/psychological abuse includes but is not limited to verbal assaults, insults, threats, intimidation, humiliation, and harassment. In addition, treating an older person like an infant; isolating an elderly person from his/her family, friends, or regular activities; giving an older person the â€Å"silent treatment† and enforced social isolation are examples of emotional/psychological abuse (National Center on Elder Abuse). Almost twenty percent of reported elder abuse cases involve emotional abuse (Brent & Adams). With emotional abuse being the most abundant, it is also the most difficult to define. Emotional abuse is purely subjective which therefore is difficult to reprimand nurses against these crimes. The other major crimes however are objective, and are more easy to identify, such as neglect. Neglect is defined as the refusal or failure to fulfill any part of a person’s obligations or duties to an elder. Neglect may also include failure of a person who has fiduciary responsibilities to provide care for an elder (e.g., pay for necessary home care services) or the failure on the part of an in-home service provider to provide necessary care (National Center on Elder Abuse). According to Brent & Adams, twelve percent of abuse cases involve caretaker neglect. Neglect typically means the refusal or failure to provide an elderly person with such life necessities as food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medicine, comfort, personal safety, and other essentials included in an implied or agreed-upon responsibility to an elder (National Center on Elder Abuse). The Federal Bureau of Investigation published an article in May of 2012 about a case of nursing home neglect. The owner of three Georgia nursing homes, George Dayln Houser, was convicted in Atlanta of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid for $32.9 million dollars. To receive Medicare and Medicaid payments, Houser agreed to provide his residents with a safe and clean physical environment, nutritional meals, medical care, and other assistance. Houser not only failed to maintain a nursing staff sufficient to take proper care of the residents but did not pay food suppliers or providers of pharmacy and clinical laboratory services, medical waste disposal, trash disposal, and nursing supplies (FBI). Neglect, alongside physical abuse, are the most detrimental to a residents health. Not only do caregivers subject their residents to the atrocious crimes of neglect, but they also exploit them financially and materially. Financial or material exploitation is defined as the illegal or improper use of an elder’s funds, property, or assets. Examples include, but are not limited to, cashing an elderly person’s checks without authorization or permission; forging an older person’s signature; misusing or stealing an older person’s money or possessions; coercing or deceiving an older person into signing any document; and the improper use of conservatorship, guardianship, or power of attorney (National Center on Elder Abuse). In 2009, a Chicago nursing home worker faced financial exploitation and aggravated identification theft charges for allegedly stealing $4,008 from a Illinois nursing home. The criminal remained free on bail and was fired from the Illinois nursing home. Authorities acknowledge that the criminal had a previous criminal conviction for forgery (Nursing Home Blog). The major types of nursing home abuse have a direct correlation to inadequate staffing levels. A recent statistic by the American Association for Justice, found that ninety-percent of United States nursing homes had staffing levels too low to provide sufficient care. Residents of those nursing homes falling below minimal staffing standards are much more likely to develop bedsores and experience excessive weight loss than those in other nursing homes. This is because enough staff must be available so that all residents who cannot eat by themselves receive help. Also, unless immobile elderly residents are repositioned frequently, they may develop bedsores. To add to the problem, understaffing contributes to low morale and frustration among employees, decreasing their ability to deal with residents patiently and respectfully. According to the American Association for Justice, a series of reports revealed that many nursing homes do not have enough staff to meet the levels recommended by federal officials (3.45 nursing hours per patient daily) and nursing home experts (4.55 nursing hours per patient). Insufficient hours per patient hosts all sorts of potential problems for nursing care, the most problematic being neglect. Many nursing home residents need constant nursing attention to ensure that they do not develop medical problems. In many cases, residents need to be turned, moved, or given skin assessments to avoid developing pressure ulcers or from forming deadly blood clots. John A. Fisher, Ph. D, said there have been an alarming amount of recent cases in which New York nursing homes have been found liable for elder abuse after a resident died or was injured due to inadequate care. In every case, inadequate staffing was named as a contributing factor to the cause of the abuse. With inadequate staffing being the undeniable cause of nursing home abuse, how does the projected nursing shortage effect this issue? The projected nursing shortage in the United States is expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. â€Å"In the July/August 2009 Health Affairs, Dr. Peter Buerhaus and coauthors found that despite the current easing of the nursing shortage due to the recession, the U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses by 2025. A shortage of this magnitude would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this country since the mid-1960s. In the article titled The Recent Surge In Nurse Employment: Causes And Implications, the researchers point to a rapidly aging workforce as a primary contributor to the projected shortage (American Association of Colleges of Nursing).† In some instances today, nurses are forced to attend to 20 patients at a time, and that is at the lower part on the nurse- patient spectrum. Federal law requires Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes to have an registered nurse (RN) director of nursing (DON); an RN on duty at least 8 hours a day, 7 days a week; and a licensed nurse (RN or LPN) on duty the rest of the time. However, there are no minimum staffing levels for nurse’s aides, who provide most of the day-to-day care. Instead, nursing homes are required â€Å"to provide sufficient staff and services to attain or maintain the highest possible level of physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident. (Elder Law Answers)† If a nursing home met only the federal nurse staffing requirements described above, a resident would receive 20 minutes of nurse time per day. In 2000, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that the preferred minimum staffing level was when nursing home residents received three hours of total staff time per day — two hours of nursing assistant time and one hour of licensed nurse time. The optimum staffing level, according to the CMS, is one hour of licensed nurse time and three hours of nursing assistant time (Elder Law Answers). Most states have standards that are higher than the federal requirements, but still fall short of the levels recommended by the CMS. According to a recent study, the key to improving nursing home staffing levels is increasing state standards. The study by Charlene Harrington, a UCSF School of Nursing professor, found that states with the highest standards for nursing staff levels are the only states where nursing homes have enough staff to prevent serious safety violations. According to the study, the act of raising the state minimum staffing ratio has a direct impact on the quality of care nursing home residents receive. With such an impact that state and federal standards have on quality of care, how can the state enforce nursing homes to follow such mandates? According to an article published by nursing home reality endorsed by Aaron Delurey, the best way to ensure that residents are receiving an ample amount of care is for state officials to introduce these three procedures: Have each state mandate an increase in the percentage of surprise inspections that must take place outside of regular business hours on weekdays. Second, require management personnel to work staggered shits all the time, not just when the state is in their building. Why require this change? When the management is out of the building the quality of care given often suffers. Third and foremost, when the state shows up for an any kind of inspection, the inspectors should immediately seize the payroll data to verify staffing levels for the 14 continuous days immediately prior to the inspection. The inspectors should also insist that while they are in the building that no additional staff can be called in. These procedures would ultimately address the nursing shortage, therefore depleting the abuse within nursing homes.

Brompton Bicycles

LB160 TMA01 Brompton Bicycles under achieving The new management must move quickly to increase sales and boost profits. New managing director, Will Butler-Adams is concerned that the slow production time is failing to keep up with demand and is damaging brand name. The company is currently going through a management and production change and is hoping to triple output and market growth. Although Trademark patents have expired the fundamental design has copyright protection. The prominent threat from low-wage Taiwanese competitors, and low priced bikes could prevent future growth.Prices are determined by the cost of raw materials, brand image and the need to retain profit margins. Retaining the highly trained staff and controlling the quality of the product sold is essential for maintaining the brand image. The company’s founder, inventor Andrew Ritchie is concerned that quality may be compromised. Brompton Bicycles are not interested the mass production of their bike. Their pr oducts are manufactured in their London factory by well established and highly trained staff.They have a handful of retail shops in the USA. However, they have no intention of increasing the number of outlets to maintain the strong brand image. The company must adopt a new overseas sales strategy that will allow the company to meet exacting demands. A new media driven publicity drive should be implemented to bring the product to a new customer base. A cost analysis for new sponsorships for bike racing events should be evaluated that would raise the product profile. (Words 251)

Article Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Article Analysis - Essay Example It became apparent that retention rates within the organization were abysmal with approximately 50% of new hires would not last 97 days within the organization. Employee retention has significant associated costs, and a study by Cox/Frank for the U.S. Department of labor statistics estimated that in the supermarket context, employee turnover cuts into the industry’s profit by approximately 40%. It was from this study that Angela Hornsby decided that many of the problems that plagued the supermarket industry were similar to that of T.G.I. Fridays The article then went on to identify problems with retention. Firstly it is the case that many restaurants focus on turnover and not retention. Salary is not the most common reason for somebody leaving an organization. It was postulated that employers who provide their employees with better direction lose only about half of their employees in 148 days as opposed to 86 days which marks a 72% difference in the grocery industry. Furthermore it should be noted that retention drivers are different for management employees as opposed to hourly laborers. As such retention programs need to be tailored to meet the different needs of different employees. The article finally postulated that according to Teresa Siriani of the People report suggests that the restaurant industry’s high turnover can be attributed to many factors and no one simple problem. She suggested that a shrinking labor pool, declining employment rate (in 2006) and more competition amongst other labor fields such as health care will continue to make retention difficult. It is only through continual innovations can a restaurant hope to achieve better employee retention and as such lower the associated costs. The challenges presented in this article are simple. It is the case that in the restaurant (And Supermarket) industry there is inherently a very high employee turnover rate. The way that this affects the food and beverage

Network security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Network security - Essay Example As far as the computer hardware compatibility list (HCL) is concerned the peripherals must be compatible with the operating systems. The HCL may be centrally controlled and user driven. An official HCL should be available on the website of the operating system. The Linux operating system provides the best HCLs (http://www.linuxquestions.org/hcl). Microsoft windows provide the HCL access to average users also due to their market dominance (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/) However network security policies aim at the protection of network and related accessible resources from unauthorized users. The administrators ensure the continuous monitoring and effective implementation of the security measures. In order to have a checklist in mind for fool proof security stem in the networking an example of defense of a house from thieves can help. The network attached storage helps the interconnected PCs from hacking and viruses. In this way the attacks at entry level are prevented when the alerts go through the whole network. The computer host security network is not dependable as the hackers can have access and can purchase the hosts rather more easily. The net work security checklist includes the authorization and authentication of the user, creation of firewall for filtering the allowed services to the user, provision of the intrusion prevention system, monitoring for suspected traffics, and denial of unauthorized service (Duane DeCapite, Cisco Press, and Sep. 8, 2006). Depending on the size of the users, software for Antivirus likes Norton or McAfee etc are used. The bigger businesses use the security analyzers in addition to firewalls. And physical security checks against viruses and security fencing. In the UNIX operating environment the script files are created by using screen capture commands. This means that the user is trying to capture the interaction between the text file and UNIX operating system. Such a text file is called a

The Western Expansion into South East Asia Essay

The Western Expansion into South East Asia - Essay Example The first phase of Western expansion into South East Asia was characterized by a scenario whereby the Western Imperialists invaded the South East Asia and facilitated a division of the region in relation to territories; this was compared to their division of Africa into various nations. For instance: The British took complete control of the Indonesian Islands while the French took control of Indochina. However, this period was characterized by a scenario where; the French, the Dutch and the British took control of the South East Asia region (Schopper, pg. 29, 2008). On the other hand, during the second phase of the expansion, the United States of America was involved in the act where they acquired the Philippines, the Guam as well as Puerto Rico. Another difference between the First Phase and the Second Phase of Western Expansion into the South East Asia occurred into the sense that the First Phase was not characterized by incidences of conflict: The Dutch, the French and the British , expanded their colonial effects into various parts of the South East Region without undergoing any conflict with the native inhabitants of these region or even other colonialists. However, during the second phase of the expansion, a series of conflict occurred frequently majorly due to resistance among the natives for instance: The United States of America being one of the Colonialists that acquired the Philippines underwent a fierce battle with the Filipino Nationalists in the year 1899.

How did the protestant Reformation change the relationship between Essay

How did the protestant Reformation change the relationship between England and Spain - Essay Example As Franklin (19-21) points out, the problem of Protestantism was not easily solved anywhere. For instance, in England, it led to a bloody religious war that led to the execution of Queen Mary on the order of her half-sister, Queen Elizabeth. Spain, under King Philip, remained faithful to the catholic faith and as a result, it supported the side of England that was supporting catholic faith. After the defeat of the catholic side by the execution of Queen Mary, political tension between Spain and England started to build and within no time, the two nations were on each other’s throat. In early 17th century for instance, King Philip of Spain sent an army of professional military men to go and fight for the side of England that was supporting catholic faith. This was however retaliation to the action of England fighting non Protestants in Netherlands, which at the time was a colony of Spain. These religious wars continued for decades before ever reaching an amicable diplomatic sol ution. According to William (205), it was not just political relations between these two countries that were severed, since trade was also very much severed between the two nations. At that time, there was almost no private sector and any private businesses that traded internationally. They were only trading locally, and governments were very much involved in international businesses and there were times when people would entirely depend on the government to import essential things such as food and clothing. In realization of this, King Henry of England tried to build a good relationship with Spain, in order to improve the trade between Spain and England. This was achieved by the use of marriages between the sons of King Henry and a Spanish princess (Brans et al. 452). However, when one of the sons decided to divorce his wife, this created problems because the church (catholic) opposed

Forensic-MT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forensic-MT - Essay Example As the U.S. corporate sector reporting is plagued with continuum of frauds and deliberate accounting errors and manipulation and most of these cases are pending in the courts for due decisions. The need for forensic accounting becomes undoubtedly at its peak as accountants and lawyers seek supportive evidence which is rather factual rather than opinion based. The legal proceedings have become lengthy and complex as businesses and transactions are becoming complicated with too much information in terms of the ways they are carried out and information related to them is dispersed and difficult to gather. Forensic accountants or lawyers need to be competent and knowledgeable to identify weaknesses in the reporting system and prepare the factual documentation regarding an issue or a transaction which is being challenged in the court. The role of companies audit committees and external auditors are challenged by plaintiffs including regulatory bodies, stakeholders, creditors and general public in fraud cases. The outcome of this severe criticism was the introduction of the SOX 2002. The SOX requires auditors to carry out their audit engagement responsibilities in accordance to the ‘auditing and related professional standards’ laid out by PCAOB (PCAOB, 2004). Companies hire forensic accountants not only to provide litigation support but also to help them in managing their internal reporting. Auditors are now required to audit management’s assertion on the effective of internal controls over financial reporting (PCAOB, 2007). Information systems are integral part of internal reporting and data should be made accessible to auditors who need to carryout tests to assure the effectiveness of the system and completeness of information managed and generated. Additionally, auditors should acquire written confirmation representation of control

How did the economic development of the Gilded age affect American Essay

How did the economic development of the Gilded age affect American Freedom - Essay Example It entailed a notion that such approach to spontaneous progress determines allocation of power and social security. In this regard, reformists of the period were led to conceive that potential peril exists with the significant concern that as a response to it, people of the lower class may act in tumultuous aggression in exercising their democratic right over to suppress individual economic growth thinking that liberty of acquisition of rights to property (Foner), particularly with those who could afford, would only emphasize inequality among social divisions and thus create on appropriating amount of common interests. Progression of economic development enabled Americans to adapt to the concept and application of ‘Social Darwinism’ in their everyday living since the competition to acquire relative or higher advantage in upgrading social and economic status in American society had apparently become essential. With the rapidly growing rate of capital formation, GDP, and wages (Gilded), this condition concretized the effect of social freedom and transformation across vast critical regions of societies in U.S. in which most citizens began expressing individual or collective views by putting up labor unions that served to oppose severely improper conditions, shift schedules, loads, and unjust wages at work. Democracy was put in wide and intense practice of articulating protest with the desire to take part in the evolving process of industrial growth. In this endeavor, they sought to be assured as well of experiencing freedom from any form of injustice or oppression of employers who were p redictably consumed by the principle of capitalism or profit-orientation for use in business that required irrational gravity of labor at the expense of either skilled or unskilled workers (Gilded). Since Social Darwinism in human society advocates natural selection without interference from the government, the ensuing crisis with inequality due to the fast rate

Licensing and Professional Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Licensing and Professional Organization - Essay Example In most cases, the program has a theoretical background, which has evidence regarding on clinical experiences on community-based practice settings (Sullivan-Marx, 2010). In this program, the nursing students get the chance to develop different skills when it comes to providing direct care, health assessments, health maintenance and information, which is useful in the promotion of health care to any given family. Generally, primary care nursing program deals with family’s mental, emotional, physical and sociocultural systems (Sullivan-Marx, 2010). Based on this specialty, I would expect to work in one of the many Georgia’s community health clinics.The Glenn Hills Community School-Based Clinic in Georgia being a community health care in Georgia as a big Primary Care organization favors my line of career(Georgia, 1996). The operating systems at the facility are versatile and updated; therefore, the environment at the organization will favor my career (Buppert, 2008). Additionally, I hope to learn a lot from this organization in terms of my nursing career. The Georgia community health clinic mostly addresses issues ranging from primary care needs, order diagnostic tests and writing of prescriptions (Sullivan-Marx, 2010). Alternatively, the organization focuses on helping in the application of evidence-based, management of common acute and some of the chronic health problems among individuals. All the mentioned care approaches directly lie in my line of duty(Georgia, 1996).

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Essay Example fMRI measures brain activity indirectly, namely by measuring change in oxygen content; this is called the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) contrast mechanism. However, fMRI has certain limitations. For instance, the fMRI signal reflects changes in oxygen content with high but insufficient spatial-time resolution. Hemodynamics in response to neuronal activity is revealed on a spatial-temporal scale far longer than the neuronal activity itself. Here, so-called temporal "blurring" of the fMRI signal is caused by both inertance and residual effects. In spite of such obstacles, changes in neural activity associated with individual trials or components of a trial in a task can be observed. Moreover, it is possible to capture brain activity associated with a single momentary cognitive act of mentally rotating a stimulus, without recourse to averaging over events (Buckner & Logan 2001, p. 31). Special fMRI experimental designs such as event-related fMRI designs are required in these cases. There are numerous difficulties in separating the processing roles of specific brain areas. Usually such separation is provided either by well matched task comparisons or through convergence across multiple studies. However, brain activity changes can be relative changes between pairs of tasks, gradual or even nonlinear changes across a series of tasks, or correlations between different tasks. How can tasks and trials within a task be constructed to separate brain cognitive operations This is a key problem of fMRI experimental design. There are several approaches for its solving. The basic approach is to have subjects engage in a target behavioural task for a period of time and then contrast that task period with periods where subjects perform a reference task. Here, the subject might perform a target task, and the measurement obtained during the performance of that task would be contrasted with a measurement obtained when the subject performed a matched reference task. How to substantiate this approach It is obvious that brain activity will change between the two task states and therefore will correlate selectively with the manipulated task demands. When using fMRI, images are taken of the brain repeatedly and in sequence. Brain areas of activation are identified by examining which specific regions change signal intensity as the task state changes from the reference condition to the target task. Then, statistical procedures ranging from direct comparisons between task states to more sophisticated estimations of correlations among task states can be employed to identify those regions whose activity change is unlikely to occur by chance. Unfortunately, tasks designed by such approach may cause differences in the processing strategies adopted by subjects during task performance by means of the blocking of trials, which may result in differential patterns of neural activity that do not have to do with the item-specific processes elicited by the individual trials. This issue can appear in delicate forms in cognitive paradigms where subject strategies may be

Gothic stories Essay Example for Free

Gothic stories Essay Gothic is a word used in the twelfth century to denote certain types of architecture connected to the settings used by writers. Gothic fiction initiated as a genre in 1765 with Horace Walpoles novel Castle of Otranto. The majority of Gothic writers would take drugs which inspired them to put pen to paper and write about numerous Gothic features and produce their story. Normally characters are associated with odd or ritualistic behaviour often involving the supernatural. The Gothic Golden Age occurred between 1765 and 1844. Boundaries and limits are both established and challenged by both writers and characters. Tensions between the scientific and the supernatural are often made apparent. Examples of these Gothic features can be found in The Signalman, The Hand and The Dream Woman. Traditionally Gothic stories are set in castles, churches, darkness or other locations with a sense of evil. Gothic stories are mainly set at night to add an extra illusion of fear. Should a Gothic story be read in a dark room extra fear, tension, anxiety and anticipation would be inflicted upon the reader. This is because when a gothic tale is read in the dark there is a sense of someone or something watching you. Readers expectations when reading a Gothic tale are to read about elements of the supernatural, skeletal or ghostly images and pathetic fallacy. In The Signalman Dickens writes he was a dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows. This quotation consists of an example of a ghostly, corpse like image. Dickens is Describing a ghostly figure. The Signalman written by Charles Dickens is a perfect example of a gothic setting. The story has many examples of unusual events. Dickens writes so steeped in the glow of an angry sunset. This quotation informs the reader that the sunset has a violent glow which is unusual for a sunset, the skyline is a deep blood red. The Signalman is set at the Signalmans hut where the cutting through the tunnel by the hut is unusually deep and gives a sense of foreboding to the reader. The tunnel is made through clammy stone, which became oozier and wetter as you walked to the tunnel and made anybody petrified to enter it. The Hand written by Guy De Maupassant uses great examples of death, a main gothic feature. De Maupassant writes I bent down close to the corpse and between his clenched teeth I found one of the fingers from that vanished hand. This quotation informs the reader that a finger from the missing hand has been found, but in what mysterious circumstances. Also in The Hand the hand itself is described with much detail. The writer states The fingers were abnormally long and were attached by enormous tendons to which fragments of skin adhered. In this quotation the writer is describing the hand in such ghoulish detail the reader has an image of a gruesome hand projected onto their minds which they will find hard to forget. A feature of gothic tradition is the use of dark colours to emphasize the evilness of gothic characters and buildings. In the novel The Dream Woman the writer says The flame diminished to a blue point and the room grew dark The effect of this quotation on the reader is that it adds extra fear and suspense due to the darkness. A main aspect of gothic tradition is elements of the supernatural. In The Hand the writer states I thought I saw the hand running like a spider. This is an example of elements of the supernatural because a hand running like a spider is beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature and not something any human would have seen. In conclusion gothic tradition is a fascinating subject because the use of dark descriptive language is effective in giving the reader a terrifying experience. Short stories are effective because the action is condensed and it all happens in a short space of time. There is less background information; all the descriptive paragraphs are there to give atmosphere, the spooky dark events. Short sentences have greater impact than longer ones, particularly when exclamation marks complete them.

The Wetherspoons company in UK

The Wetherspoons company in UK JD Wetherspoon PLC is a UK based company involved in the development and management of public houses in the UK (REUTERS). The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and operates its business through 793 pubs all over the UK (WETHERSPOON). It provides food and a variety of alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks to its customers at competitive prices. Wetherspoon is known for its cheap drinks and food promotions. It also focuses heavily on its breakfast and coffee menus. In addition to traditional pubs, the company also operates newer styled bars providing a more vibrant and contemporary atmosphere under the Lloyds No 1 brand name. It also operates a relatively new hotel chain consisting of 16 hotels. Wetherspoon was founded by Tim Martin in 1979 with the first pub in London. In its early days, the company grew by opening pubs in unusual former retail locations. Over the 80s the company differentiated itself from other pubs by ridding itself of music, television and games and thus created a unique identity. In 1992 it was listed on the London Stock Exchange as a UK wide chain of around 40 pubs. Going public, provided wetherspoon with the required funding to expand and within the next four years the number of pubs in the chain quadrupled to 160. In the late 90s, the company diversified into the lodging business which still represents a very small proportion of their revenues. Over the past ten years wetherspoon has continued to expand and has successfully established a reputable network of pubs throughout the U.K. This report focuses on critically analysing JD wetherspoons strategic, financial and stock market performance over the past five years in comparison with its competitors and the industry as a whole. In conclusion the report will attempt to make recommendations to a potential investor regarding potential in the company. Strategic Analysis Pubs lie at the heart of British life and culture. Going to pubs has been one of the primary sources of entertainment in the country. According to the Social Issues Research Center (SIRC), an Oxford based not for profit social research organisation, over 75% of the adult British Population goes to pubs and over a third are regulars who go to pubs at least once a week (SIRC). This represents an industry with a customer base of roughly 37 million people. Broad business environment The broad business environment in the UK has changed drastically over the last decade. There have been about 300 pieces of government regulation in the public house sector along with tax increases, smoking ban, and changes in consumer lifestyles and attitudes towards going out and drinking. Pubs have needed to change with the times in order to retain their margins and remain profitable. Those successful have adopted an active strategy of evolving their business with the changing times. A detailed PESTEL analysis has been conducted to analyse the broad business environment and its effects on the Pub industry. Please see Appendix A for the full analysis. The most significant factors responsible for shaping the business environment in the pub industry have been discussed below. Political Factors The UK pub industry has been highly regulated over the past few years. On the other hand, alcohol duty is rapidly increasing and is many times more than in other European nations. This coupled with the rising VAT and increased government activism against binge drinking and alcohol abuse has made it difficult for the pub operators to operate and maintain their margins. Economic Factors The Global economic crisis has led to consumer spending cuts, thereby leading to a decline in pub sales. Moreover rising national minimum wage and aggressive price competition with supermarkets are narrowing pubs margins and leading to reduced profits. However government intention to ban sale of below cost alcohol might come as a slight respite to the pub industry. Social Factors The rising national concern over Britains alcohol habits, have manifested itself in a number of ways. People are beginning to fully understand the problem and the government is taking steps to curb binge drinking and alcohol abuse. The UK drinks industry has launched a huge campaign to address this concern and to make people more aware about the problems associated with irresponsible drinking. Technological Factors The advent of technology has changed societys idea of entertainment, shifting it more inside the confines of the household. This has led to declining public interest in pubs. Pub operators have also increased their investment in technology considerably, in order to enhance the pub experience. These include among others, investments in television systems for sports, electronic point of sale systems and refrigeration systems to store alcohol at precise temperatures. Environmental Factors Pub retailers are becoming environmentally conscious and have taken steps to recycle most of the waste products particularly food, in order to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites. This is a great opportunity for pubs to portray themselves as socially responsible. Legal Factors The Licensing law allowed licensed pubs to potentially open 24 hours a day. This has been a huge opportunity for the pub industry and has increased competition. The law is currently under scrutiny by the government. Any changes to it might have a major impact on the industry. The drink driving laws over the past few years have also been made stringent. This has resulted in consumers avoiding driving to pubs and preferring to drink at home in order to avoid committing a drink driving offence. The above factors have had a very profound impact on all the major pub operators. They have responded to the environment and adjusted their strategy in order to succeed in these conditions. There has been a strategic focus on innovation in the pub industry through food development, skills training, interior enhancement etc. With growth in alternative forms of entertainment, socio-political pressures on pub operator margins, and tough economic climate, most of the market players are looking to diversify into the relatively less volatile and high margin businesses. Industry analysis With over 50,000 pubs catering to over 35 million customers, the pub sector represents a highly fragmented industry. The industry consists of a few big players with a chain of pubs throughout the UK. The six biggest pub chains own only about 42% of the total number of pubs. The biggest players in the industry by turnover, along with their main brands and number of outlets are as follows. Source : Mintel Pub Catering UK September 2010 While wetherspoon operates only managed pubs at city centre locations in major towns and cities throughout the UK (MINTEL, 2010), the business models for some of the other major players in the industry are very different and diverse. Punch Taverns operated both leased and managed pubs. Although a major proportion of their business comprises of leased pubs, they still have over 800 managed pubs in the UK. Enterprise Inns on the other hand only operates leased and tenanted pubs. Greene King has a much more segmented business model wherein its operations are divided into over 2400 managed, leased tenanted pubs and restaurants, two breweries, and a number of wholesale depots. Marstons has a similar mix of activities with over 2100 managed and tenanted pubs and bars, five breweries and wholesale facilities. Mitchells and Butlers (MB) operates managed pubs and pub restaurants mainly in the UK, but also has a small number of pub restaurants (43) in Germany. A very small proportion of their total estate consists of leased and franchised sites. They are the largest operator of managed pubs with over 1800 managed pubs in the UK. Competition for the smaller 58% of the pubs is largely limited to players in the local market. For example an individual pub in Leeds only competed with other individual pubs in Leeds. In order to analyse the pub industry in detail a full analysis has been conducted based on Porters five forces framework (Appendix B). The major outcomes of the analysis are as follows Threat of Entry Starting up a pub is reasonably easy process due to an undifferentiated market, and fairly low set up costs. Obtaining the individual pub license is fairly straightforward. Besides easy access to supply channels and low cost capital, have led to a significant threat of entry. However, a large scale of operations, popular brand identity, experience in the industry and established distribution channels are essential to operate competitively in the industry. Moreover increased government legislation and extraordinary levels of taxation in the sector have made it unattractive to new entrants, thus restricting the threat of entry to some extent. Threat of Substitutes Supermarkets, restaurants, hotels and off licensing shops represent a group of substitutes to public houses. Supermarkets in particular enjoy huge economies of scale and are in a position to undercut pub-prices. The perceived performance to price ratio to the consumer defines their choice between pubs and their substitutes. Although supermarkets cannot replicate the value added services provided by pubs, with the global financial crisis affecting disposable incomes, consumers have become highly price sensitive, thus increasing the threat of substitutes to a moderately high level. Bargaining power of buyers Buyers bargaining power has traditionally been moderately high due to low switching costs and easy availability alternatives. Recent trends categorised by declining alcohol consumption, low consumer disposable incomes, consumer preferences of drinking at home have further increased buyers power. Bargaining powers of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers is quite high as the industry due to the dominance of a concentrated group of suppliers. A number of suppliers own powerful brands and hence pubs have to buy from them in order to satisfy consumer demands. Moreover, supply agreements such as tied house contracts give the suppliers an upper hand. The high power suppliers mean that pub operators, who have their own breweries and wholesale depots, have an obvious advantage. Competitive Rivalry The industry has traditionally been a growth industry with most major players looking to expand and open more pubs. However, pub margins have declined over the years and large volumes have become increasingly critical for pub companies to survive. The threat of competition from supermarkets has also become significant and combined with moderately high threat of entry, and strong bargaining power of customers, has led to increasing levels of competitive rivalry. The industry is categorised by low levels of product differentiation and aggressive price wars between competitors. The declining alcohol consumption, sluggish market growth, high taxes and pub closure rates have resulted in aggressive competition for retaining revenues. The pub industry is in a state of consolidation. The business environment has been tough and falling margins has made it difficult for pubs to meet their costs. With pub closure rates having reached record levels in 2009; all the major pub chains are in the process of reviewing and reorganising their business in order to adapt to the changing conditions. Wetherspoons Strategy Wetherspoon has adhered to simple principles of cleanliness, cheap drinks and good value food. With no music, wetherspoon pubs are seen as places where people can interact with friends over a round of drinks or food. The principle strategy that separates wetherspoon from most of its competitors is its focus on the consumer. Whilst a number of competitors lease their pubs out and are therefore less concerned about the ultimate consumer, wetherspoon makes constant efforts to innovate and enhance the consumer experience. This has given them the competitive edge over their competitors and hence they have chosen to stick to the 100% managed pubs business model. Wetherspoon has traditionally been quick to foresee impending changes in the business environment and strategise in order to adapt. They have stuck to their low price high revenue pricing strategy. Their efforts to provide products at the lowest price possible has been considerable success in recent times as customers have become highly price sensitive and are looking for value for money. They expect their promotions to remain a key driver to high revenues. Wetherspoon is aiming at rapid organic and inorganic growth by opening up new pubs and developing and refurbishing the existing ones. The economic downturn has provided it with the perfect opportunity to expand given low property prices and continued profitability of their pubs. Wetherspoon plans to open 250 new pubs in the period 2009 2014 (RICHARD WACHMAN, 2009). Their expansion strategy involves taking over underperforming bargain pubs and turning them around to profitability. The company rents most its pubs as opposed to buying them in a bid to keep its debt levels low. This has approach has enabled them to reach a position where they have considerable amounts of money to invest whilst their competitors are finding it very difficult to service their rising debts. Wetherspoon is focussing on developing their high margin food and coffee business. Wetherspoon started opening their pubs at 7A.M. to capitalise on early morning coffee and breakfast demand. This has also led to increase in overhead costs but having been rewarded with a 40% increase in coffee and breakfast sales, wetherspoon will continue to focus on the diversified product mix to stabilise and improve their overall margins. The company have invested significantly towards improving their service and standards. They have focussed on personnel and training and are making efforts to enhance customer experience in order to further boost the value provided for the money they charge their customers. Their strategy involves a number of efforts to portray themselves as a responsible business by taking on ethical business practices such as proper implementation of Challenge 21, conserving resources, recycling waste and reducing energy consumption. Wetherspoons chairman, Tim Martin owns around 23% of the company. This helps to reduce agency costs as the objectives of owners and management are likely to be more closely aligned. His 31 year long experience in the industry gives wetherspoon a strategic advantage over its competitors. The companys CEO John Hutson, has also been with the company for more than 20 years. There have been a few problems with the companys management in the past, most significantly the technical breach of the Companies Act 2006 in 2008, when the company failed to file the interim accounts with the registrar of companies prior to paying the 2007 final dividend and repurchasing its shares from the market (JD WETHERSPOON, 2008). Such incidents lead to financial and reputational losses and dent the public image of the firm. More recently, the unexpected resignations of the companys finance director Keith Down and its cheif operating officer Paul Harbottle have raised concerns about the managerial longevity of its board of directors. Financial Statement Analysis This section will analyse wetherspoons financial performance over the past five years as compared to its competitors and the industry in general. Of the competitors identified in the above section, Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns have a more similar business model to wetherspoon and hence their performance has extensively been used as a benchmark in this section. Year 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 Revenues (Â £million) 996.33 955.12 907.50 888.47 847.52 Table: Wetherspoons revenues for the past five years Turnover and Profitability Wetherspoon has experienced consistent growth in revenues over the past decade. Rebasing the revenue at the 2006 levels, wetherspoon seem to have outperformed most of the competition in terms of revenue. Although its revenue growth is one of the highest in the industry, it is still far behind Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns in absolute sales numbers. A significant proportion of Wetherspoons revenue comes from its new pubs. Over the past few years absolute revenues from new pubs has remarkably increased with wetherspoon opening more pubs year by year. In 2010, an extraordinary 97.68% of the growth in revenues was attributable to revenues from new pubs while like for like sales only accounted for 2.38% of the revenue growth. This is up from new pubs contributing 77.13% of revenue growth in 2009 and 57% in 2006. This indicates saturation in the revenue capacity of the already established pubs and exemplifies the importance of wetherspoons growth strategy to its revenues. Wetherspoons cost of sales (COS) is the highest amidst the competitors. Over the past five years, the wetherspoons average COS has been over 80% of revenue. This combined with other operating costs leads to an average operating profit of just under 10%. This is considerably low, compared to its competitors specially Enterprise Inns which has an average operating profit of over 55% in the 5 year period. The big difference in operating profit is to a large extent representative of the differences in business models of these companies. As JD Wetherspoon operates managed pubs only, the cost of retail sales is significant. On the other hand, the revenues of some of the competitors like Enterprise Inns, Marstons and Greene King are composed of the less costly rent, lease receipts and proceeds from the wholesale sales from their breweries and other alcohol manufacturing facilities. Since wetherspoons activities are more direct cost intensive, the higher cost of sales is understandable. A unique factor which distinguishes wetherspoon from its competitors is the low and stable debt interest levels. Wetherspoons interest expenses on debt were lower by over 210 million as compared to Punch Taverns for the financial year 2009-10. Besides lower levels of total debt, a low effective weighted average rate of interest on debt has contributed to the smaller interest charge. While wetherspoon are able to borrow at an average of 5.47%, the weighted average interest on debt for Punch Taverns in 6.8% on secured loan notes and 6.5% on finance leases. This is either due to relatively good swap management of interest rate, a safer credit profile, or lower principle amount and maturity period of the loans. This gives wetherspoon a big competitive advantage and enables them to retain a sizeable proportion of their operating profit as Net profit. Excluding the interest charge, Punch Taverns net profit would have been higher than that of wetherspoon. This illustrates the real impact of interest on debt on the relative profitability of these firms. Wetherspoons exceptional items solely comprised of impairment of property and fixed assets and amounted to 10.6 million this year. This represents a steep reduction of 47% from last years figure of 19.9 million and is primarily attributed to no litigation costs and property related write downs. Wetherspoons net profit has been very consistent over the past few years as opposed to its competitors. The tough global economic climate and the hostile business environment in the pub sector have led to a sizeable decline in profits for both Punch Taverns and Mitchell and Butlers. On the other hand wetherspoons consistent growth in revenue combined with low relative impairment losses and interest on debt has enabled it to maintain a profit of 40.78 million in 2010. This is a 61% rise from its profits in 2009. This compared with losses of 84 million and 159.90 million from Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns, reflects an overall superior performance by wetherspoon in terms of profitability. As per the chart above, wetherspoons return on assets and return on capital invested are immensely higher than both of its competitors. The two ratios rose 37.42% and 48.78% respectively from their 2009 levels. These jumps are primarily because of the 61% jump in earnings and represents excellent management of resources by the companys management. Wetherspoon rents a majority of its pubs and hence has a low level of noncurrent assets. This is the primary reason for the high asset turnover and return on assets. Wetherspoons revenues are 1.12 times of their total assets as opposed to Punch Taverns 0.22. This astoundingly high ratio represents wetherspoons highly competitive pricing strategy and its low margin, high volume operations. Wetherspoons ability to extract over 3-4 times more revenue than its competitors, gives it a clear competitive edge. Liquidity A majority of the assets in pub businesses tend to be non-current and hence the short term liquidity ratios tend to be lower. Moreover since the current assets in managed and operated pubs are mostly cash and other very liquid items, slightly lower current ratios are not deemed to be very risky. Wetherspoons current ratio of 0.37 is amongst the lowest in the industry. This has been fairly stable over the past five years with a standard deviation of a mere 0.064. Mitchell and Butlers and Punch Taverns have much higher current ratio of 0.64 and 1.27 respectively. Similarly, Wetherspoons quick ratio of 0.18 is nearly a fifth of Punch Taverns ratio. Wetherspoons current and quick ratios are both the lowest and the most stable in the industry with standard deviations of 0.064 and 0.036 respectively. The incredible stability of the ratio indicates a strategic approach to business operations. Very low liquidity ratios generally mean trouble for businesses, as they are indicators of inability to honour short term obligations. Theoretically, if all the current liabilities need to be paid off, wetherspoon will not have to resort to selling its fixed assets in order to arrange for the payment. However, cash payments from its customers along with favourable and stable credit terms with suppliers ensure that wetherspoon are able to manage will low current and quick ratios. They attempt to keep the current ratio at a reasonably low level in order to extracts maximum value from their current assets. Nevertheless, a current ratio of 0.37 is too low compared to the competitors and hence liquidity issues are more likely. Punch Taverns liquidity ratios are a lot higher primarily due to a high amount of receivables mainly caused by its leased and rented pub business. In those businesses, punch taverns tenants are likely to have a payment period within which they can settle the rent/lease payments. This leads to a significant amount of trade receivables. On the other hand almost all of wetherspoons revenues are retail cash revenues and hence the receivables are either due to prepayments or accrued income Wetherspoons receivables are only about 10 of Punch Taverns which it converts into cash within 1.64 days. This is many times lower than its competitors. Moreover inventories held days is a mere 8.5 days representing a quick and highly efficient cash cycle. Gearing Wetherspoons business model of operating with low level of debt is quite unique in the pub industry. The company enjoys the lowest level of long term debt amidst its competitors. Wetherspoons long term debt of 411.64 million is just 8.6% of that of Punch Taverns. MB and Punch Taverns on the other hand have debts of over 2 billion pounds. A low level of debt despite an active growth strategy and a consistent rise in its plant property and equipment (PPE) is a rare phenomenon. Wetherspoons managed to make this happen by renting quite a few of its pubs and managing debt efficiently. The extraordinarily low levels of debt at wetherspoon are matched by an almost equally low relative level of common equity. As a result wetherspoons Debt equity ratio is not as different from its competitors. Wetherspoons total debts are 2.56 times its equity as compared to 2.89 for Mitchells Butlers and 2.42 for Punch Taverns. The ratio used to be 1.83 in 2006, before the company initiated massive share repurchase programme which was largely financed by additional debt. As per the above table, their Total Debt to Earnings before interest and tax ratio has been the lowest in the industry. Over the years, as other companies have taken more debt relative to their earnings, wetherspoon has continued to utilise its debt with the same efficiency in order to generate earnings. Dividends Wetherspoons dividend payout ratio is incredibly high for a company which is in the growth stage of its lifecycle. In 2010 wetherspoon paid 64.19% of its net income as dividends. This represents a 292% jump from the 2006 dividend payout and is the highest in the industry. While Mitchells Butlers and Punch Taverns havent paid dividends in the past two years, wetherspoon has continued to pay dividends at an average of about 39% of their net profit in the past 5 years. Wetherspoon declared a yearlong dividend freeze in during the financial year 2008-09 in order to direct its cash flows towards debt reduction. The freeze was ended in March 2010 once the new 530 million banking facility was renegotiated. Now with the financing issues sorted, a progressive dividend policy can be expected from wetherspoons management as a measure to signal a bullish future outlook. Cash Flow Analysis In 2009, the pub industry experienced a sharp decline in cash flow as most of the players make efforts to deleverage themselves post the credit crunch. Wetherspoons went from being a cash generator of 7.15 million in 2007 to a cash sink of 2.6 million in 2008. The financing outflows jumped threefolds mainly due to dividend payments of 17.38 million and repurchases of one million shares from the market. The net cash flow continued to be negative in 2009 primarily due to the repayment of long term debts to the tune of around 45 million pounds. Since then the cash position of the company has recovered and the company was a cash generator of 2.48 million in 2010. Wetherspoons has a positive growth in cash inflow from operating activities, but the overall level of operating inflow is low. While Punch Taverns operating inflows are declining due to dwindling revenue and profits, Mitchells and Butlers in contrast, enjoy a much better cash flow from operating activities and hence has access to a bigger pool of funds for its investing and financing activities. Wetherspoons growth policy has led to increased cash outflows from investing activities by over twice the amount in 2006. On the contrary Mitchells Butlers has decreased their cash outflows in investing activities. This is due to their strategic sale of a number of pubs in order to concentrate on the high margin food business. Wetherspoons repayment of the USD 140 million private placement was accompanied by a further advancedment of 96.68 million pounds of long term loans. As a result the cash outflow from financing activities decreased significantly from last year. The total cash flow position would have been much worse, if the company hadnt put a freeze on dividends in 2009. Wetherspoons decision to not declare a final dividend for the financial year 2008-2009 ensured prevented a further cash deficit, given the high levels of capital expenditure in 2009. Accounting policies and Problems in Comparison Given the immaterial size of the companies hotel business, and no international operations, wetherspoon doesnt split its results by business or geographical segments in accordance with the IAS 14. Wetherspoon follows a historic cost model and does not revalue its non current assets. Punch Taverns follow the same method, however Mitchells and Butlers actively revalue its assets. This can lead to distortions in actual value of non current assets and makes them uncomparable. For example Wetherspoon unlike Mitchells Butlers ignores the effect of inflation on the value of its assets. While wetherspoon depreciates fixtures and fittings over a time period of 3-10 years, Mitchells and Butlers do it over a period of 3-20 years. This can further make the asset values uncomparable. Stock Market Analysis The FTSE 350 index seems to be very highly correlated to the FTSE 350 Travel and Leisure index. Prior to the subprime crisis, the travel and leisure index seems to be doing marginally better, while post crisis, the FTSE 350 has slightly outperformed the FTSE 350 travel and leisure index. JD Wetherspoon has outperformed both the indices almost all the time during the last 5 years except for a brief period in 2008 because of the immediate effect of the economic crisis. As per the above graph, JD wetherspoon has consistently outperformed Punch Taverns throughout the past five years. It has also better than Mitchells Butlers since the middle of 2008. This is primarily due to relatively higher revenues and profits at wetherspoon. Wetherspoons expansion strategy has enhanced its future outlook and given a boost to the companys share price. January 06 March 07 The period from Jan 2006 until the beginning of 2007 saw a very sharp increase in wetherspoons share price. While the travel and leisure index only rose up by around 25%, wetherspoon rose by a phenomenal 120%. The football world cup kick-started the 8 month long rally in the travel leisure index. Wetherspoon took advantage of the opportunity by abandoning its no television policy and showing the matches in its pubs. Moreover, they also started to establish a very strong foothold in the coffee and breakfast market. Besides strong financial performance in 2006, wetherspoons purchase of 800,000 of its own shares in September 2006 (REUTERS, 2006) , the interest of Schroder Investment Management in 12.05% of its total common shares, along with significant interests from Aegon UK and Global Value fund Sicav, were one of the primary reasons why wetherspoons rose to its all time high level of 761 pence in March 2007. April 07 September 2008 The smoking ban was implemented in the UK with effect from July 2007. As expected, the ban put immense downward pressures on pub revenues, thereby leading to a crash in share prices. The travel and leisure index crashed around 30% by the end of the year and wetherspoon lost 50% of its value. 2008 presented even worse economic conditions for the pub industry with the advent of the credit crisis. All major pub operators continued to face loss of revenues and hence saw a significant decline in their share price. The extreme volatility in credit markets forced Mitchells Butlers to shelve a 4.5 billion pound property deal (BLAND, Ben, 2007) leading to losses of 274 million pounds on hedges tied to the transaction. Moreover, failed efforts by Punch Taverns to acquire Mitchells Butlers, led to further decline in share prices of both companies. On the other hand Wetherspoon continued to strengthen its revenues due to increased revenues in its food business. In September 2008, wetherspoon d eclared a 5.5% increase in sales and a 12p per share dividend as opposed to zero dividends and huge losses by punch taverns. As a result wetherspoons share price started to consolidate and by the end of

Discharge Plan for Older Person

Discharge Plan for Older Person In this assignment the author will discuss a discharge plan with rationale for an older person with a long term condition. Included will be potential and actual problems presenting from the patient profile on discharge from an acute care setting. Reference to the Nursing and Midwifery Councils (NMC) professional code of conduct (2008) shall be made throughout the assignment along with a discussion of legislation in the latter part that is relevant to the plan of care arranged. Moreover any copies of documentation used in the appendix will remain anonymous maintaining confidentiality. The theoretical model used to formulate this plan of care is Roper et al (1990) activities of daily living which concentrates on twelve elements essential for daily living skills and the level of dependence required for them. The elements of the theoretical model chosen will be those applicable to the patients discharge care for example, mobility and breathing. The patient profile referred to is that of an elder gentleman in his late seventies admitted to hospital following weakness on waking to the left side of his body which had mainly affected his mobility. There also appeared to be some facial drooping with dysarthria. For the purpose of this assignment when referring to the patient he will be named as Mr Smith as to personalise the plan of care. Mr Smith has a past medical history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma for which he receives drug therapy of salbutamol and becotide inhalers. He is also the main carer for his wife whom suffers severe Alzheimers disease. Discharge plan Liaise with the discharge co-ordinator as to the impending discharge of Mr Smith. This will ensure the continuity of his care on discharge. The discharge co-ordinator provides valuable assistance and is able to amplify the experience of a patients venture from hospital to the community Day et al (2009). They are highly skilled nurses in this specialist area and mediate between the multidiscipliness involved in the care needs of Mr Smith. Mobility. Problem 1 Possible changes to Mr Smiths movement, function and orientation. Method/outcome Complete a falls risk assessment using an identified tool and follow advisory notes on completion. With consent liaise with occupational therapy and physiotherapy departments for a discharge assessment and continued rehabilitation within the community. Make certain a home visit with therapy teams has been undertaken before discharge. Rationale A falls risk assessment tool (FRAT) is a way to establish risk and manage falls prevention. Its use is advocated in the National institute for clinical excellence (NICE) guidelines in falls prevention document (2004). Following the use of FRAT (appendix 2) it is decided that Mr Smith is at moderate risk of falling and advices of therapy team input. Mr Smith requires an assessment by the occupational therapy team in his home environment prior to his discharge. This ensures his safety and well being for day to day living and maintains his independence. The visit presents an opportunity for the occupational therapist to evaluate the need for adjustment in the home. For example it is recorded that Mr Smith has some difficulty in rising out of the bath he would therefore need modification in his bathroom to enable him to do this, promoting independence and maintaining his dignity. Mobility doesnt just include the physical aspect of movement it involves fine motor activity, personal assertion, feeling and communicative function also. Having a stroke can cause dysfunction, having a dramatic causatum on the persons life Barnet et al (2009). Making adjustments in the home can be an upsetting experience. An assessment by the physiotherapist will maximise rehabilitation in physical movement and allow instruction on the use of equipment that may be required in doing so, this ascertains safety and accuracy during use. Physiotherapists have superior kinetic knowledge and can introduce advice in falls prevention minimising the occurrence. NMC (2008) requires you as a nurse to refer to another practitioner when it is in the best interests of a persons care. Both therapists will be able to initiate communication with day hospitals for continued rehabilitation therapy sessions within the community. Maintain a safe environment and communication. Problem 2 Mr Smith is to administer daily medication and understand the information provision. Method/outcome Ensure the prescription with 7 days supply is provided and sent to pharmacy in time for discharge. Guarantee Mr Smith and his relatives receive relevant information regarding medication. Explain in an accessible manner. Arrange an out patients appointment. Present written and verbal information regarding the appointment. Inform the GP of Mr Smith discharge. Rationale Mr Smith has been prescribed aspirin 75mg following an ischaemic cerebral vascular accident (CVA). The aspirin is given prophylactically and inhibits platelet aggregation which could otherwise result in a thrombus formation British national formulary (BNF) (2009). Eighty percent of strokes result from ischemia, caused by a thrombus blocking the cerebral circulation therefore, preventative medication such as aspirin reduces the risk of a reoccurrence Greenstein and Gould (2009a). It is important to provide Mr Smith with written and verbal information with regard to instruction on how and when to take his medication, along with the dosage and possible side-effects he may encounter. Educating Mr Smith on the need for medication and possible consequence of non compliance present him with an informed choice and reduces the risk of a drug induced re-admission. Reports suggest that fifty percent of older people may not take medicines prescribed for them as they have not received valued information about the benefits and risks involved Department of health (DOH) (2001). The NMC (2008) says that you must share information about peoples health and regimes in a way they can understand. This facilitates informed choices and compliance. Nurses have a responsibility to continue assessment of their patients suitability for self-administration; the NMCs standards for medicines management (2008) standard 9 require you to acknowledge changes to a patients condition and safety with regard to self-administration. Assessing Mr Smiths understanding and capability of remembering to take his medication is of great importance as if he is likely to encounter difficulty, provision for pre-dispensed medicine or help from a carer can be arranged Wade (2007). Indirect questioning will provide some indication as to how much Mr Smith understands and will not make him feel inadequate, maintaining his dignity and respect. An outpatients appointment with a neurologist will maintain consistent specialist monitoring of Mr Smiths condition even though once discharged the GP is responsible for care in the community and continued prescribing. It is therefore vital that the GP has documentation on this hospital admission and any follow up appointments to be attended. Problem 3 Change to Mr Smiths social and home environmental needs. Method/outcome Inform Mr Smith as to the importance of social services participation and gain his consent. Liaise with social services for an assessment of needs completing the relevant documentation (sections 2 5) in acceptable time ready for Mr Smiths discharge. Rationale Consent must be given by Mr Smith prior to the involvement of social services, even though it is documented that they have had previous input with Mrs Smiths care. It is the individuals right to confidentiality and as a nurse you must respect this NMC (2008). Mr Smith has indicated that he has concerns with regard to coping and caring for his wife whom has severe Alzheimers disease when he is discharged. Social services must assess the need for a care support package and provide financial advice for the services required as Mr Smith is a home owner. With Mr Smiths consent social services may even consider the possibility of Mrs Smith remaining in the nursing home until Mr Smith is more able bodied. The need fulfilment of the dependent can generate emotional stress in the carer and burden their physical well-being with the high level of physical exertion needed to provide endowed care Mackenzie and Lee (2006). When Mr Smith returns home it is the expectation that he will be allowing himself time to recover and not put his self under duress which could result in a relapse in his health. Anecdotally, caring for his wife at this stage would not be beneficial to his rehabilitation. Problem 4 Transportation home on discharge from hospital. Method/outcome Liaise with relatives regarding transport home and if necessary arrange hospital transportation. Verify Mr Smith has keys to his property, that someone will be there to receive him or that the key safe number is available. Rationale It is of upmost importance that Mr Smith and his relatives are fully aware of the date of discharge and the preparations for his arrival. Where possible, Mr Smith and his relatives should contribute to the discharge plan. The expectation of you as a nurse is that you uphold peoples rights to be involved in decisions about their care NMC (2008). Working and playing. Problem 5 Possible isolation and lack of social contact. Method/outcome With consent refer Mr Smith to the community stroke liaison services and complete the relevant referral documentation. Provide the services contact details. Rationale The community stroke liaison nurse is there to provide support with initial changes to Mr Smiths life. She is a specialist in stroke rehabilitation and can present him with coping strategies. These will help Mr Smith focus on problem solving approaches and heighten his sense of control Carpenito-Moyet (2008a). The nurse specialist may also be able to provide Mr Smith with mini health checks and details of support groups, clubs and give advice regarding enrolling on an expert patient programme if it is available within the local authority. The expert patient programme is a self management course for people with long term conditions. It was launched in 2002 as a pilot programme but is now national. The course is delivered over a six week period by a trained tutor who is either a volunteer or a previous programme attendee and is vastly beneficial. The service reduces isolation, promotes confidence and empowers those living with deficits or complex needs DOH (2001). Eating and drinking. Problem 6 Nutritional support and secondary prevention Method/outcome With consent refer Mr Smith to a community dietician completing the documentation. Highlight the importance of lifestyle and dietary changes with regard to his condition. Outline the need to attend to any future difficulty in swallowing or further dysarthria. Rationale Following his stroke Mr Smith may have a reduced appetite. Carpentino-Moyet (2008b) suggests this may be due to fatigue, being less mobile or even because of some pain from limb limitation. Carpentino-Moyet (2008c) also discuss that during Illness or convalesce a good nutritional consumption can reduce the risk of further complications and aid faster recovery. Referring to the community dietician ensures that a diet plan optimal in calories and nutrition is received. Making certain that Mr Smith has some understanding about his condition will endeavour compliance with diet and life style changes. The reoccurrence of a CVA is much higher during the first year of rehabilitation, therefore regular checks and life style conversions need to be initiated DOH (2001). Mr Smiths awareness and detection of further difficulties with speech and swallowing is a desired outcome as this could most definitely interfere with his nutritional intake in the future and would incorporate further change to his diet and lifestyle they would also warrant a referral to a speech and language therapist for a swallow assessment. Breathing Problem 7 Mr Smith has COPD and asthma and requires respiratory maintenance and secondary prevention advice. Method/outcome Ensure Mr Smith is aware of how to use his inhalers with the correct technique. Inform him of the importance to have regular visits to the GP or respiratory nurse in order to maintain adequate respiration. Provide cessation of smoking advice. Rationale Belamy and Booker (2000) suggest that the recommended maintenance appointment for patients with mild to moderate COPD should be annually within the primary care setting, they also indicate the monitoring session should involve a full assessment of the patients smoking status, symptom control, and medication efficiency with inhaler technique. Furthermore it allows the health care professional to perform spirometry. It appears that Mr Smiths therapeutic intervention of becotide and salbutamol inhalers have symptomatic control of his COPD at present however, he is now also prescribed aspirin which could contraindicate his condition. Occasionally aspirin causes bronchospasm Greenstein and Gould (2009b) therefore close monitoring is essential. In practice we can promote smoking cessation and provide advice to Mr Smith with regard to the health risks involved following his stroke and COPD. It is his individual choice as to whether he will participate. Many people given smoking cessation advice will continue smoking disregarding concern for their health. The NMC (2008) stipulates that as a nurse you must not discriminate against those in your care, treating people as individuals regardless of whether their choice exacerbates their illnesses. Key issues in older adults and long term conditions care provision: Extensive change has been underway with regard to the care standards and expectations of health and social care services for older people. The force for change has happened due to demographic analysis, which indicates that people are living much longer with an increase in those above the age of eighty. According to the DOH (2001) this figure is expected to have doubled between 1995 and 2025. Such longevity influences the amount of people living with long term conditions. Research and reports from extensive consultation with older people, their carers, healthcare professionals and from media coverage, discuss services declining to meet the needs of older people with age discrimination and depletion of dignity and respect being a major domination as clinical areas lacked evidence based practice DOH (2001). The introduction of clinical governance has helped develop effectiveness of evidence based practice assuring the quality of care is of a high standard. Zwanenberg and Edwards (2004) describe clinical governance as a system to advance the quality of care in which healthcare managers are responsible for policy compliance. They explain that primary care trusts are accountable for providing evidence of their effectiveness and quality of clinical practice and further acknowledge the level of need for accountability since public interest in cases of malpractice. Care plans are aspects of clinical governance policies Lugon and Secker-Walker (1999) as is the essence of care document developed by the DOH in 2001. The essence of care document is a guidance tool specific in enabling healthcare professionals to deliver a structured and patient focused practice within eight areas of care. Some of the areas include food and nutrition, self-care and privacy and dignity. The document also enables professionals to distinguish areas of poor practice allowing for remediation DOH (2001). The national institute of clinical excellence formulated guidelines for practice in assessment and prevention of falls, declaring that falls are a major cause of disability or mortality in the elder population and impact on their quality of health and life NICE (2004). NICE (2004) also report that falling can have a devastating repercussion to an individual causing psychological distress, lack of confidence and poor self esteem, dependency and even pressure injury. The guidelines provide strategies for assessment (FRAT appendix 2) of those at risk of falling, including individuals following a stroke and suggest setting provision for interventions such as physical therapy, home adjustment and the revisal of visual deficit NICE (2004). The development of the national service framework (NSF) for older people by the DOH (2001) delivers policies as to the standard of healthcare that older people should receive. The NSF endeavoured to set strategies over a 10 year programme looking for improvements within specific areas of health promoting independence and providing treatment with respect and dignity. The document lists the quality of care that is required on the best available evidence and provides one standard for all, achieving consistency within healthcare DOH (2001). The focus of the NSF for older people was to abolish age discrimination and provide a patient centred approach to care DOH (2001). The document defines stroke and falls prevention, promotion of health and introduces standards of care for hospital and intermediate settings and for mental health illness in older people. The DOH in connection with the NSF for older people also developed the NSF for long term conditions in 2005. The document expresses the need for the promotion of quality of life with autonomy based around the individuals specific need for their condition. Implementation of this policy includes provision of support for housing, benefits, education and pension schemes helping those suffering with long term conditions to live as independently as possible with access to services as required DOH (2005). A stroke (CVA) is classified as a long term condition and the DOH (2007) stroke strategy document identifies the need for health promotion and management of risk. The plan of action firstly focuses on awareness and prevention, treatment and services available for those whose lives have been affected by stroke. Secondly, it identifies that all needs, health and social of the individual, should be contemplated in a plan of care not just medical ones DOH (2007). The stroke strategy guidelines allow for individuals following a minor event to be given an MRI scan within 24 hours, as evidence suggest eighty percent will follow on to have a severe stroke DOH (2007). Clinical areas can therefore reduce deaths in practice if they adhere to this policy. Promotion of healthy weight, physical exercise and smoking cessation along with regular blood pressure checks and advice on alcohol consumption further reduce risks DOH (2007). The stroke strategy also expresses the need for a multidisciplinary approach, all health and social care workers collaborating together cultivating a stroke care community that will provide the best possible service for those affected returning home DOH (2007). Continued assessment by the multidisciplines following a hospital admission is essential to ensure an individuals suitability for discharge. The DOH (2004) suggests that consideration be made for the individuals physiological, functional and psycho-social wellbeing during the assessments. Being fit for discharge means that receiving care in an acute setting is no longer needed and continued care can be provided between the GP, community services and outpatients appointments DOH (2004). One professional included in the multidiscipline approach within the community is a pharmacist with initiatives developed to increase their involvement in care, such as repeat dispensing, medication reviews and independent prescribing especially for those with long term illness DOH (2005). The pharmacists involvement within the multidisciplinary team is very beneficial to patient care as it decreases medication errors, discovering discrepancies and many contra-indications before the medication reaches the patient. All legislation and government policies have influence on the way healthcare professionals practice. They provide guidelines as to accommodate continuity of healthcare in general. They set standards for quality of care that service users can expect when accessing healthcare provision and project how they will receive this provision. Legislation is an important aspect of healthcare and individuals have the right to life without discrimination, being treated equally with dignity and respect regardless of their condition, disability or age. The writer concludes that Mr Smith is awaiting discharge from hospital following a stroke. Evident from the patient profile he has achieved a satisfactory level of independence and he appears to be making good progress. The discharge plan documented for Mr Smith incorporates many of the NHS and social care policy initiatives to deliver continuity of care from hospital to home using elements from the Roper et al (1990) theoretical nursing model. The discharge plan supports the inclusion of multidisciplines, health promotion, prevention strategies and patient participation. It also up holds the NMC code of professional conduct (2008) whilst focusing on independence and maintenance of ones dignity, providing community support and rehabilitation. References: Barret, D. Wilson, B. Woollands, A. (2009) Care planning a guide for nurses, Essex: Pearson Education Limited. Belamy, D. Booker, R. (2000) Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary care, all you need to know to manage COPD in your practice 3rd ed. London: Class Publishing. BNF 57 (2009) British national formulary. London: BMJ Group/RPS publishing. Carpenito-Moyet, L.J. (2008) Nursing care plans documentation, nursing diagnoses and collaborative problems 5th ed. Hong Kong: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Day, M.R. McCarthy,G. Coffey, A. (2009) Discharge planning: the role of the discharge co-ordinator, Nursing Older People, 21, (1), pp. 26-31. Department of Health (2001) Medicines and older people: implementing medicine-related aspects of the NSF for older people, The Department of Health. [online]. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4008020 [accessed 18/03/2010]. Department of Health (2001) The essence of care: patient-focused benchmarking for healthcare practitioners, The Department of Health. [online]. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4127915.pdf [accessed 12/02/10]. Department of Health (2001) The national service framework for older people, The Department of Health. [online]. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/dr_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4071283.pdf [accessed 14/02/2010]. Department of Health (2002) The expert patient program, a new approach to chronic disease management for the 21st century, The Department of Health. [online]. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4018578.pdf [accessed 30/03/2010]. Department of Health (2004) Achieving timely simple discharge from hospital, a toolkit for the multi-disciplinary team, The Department of Health. [online]. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/dr_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_4088367.pdf [Accessed 26/03/2010]. Department of Health (2005) The national service framework for long-term conditions, London: The Stationary Office. Department of Health (2007) National stroke strategy, Department of Health. [online]. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/dr_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_081059.pdf [accessed 25/03/2010]. Greenstein, B. Gould, D. (2009) Trounces clinical pharmacology for nurses 18th ed. London: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier. Lugon, M. Secker-Walker, J. (1999) Clinical governance, making it happen. London: Royal Society of Medicine Press. Mackenzie, A. Lee, D.T.F. (2006) Carers and lay caring, In: Nursing older people: Redfern, S.J. Ross, F.M. (eds.) Nursing older people. 4th ed. London: Elsevier. National Institute of Clinical Excellence (2004) Clinical practice guidelines for assessment and prevention of falls in older people. CG21. London: Royal College of Nursing. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) Professional code of conduct, London. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) Standards for medicine management, London. Roper, N. Logan, W. Tierney, A.J. (1990) The elements of nursing, based on activities of daily living. New York: Churchill Livingstone. Wade, S. (2007) Refusing discharge or transfer of care, in: Nurse facilitated hospital discharge: Lees, L. (ed.) Nurse facilitated hospital discharge. Keswick: MK Publishing. Zwannenberg, T.V. Edwards, C. (2004) Clinical governance in primary care, in: Clinical governance in primary care: Zwannenberg, T.V. Harrison, J. (eds.) Clinical governance in primary care. 2nd ed. Oxon: Radcliffe Medical Press Ltd.

The Search for Truth in Anton Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard and Sophocle

The scholar is engaged in the interminable quest for truth. The knowledge that one can never understand everything makes a person wise. Ignorance is the assumption that one can understand all about the world around them. An ignorant person is so confident they comprehend the truth, that they are blind to the greater truth. Anton Chekhov and Sophocles deal with the idea of this sinful pride that leads to ignorance in their respective works, The Cherry Orchard and Oedipus Rex. In each drama, certain characters are slapped in the face with the truth; the light is revealed. However, these characters make the connection when it is too late. Their destruction is already destined to become a reality, a horrid fate that could have been prevented. Both Chekhov and Sophocles present the universal theme that an open mind, constantly in search for truth, is the mark of a worthy individual, and prideful stubbornness can only lead to demise. The question must then be asked, what truths are evident in these texts? Oedipus is the proud king of a county called Thebes. However, his country has fallen on hard times as a result of angry gods displaying their wrath. The oracle reveals to Oedipus that the curse shall be lifted when the murderer of the former king is put to justice. As the incriminating evidence piles up against Oedipus, he remains ignorant of the truth that he is the killer whom he seeks. He stubbornly refuses to believe that he cannot escape his fate. Sophocles presents this ironic truth in light and dark imagery. The chorus dramatically demands, â€Å"Artemis, Huntress, / Race with flaring lights upon our mountains / [†¦] Whirl upon Death, that all the Undying hate! / Come with blinding torches, come in joy!† (Sophocles l.198-204). The... ...hile she awaits the news of what happened to the cherry orchard, she is still kidding herself with false hope, ignorant hope. She did not want to see the truth, and now her fate is sealed. Had she opened her eyes, things might have ended up differently. Trofimov tells her to look the dreadful truth straight in the eye because she â€Å"served [her] own destruction† (Sophocles l.1468. 20). And yet, despite the wisdom of our predecessors, do we not still find our vision obscured by a prideful stubbornness, our eyes sealed against the light of truth? Works Cited Chekhov, Anton. The Cherry Orchard. Four Plays. Trans. David Magarshack. New York: Hill & Wang, 1969. Eekman, Thomas A. Critical Essays on Anton Chekhov. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1989. Sophocles. "Oedipus Rex." An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed.Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: Longman, 1997.

The Death of an Idol Essay -- Personal Narrative

When I was young, my mom took me along everywhere. At least once a month, we would travel to Oregon to visit my Aunt Kathy. I would go to the dark and creepy basement to play with my cousins, Carly and Marni. Together, we usually played with little Carebear figurines. I started to grow close to my cousins, especially Carly, even though she was seven years older than me. Her kindness made me feel warm and welcome. Though she got older, it seemed that I never grew. I always looked up to her and her dedication to everything. My mom used to take me to all of Carly's sporting events in high school. I just loved cheering her on. Whenever she was on the basketball court, she always found time to wink at me in the crowd. I even made big posters to take with me when she made it all the way to state for the three-point contest. After high school, Carly decided that she didn't want to stay around anymore. She wanted to go to college away from home. Since she was such a great student, she figured she'd be fine. Carly decided to attend Hofstra University in New York. We promised to be pen pals. Well, that lasted about a year. I was finally growing up, getting busy, and we were losing touch. When we did write, all that I heard of were the boys she dated, and that her A's were dropping to C's. Every once in a while, I would ask my aunt how Carly was doing. The only answer I ever got was "She's fine." A couple of years later, we ... ...at was the day a letter came in the mail for Carly. She had passed her CPA exam. My Uncle Don was the fire chief of the town, so the funeral was full of firemen and police officers. The procession was even led by a fire truck. I look back now and wish that I could have spent more time with Carly. What exactly was so important that the two of us didn't have time for each other? Even though we had some bad times, I'll always remember the good. I think that we all live a life that is already planned. She skipped her time to go, and got another chance. I'm grateful that in that period I got to reunite with her. I hope that I can live her dreams through my life. After all, she is my idol.

Soul Coughing - The Songs on Ruby Vroom :: Music

Soul Coughing - The Songs on Ruby Vroom Rock works on many levels: as a shared enthusiasm, public entertainment, communal experience;, but also as secret fantasy, private escape, a personal obsession Jim Miller    Floresent lights splash across the sea of bouncing bodies and swirling appendages. Occasionally a strobe awakes from its narcoleptic slumber to wink at the nocturnal nation cavort across fog flooded floors. I sit in the shadows. I am an island ( not in the geographical formation sense, but rather in the Simon and Garfunkle sense). Music seems so tainted; its freshness extracted by the incestuous industry. Get an acclaimed producer, and make a video to show how pretty your band is. Become a whiney lesbian folk singer professing cynical prophesies with an acoustic ax, a violent criminal that uses his vehemence as an art form, a diva whose love songs are darker than her exposed panties, or perhaps a greasy haired bar-chord master with a chip on his shoulder and a heroin needle in his arm proclaiming how hard life is in suburbia. There must be something new in rock's tepid arena, and not just another "underground" sound that is this week’s salt-lick style. There must be a band out there in the very nucleus of pop music that will not take its precious history and throw it away. That will endure to "stand on its shoulders," understand it and explore its depths to form new music (Percy 49). There must be a band that has a lead singer who wrote a poem about Neil Young vomiting, and then had the audacity to name the band after it (Park). There is. This is Soul Coughing. Seeking shelter from the neon disco aerie, I float into the leaf –thatched shack of the "Casiotone" Cantina. Clans of Muppet dancing hybrids convulse to the sounds of freak jazz – "sugar free" of course. The rest of the clientele, stupefied, look googly eyed into their empty beakers. An intoxicated, but not completely drunk, man offers me a "velvet crush." He is a bit shifty looking, with his "blue eyes and skinny tie," so despite my thirst I decline. Besides, I’m underage; I wouldn’t dream of drinking alcohol. His name is "Moon Sammy" and he hands me a card for "The People’s Republic of Lumps in My Oatmeal"(PRLMO). He tells me he is on the run. He "crashed a plane into the Chrysler building," and now a "Mr. Soul Coughing - The Songs on Ruby Vroom :: Music Soul Coughing - The Songs on Ruby Vroom Rock works on many levels: as a shared enthusiasm, public entertainment, communal experience;, but also as secret fantasy, private escape, a personal obsession Jim Miller    Floresent lights splash across the sea of bouncing bodies and swirling appendages. Occasionally a strobe awakes from its narcoleptic slumber to wink at the nocturnal nation cavort across fog flooded floors. I sit in the shadows. I am an island ( not in the geographical formation sense, but rather in the Simon and Garfunkle sense). Music seems so tainted; its freshness extracted by the incestuous industry. Get an acclaimed producer, and make a video to show how pretty your band is. Become a whiney lesbian folk singer professing cynical prophesies with an acoustic ax, a violent criminal that uses his vehemence as an art form, a diva whose love songs are darker than her exposed panties, or perhaps a greasy haired bar-chord master with a chip on his shoulder and a heroin needle in his arm proclaiming how hard life is in suburbia. There must be something new in rock's tepid arena, and not just another "underground" sound that is this week’s salt-lick style. There must be a band out there in the very nucleus of pop music that will not take its precious history and throw it away. That will endure to "stand on its shoulders," understand it and explore its depths to form new music (Percy 49). There must be a band that has a lead singer who wrote a poem about Neil Young vomiting, and then had the audacity to name the band after it (Park). There is. This is Soul Coughing. Seeking shelter from the neon disco aerie, I float into the leaf –thatched shack of the "Casiotone" Cantina. Clans of Muppet dancing hybrids convulse to the sounds of freak jazz – "sugar free" of course. The rest of the clientele, stupefied, look googly eyed into their empty beakers. An intoxicated, but not completely drunk, man offers me a "velvet crush." He is a bit shifty looking, with his "blue eyes and skinny tie," so despite my thirst I decline. Besides, I’m underage; I wouldn’t dream of drinking alcohol. His name is "Moon Sammy" and he hands me a card for "The People’s Republic of Lumps in My Oatmeal"(PRLMO). He tells me he is on the run. He "crashed a plane into the Chrysler building," and now a "Mr.