The Code of Hammurabi

After the fall of the third line of Ur, King Hammurabi came to control in old Babylon from 1792 to 1750 BC. As a persuasive ruler, he achieved numerous things, including the reunification of Mesopotamia. His enthusiasm for state undertakings and his assessment of himself as a â€Å"shepard to his people† in all likelihood prompted his most noteworthy commitment to Mesopotamian life, the Code of Hammurabi. The 282 laws essentially center around duties of open authorities, principles for farming and business, desires for ladies, and guidelines of sexual relations.Hammurabi accepted that the laws were sent by the divine beings, which clarifies their exacting desires. Furthermore, the laws for the most part follow the way of thinking of â€Å"an tit for tat, and a tooth for a tooth†, uncovering the significance of an exacting equity framework in Mesopotamian culture and setting up the authority of the divine beings and the state. By and large, the disciplines were exception ally brutal, with most offenses bringing about death or disfigurement.Although the present legitimate guidelines extraordinarily vary from those of eighteenth century BC, the Code of Hammurabi can be viewed as the establishment for advanced Western lawful codes. One motivation behind why current society's legitimate framework contrasts from Hammurabi's is on the grounds that the idea of request in the public arena and, even, in the family has changed incredibly. While there are as yet financial classes today, they are not judged contrastingly in the courtroom. In old Babylon the social classes of the guilty party and casualty were factors in deciding the seriousness of the penalty.Family life has likewise transformed from a force based (man centric) framework to an additionally sustaining and steady (bound together) environment. For instance, during Hammurabi's rule, if a child were to hit his dad, he would be rebuffed by having his hand cut off. In the present society this would be considered â€Å"cruel and unusual†. With the exception of in outrageous circumstances, the law would not have motivation to get included. Such is the situation for huge numbers of the eighteenth century BC's codes. Mahatma Ghandi made this qualification understood when he stated, â€Å"An tit for tat makes the entire world visually impaired. Current legitimate codes point more at results that will help change the conduct, instead of disciplines that â€Å"get back at† the guilty party. In spite of the distinctions, Hammurabi's way to deal with equity was exceptionally persuasive to the improvement of present day Western legitimate frameworks. They were not the main arrangement of laws of this time, yet they were the most organized and intensive. In different societies the law was basically whatever the ruler said it was, which unavoidably would change contingent upon certain factors.However, with Hammurabi's laws unchangeable and showed for anyone passing by to view , it was clear what was anticipated from the individuals. This idea of a fixed law is the essential likeness between Hammurabi's lawful codes and those of today. Moreover, the code of Hammurabi built up that there be a â€Å"process† in law. Since there were currently punishments for illegitimately denouncing another, it made individuals reconsider before raising fraudulent allegations against someone. In current society, explicitly the U. S. , this idea is found in the fifth revision under the condition â€Å"without due process†.The Code of Hammurabi may appear to be cruel while applying it to present day society, yet since qualities, practices, and measures were distinctive around then, it truly wasn't excessively far gotten. The occupants of Mesopotamia esteemed the individual privileges of the individuals and the methods by which to secure those rights. Despite the fact that the procedure might be diverse today, the general objective of building up equity inside t he general public is the equivalent. Hammurabi denoted his place in Babylonian history, yet additionally all through the world, by establishing a model of good codes that human advancements would copy for a considerable length of time.

Marketing Logistics and Retail Management

Question: Examine about the Marketing Logistics and Retail Management. Answer: Presentation: Myer is Australias full line departmental store exchanging all the states and one of the regions of Australia. It manages scope of womens and mens wear, childrens dress, footwear, embellishments, toys, books, homeware, electrical products, beautifying agents, food and travel merchandise. It is Australias biggest departmental stores and has consistently stayed steady with most recent style and design patterns. Myers has around 67 retail location across principle area in Australia that offers their all around perceived brands to clients and the improved on the web and advanced stages have support their deal. At present 55,000 partners, 1200 providers, huge number of clients and 12,500 colleagues bargain and draw in with their image. In 2013, their complete deals age was about $3.1 billion (Myer 2017). Their primary direction towards advertising is to bring a transformational change in retailing by managing innovative office who will take into the computerized future. Under their current innovative organization, Badgar Ogilvy, they are changing their channel blend and moving to a computerized model. Anyway regardless of computerized showcasing, they likewise offer an incentive to publicizing and indexes advancement. Their point is to convey progressively centered proposal to client and they are inspecting their providers to line up with their vital needs and their vision of Myer method of working (Oliver 2017). It significant item offering is the attire and the principle provider is PVH legacy provider who offer brands like Van Heusen, Calvin Klein, Pierre Cardin and Tommy Hilfiger. Through their new Myer brands like Seed, French Connection, Nine West, Zara and H M, they are offering style driven just as open items to clients (Traill-Nash and Traill-Nash 2017). Investigation of 5Cs of the Company Organization: One of the greatest quality of the Myer is the nearness of its departmental store at prime areas in Australia and its chain of mid to high range departmental store. Their New Myer brand system has assisted with giving an assortment of decisions to clients at a reasonable expense. Their client centered methodology has helped them to fabricate their solid image nearness and notoriety in Australia (Inside Retail 2017).However one key shortcoming is that their client base is constrained to Australia and they don't have a worldwide nearness. This is a direct result of immature dispersion divert which serves just in confined areas in Australia. Regardless of this, Myers have the chance to construct their worldwide notoriety as retail location by organization with outside players and creating imaginative limited time procedures. This probably won't be simple within the sight of dangers like changing clients inclination and their increasingly mindful demeanor regarding spending (Lee and Lee 2015). Clients Myer is especially offering their item range to white collar class and upper working class people in Australia. It is hard for the retails departmental store to focus on all fragments in Australia because of changing clients inclination step by step. As indicated by Roy Morgan esteem sections, the Myer clients in Australia are cognizant about wellbeing and wellness. They are bound to go for short occasions and use media extensively. Consequently, in view of this investigation of clients mentality, Myers plan their showcasing procedures and special exercises for their brands. Colleagues Through the Myer Supplier of the Year Awards, Myer perceive every one of those brands, fashioners and different accomplices who assume a job in conveying imaginative retail experience to the clients. In 2016, M.A.C was pronounced Myers pined for Supplier of the Year by their creative approaches to connect with clients. The head supervisor of M.A.C was their key colleague and Toni Maticeski was pronounced the best planner of the year for his style forward manifestations. Different accomplices of Myers incorporate the publicizing organization who give network support and the Group Managing Director who assume a job in the imaginative procedure of retail business at Myer (Govender and Govender 2017). Contenders David Jones Limited, another Australian departmental store is perhaps the greatest contender of Myers. David Jones additionally has around 37 departmental stores across the country and their promoting technique is giving firm rivalry to Myer. Both have comparative business methodologies and because of this opposition in the market, they have battled to arrive at their objective marketing projection. For instance, Myer has been put resources into eminent female figure, Jennifer Hawkins, Miss Universe 2004 to advance their brands. Similarly, Myer worked together with Victorias mystery model to help their deals. Despite the fact that the business edge of Myer is higher than David Jones, Myer is under a bigger number of obligations than its rivals. Harris Scarfe, Kmart Australia and Target Australia are the new opponents of Myer and the CEO of Myer had discharged The Competitive estimating strategy to remain in front of different rivals in the market (MYER pty ltd. 2017). Setting Myer has been tested by certain political advancement in Australia. They are not content with the products and enterprises charge applied on imported merchandise. The GST applies for imports worth more than $1000 and they feel that it will make an uncalled for playing field for neighborhood business and make troublesome exchanging condition for them. There is question with respect to the expense of GST for things and the pay advantage of the assessment (ABC News 2017).Bernie Brookes, the head of Myer have even accused the Australian governments spending measures as a factor making extreme exchanging condition and prompting inconsistent deals (Greenblat 2017). Assortment of data about 5Cs Myer have confined their cost based advancements and supplanted them with shopper centered advancements to know their clients and target for the most part complex clients to offer scope of items offer. They had utilized strategies like One day offers, Super Saturdays, and Secret Sales to help the deals. Their business has been difficulties by computerized interruption and the globalization of retail part. So as to reestablish their pertinence with their clients, they have chosen to utilize their four columns to acquire the affection for shopping buyers life. To recognize their reliability client base, they have done significant research on Australian client retail sections and utilized the Roy Morgan information to alter their methodology (Eizenberg et al. 2015). They recognized three gatherings of clients through these examination high worth purchasers who are fully informed regarding style, expertly fruitful clients who have an enthusiasm for brands and the individuals who search f or better each day esteem and moderate design. In view of various client inclination, they isolated their brands into various classifications to suit the commercial center (Cameron 2017). Myers have thought about their actual rivals in the market after they serious deals competition with other departmental stores like David Jones and Target Kmart who offer comparable items in various objective markets. These high society departmental put away situated in prime areas gives serious valuing. This pattern in the market has exceptionally affected their marketing projection and store support. The examination on fundamental client base has helped them to see how the setting of business is changing with globalization and ascend in portable and advanced innovation. They realize that their market is commanded by females and it is for the most part client based because of premium valuing and brand classifications. They know that their business is based on the glory of their brands and henceforth they attempt to offer notable renowned brands and assemble solid client relationship. The facilitating of the Myer Supplier of the Year grant is a reflection on how they assess the job of every provider and value them for being their colleagues and providers. In the year 2015, they reported PVY Heritage Brands Australia as the Supplier of the year since they furnish Myer with notable brands like Pierre Cardin, Van Heusen, Tommy Hilfiger and numerous others. The providers share their energy with Myer to offer creative items and find a way to acquire development business (Media-Release 2017). Creating promoting methodology In view of investigation of the market of Myer as far as its providers, clients and contenders, it very well may be said that Myer needs to target specific market portions to build up the showcasing system. Through the Roy Morgan research to order their client base, they have recognized three gatherings of clients for their retail items. They likewise found that omni-channel clients have surrendered them to 80% deals contrasted with clients who shop truly (Cameron 2017). Consequently, it is suggested that Myer target such omni-channel client section and find a way to grasp advanced innovation to pull in this gathering of clients. They can put resources into advanced innovation like snap and gather to increment online deals and put resources into other computerized center to give in-store understanding through advanced methods. When this pilot venture is fruitful, the advanced center point can be turned out for different stores broadly. Anyway this change can't be conceivable without enlistment of boss advanced staffs and information officials who can lead in the change procedure. It is likewise prescribed to fabricate the offer of the nearby clients by energizing interest in overhauling the stores and fitting the as per neighborhood clients design inclinations. They can assemble offers with omni-channel clients by getting changes their image make up and adding most recent brands to stay aware of the requests in retail industry (Osterwalder et al. 2014). The change and reexamination procedure should all be connected to the clients. They include more brands by breaking down the most needed brands at present in the retail market and investing amounts of energy to build deals edge by incorporation of new and high popular brands. Thus brand buildin

17 Things Ive Learned in the Past Year

17 Things I’ve Learned in the Past Year It’s spring break and I’m catching up on alone time. I didn’t exactly plan to not have spring break plans, but I feel like I have a lot of backlogged self-reflection and emotional processing to do, so it’s actually been pretty nice and relaxing to have a chunk of time to myself. Incidentally, there are a lot of great concerts happening in Boston this week, so I’ve also been doing a lot of concertgoing (relevant zine lol)â€"on Tuesday night, I went to see Vince Staples for the second time, which was pretty cool especially because he closed with “Summertime, (warning: explicit lyrics) a song I mentioned in my very first blog post. There may or may not have been tears in my eyes by the end :’) This past month, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I’ve changed during my time at MIT, and I thought I would write this blog post about some of the ways my perspective has changed in the past year. I think that I’ve done a lot of emotional growth this year, and although some of this growth came out of a particularly dark and volatile period of my life, I am grateful that it shaped me into the person I am now. Now, without further ado, here are 17 things I have learned this past year: 1. What machine learning is And what it’s like to start studying for a Friday 8AM exam (for a class you’ve attended literally 0 times) at 10PM on Thursday. (Its not fun, in case you were wondering!!) I took 6.867, one of MIT’s machine learning classes, last semester. I loved to complain about this class when I was taking it, but some of the material was really interesting. I don’t think I acknowledged how cool it was because it’s a class that I and many other people take because it’s an of-the-moment thing that seems important to know, but it was pretty exciting to write code that could classify handwritten digits (albeit only moderately well) and to actually use multivariable calculus to do useful things. 2. It is sometimes okay and necessary to run away from a situation and not look back or apologize. This is number 2 because it’s important. I guess I’m now able to understand that sometimes people who seem to have your best interests at heart really do not, and I understand how much the onus is on me to look out for and take care of myself. I’m a big fan of the line “if I treated someone else the way I treat myself, I’d be in jail” (from “Girl Named Hello” by of Montreal)â€"it basically acknowledges the fact that people subject themselves to a lot of crap (and have self-destructive tendencies) that they would never subject anyone else to. Sometimes it is helpful to stop and think, “How would I react if I was told this was happening to my friend?” or to realize “If my friend told me they were being treated in x way, I would tell them to get out of that situation immediately.” 3. My friends are amazing! And funny and supportive and complex and talented and creative. I know everyone thinks their friends are amazing, but man, I have had some of the same friends forever, and it’s been crazy to see them all grow and change over the years. I am grateful for all the memories and laughs we’ve shared, and I’m insanely grateful that they have been there for me year after year, even when I haven’t been there for them and even after we fall out of touch for periods. I think the main shift in mindset that has happened recently is that I feel less pressure than before to constantly be trying to make new friends. I don’t mean that I’ve shut myself off to new connections; it’s more that I feel wholly satisfied with and grateful for what I already have. I also now feel a much stronger sense of protectiveness and responsibility toward my friends, my family, and myself. 4. Sometimes the wind in Cambridge blows so hard that benches fall over Learned this last week. 5. How to do growth accounting Learned this in 14.05, the intermediate macroeconomics class I took last spring. Sadly, I forget many of the details, but I do remember that growth accounting is a way to decompose an economy’s economic growth into changes in various factors. These factors typically include some subset of capital, labor, technology, and human capital. When I first learned about it, I was awed by the ways in which economists were able to use mathematical models to explain patterns in the world. I think Im a little less enthusiastic now because, ya know, all models are wrong, but the lectures about this and about the Mankiw-Romer-Weil paper (which posited that human capital should be included in the model) were part of what got me hooked on economics. (wow i am a nerd sorry) 6. The bystander effect is real. Like, in real life and not just in psychology textbooks. Sigh. 7. It is important to take care of your body and physical health! Health, hygiene, sleep, exercise, dietâ€"it’s difficult to not let these things fall by the wayside when negotiating the insanity of MIT. I still struggle to strike a healthy balance, especially when it comes to getting enough sleep. I fell into an extended period of mild illness during the months after spring break last year. I was exhausted and didn’t ever seem to have time to catch up on sleep because, like many other people on campus, I am eternally overcommitted. :/ I was regrettably hardheaded about not asking for extensions or going to Medical. Don’t be like me! It’s great if you can somehow avoid getting sick in the first place, but if you’re already sick, make sure you take adequate time to recover fully so the illness doesn’t drag out. It might seem wasteful to take a big chunk of time to recover now, but spending weeks being sick and recovering halfway usually ends up taking up even more time. On the topic of fitness, there’s a line from a Dr. Dre interview that I think about all the time: “I just got tired of taking better care of things I can replaceYou cant have a hot car and a hot house and get out looking crazy.” I can think of many people who pay more mind to taking care of their physical possessions than their own bodies. If you’re doing all this work (in part) to give yourself a better life, what is the point if you’re not healthy and able to enjoy that life? 8. It is important to take care of your mind and mental health! I wouldn’t exactly say I learned this in the past year, but I am still learning how to get better at itâ€"figuring out what helps me and what doesn’t. MIT is a mentally taxing place, but I’m finally learning to take advantage of the resources available to students. I’m a person who never stops working: even if I’m feeling extremely down, I will get my work done, and it took me a while to understand that my ability to get work done doesn’t reflect whether or not things are okay in my head. On a related note, I think I put a lot of pressure on myself to always be delivering, and even during my time off I want to be productive. I think that on some level I feel like my worth is determined by my ability to be productive (thanks, capitalism) so it’s been a journey learning to actually, really, truly relax. Mental and physical health go hand in hand, and a lot of activities that improve physical health also improve mental health. Selam recently wrote a beautiful post that touches on the experience of climbing out of the hole of mental health strugglesâ€"I would highly recommend reading it! 9. How it feels to teach a class I’ve done a decent amount of teaching/presentation-giving this year and especially this semester. I just wrapped up teaching an HSSP class on behavioral economics, and my CI-M (communication intensive) math class requires all the members of the class to teach the material to each other. Its helped me develop more sympathy and empathy for my teachers and professorsâ€"now that I’ve been on the receiving end of dead silence after asking a question to a class, I’m more willing to participate in my own classes. 10. Do what works for you! Over my winter break, one of my friends from high school mentioned that a critical part of the improvement of her mental health was the discovery that “being an introvert is a thing.” I thought that was hilarious and extremely relevant to my own strugglesâ€"this year, I finally came to terms with the fact that I get tired if I’m around people for long periods of time and need to spend a sizable amount of time alone to be at my best. It’s not like I was insanely social before this year, but now I feel much less guilty about turning down invitations or spending my weekend nights quietly (although this semester, that’s mostly been caused by my having too much work on weekends, which is a separate problem). 11. Femininity is nothing to be ashamed of. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this in one way or another in, like, every single blog post I’ve written this year, but I’ve mostly made peace with the fact that I am a girl who likes to do girly things even though those things are associated with vapidity. I think I’ve had to work through a lot of internalized sexism, and as a consequence I am now more self-aware and okay with myself as a person. So that’s been pretty cool. 12. How to belay Last month I tried top roping (style of climbing pictured above) for the first timeâ€"super fun and tiring! There are a number of climbing gyms around Boston/Cambridgeâ€"I’ve been to Rock Spot (many times), Brooklyn Boulders (once), and MetroRock (once). 13. What a holomorphic function is It’s like a differentiable function, but in the complex planeâ€"which means it has to be differentiable from all directions. Learned this in 18.112 last semester; that whole class is on the (many + beautiful) properties of holomorphic functions. 14. How little looks matter High school politics teach you otherwise, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized more and more that personal style has absolutely nothing to do with how well I will get along with a person or how interesting they are. I feel like I’m realizing this embarrassingly late in my life, but hey, better than never! (On the other hand, I’ve gone through a lot of phases with my own appearance, and I think people have treated me somewhat differently depending on how I presented myself, so in that sense looks do matter sometimes. And on a broader level, yes, looks matter because people will evaluate you based on features like race or gender presentation. So dont get me wrong, I am not saying that looks in general do not affect how people treat you because they unfortunately do. But thats a conversation for a different day.) 15. How to do a bunch of puzzles I dabble in puzzling, and I’ve done a little more dabbling than usual this past year. There was the Google Games in April, then What’s that Spell in October, then SUMS over winter break, and most recently the Galactic Puzzle Hunt, which was created by people loosely affiliated with the hall I lived on freshman year. 16. Im the actual worst at self-care. I sometimes put so much pressure on myself to do self-care activities that the effect ends up being the complete opposite of what I intended. So, for instance, I’ll tell myself I should do some creative writing because that’s therapeutic for me, but then I’ll have a lot of work and not have time to do the creative writing, or I won’t feel like writing at all, and then I’ll get so stressed about the fact that I haven’t done the writing yet that it becomes a big burden. Then, when I actually get around to doing the writing, I’m tired and would probably benefit more from sleep, or it just undoes the stress that came from not-writing but not the pre-existing stress. Repeat for activities like exercise and reading. I guess the effect in the long run is that I’m reasonably physically fit and productive, but I’m still learning to put less pressure on myself. This spring break I am trying to actually relax by not doing this to myself! I am taking a break from setting mental goals for each day, and so far I’ve actually been pretty relaxed and happy and that’s been really nice :~) 17. I am a tough cookie. I trust myself to get through difficult times. Every single year, I become more sure about this. I think that in one way or another, your college experience will test how gritty you really are, and although there will be times when things will get pretty dark and feel hopeless, they always get better (often after you seek some sort of help, which is an act of bravery and not of weakness!!), and you will eventually come out with renewed faith in yourself. There are like a million adages about thisâ€"what doesnt kill you makes you stronger, its always darkest before the dawn, there is a light at the end of the tunnelâ€"and they are often true. images link to sources Post Tagged #6.867 #mental health

Financial Decision Making In The Workplace - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 19 Words: 5561 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? The purpose of this report is to prepare an analysis of the financial performance and position of Easyjet plc in comparison with that of Ryanair plc. The CORE model approach was used in preparing a review of each airlines annual accounts with selected ratios applied to evaluate compare, contrast their financial performance. An analysis of Easyjet plc performance and position against Ryanair plc confirms the following key findings. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Financial Decision Making In The Workplace" essay for you Create order The principal finding from this report is that the current finance strategy for Ryanair plc is not sustainable in the long term. Easyjet plc diversification into ancillary activities has incurred costs which will be recouped over a period of time and reflect a positive investment strategy during and after the economic downturn. Furthermore, Easyjet will achieve additional savings if an optimum hedging policy is implemented during the current economic downturn. Introduction An appreciation of the European airline industry was considered in relation to Easyjet plc current financial positioning and brand recognition as the preferred low cost airline provider. The financial performance and position of Easyjet plc was appraised against Ryanair plc through application of the CORE (Context, Overview, Ratio, Evaluation) model. Context establishes the market share and European airline environment from an internal and external perspective that the two plcs operate and compete within. Overview is an appraisal of the financial performance between the two Plcs in relation to similar operational activities and qualifying their accounts and strategic approach during the current economic downturn. Ratio analysis establishes the relationship between stated totals within the Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement and Income Statement to establish the base of Evaluation for financial performance between Easyjet plc (Easyjet) and Ryanair plc (Ryanair). Evaluatio n of the two accounts is an integrative component of the CORE approach based upon the three previous stages to assist with identifying an overall conclusion from the analysis. The overall conclusion may then be drawn as to the degree of success of the organisation in terms of the implementation of the corporate strategy for customer, competitors and suppliers according to the specific focus of the analysis (Moon Bates, 1993). Context (Internal): Each airline as their primary activity provides international and regional low cost airline fares within the European airline industry. Both airlines are recognised within the market and operationally focussed towards a low-fare strategy. Sustainability and success of providing low cost airline fares is critically dependent upon retaining a low cost base especially during the current economic downturn to protect long-term viability. The global duopoly of Boeing and Airbus within the European airline industry influences the high fixed costs relative to variable costs that is inherent to airline pricing and generates the operational focus towards retaining a low cost base. Reducing operational costs provides each airline with flexibility to offer lower ticket fares, issue dividend shares or retain earnings for future investment as part of their competitive advantage over a rival (Brassinton Pettit, 1997). From a media perspective and operational approach, Ryanair has successfu l introduced a low cost base through staff optimisation and promoting www.ryanair.com for online ticket sales. Application of the airlines website can provide an integrated marketing communications strategy as well as introducing an effective management information system to co-ordinate revenue activities. Ryanair is reputed to have achieved  £22 million pounds in reduced sales and distribution costs through application of their web-based management information system (Done, 2008). Additional operational savings to establish a low cost base have been generated through Ryanairs standardisation of their airline fleet to Boeing 737s. Standardisation provides lower staff training and maintenance costs due to familiarity and inventory considerations. Both airlines target the European short-haul city break market segment and utilise a system termed yield management to allow seats to be priced according to supply and demand (Ryanair Plc, 2008). Ryanair and Easyjet focus upon an opt imum turnaround time at each due to empty planes being non-revenue generating. To maximise profits, fixed and variable costs are regularly challenged to introduce further savings which establishes the rationale as a low cost airline provider not to be forthcoming with compensation to passengers for flight cancellations. It is therefore an operational priority to ensure service delivery with minimal lost baggage claims and flight reliability exceeds the industry standard in relation to key performance indicators. Dependent upon the size of the aircraft purchased or leased from Boeing and Airbus, economies of scale can be achieved to increase the operating profit margin of the airline. Establishing a sustainable low cost base can increase the projected operating profit, increasing the airlines purchasing power to negotiate preferential commercial arrangements with suppliers. Furthermore financial success in one industry sector provides opportunity to develop activities in another s ector using ancillary partners. In relation to each airline generating ancillary revenue, Easyjet activities have diversified into various market segments and achieved higher revenue returns beyond that of Ryanair, as detailed within each airlines Income Statement. Both the airlines have expanded their ancillary activities with Easyjet achieving a 115% improvement for ancillary services including Car rentals, Hotels, apartments, Travel Insurance and Airport Parking as recorded within their respective company accounts.Ultimately, Easyjet is expanding the portfolio of activities during the economic downturn to develop the brand and establish complimentary ancillary services to mitigate against revenue loss in a specific sector such as Passenger flights. In contrast, Ryanair has generated a 23% improvement in their ancillary services with passenger service the primary focus to achieve revenue (Easyjet Plc, 2008). As a short term strategy, this has possibly generated the concern t hat Ryanair performance has improved over Easyjet, yet as a long term approach the approach is not sustainable. This is due to all operational activities having a specific cost threshold and in a fare war contest it may become necessary to subsidise activities from other more profitable ancillary activities. The current approach by Ryanair in the economic downturn is therefore considered prejudicial against their long-term viability. Each airline primary assets are detailed within the Income statement that reflects the substantial capital outlays in relation to the purchase of aircraft fleet for both providers. In the long term this approach can be beneficial due to reduced future costs associated with leasing as well as minimising interference from external financing companies concerning pricing tactics with possible withdrawal of finance due to perceived negative publicity of the airline. Ownership of aircraft establishes a tangible asset and brand platform that can be appli ed to increase shareholders and investors confidence. The accumulation of assets establishes a long-term investment strategy that requires operational maintenance and management depreciation consideration. Ownership of the asset ultimately provides each airline with the opportunity to select without constraint their service partners for maintenance, cleaning and insurance coverage. As previously mentioned both airlines target the short-haul city break markets and utilise the yield management system to allow seats to be priced according to supply and demand therefore exercising full control of their marketing mix to the consumer (Airlines, 2006). Recorded revenues of  £2,171 million was achieved by Ryanair during the financial year ended on March 2008, representing an increase of 21.3% over 2007 and generating 37.6% of the total revenues in 2008(Ryanair, 2008) in comparison recorded revenue was  £2,362.8 million in September 2008 generating an increase of 31.5% compared to the ir performance in 2007 and reflective of a sustainable corporate strategy to protect the viability of Easyjet during the economic downturn(Easyjet Plc, 2008). Easyjet completed the acquisition of GB Airways in January 2008 with Ryanair attempting a similar corporate acquisition that was rejected by Aer Lingus. Currently no progress has been achieved from the Aer Lingus rejection of the offer yet the collapse of buget airlines Sky Europe in 2009 with previous budget airlines also going into administration does not provide the consumer with confidence in low cost fare providers (PIGNAL, 2008). Context (External) According to Datamonitor (2008) by 2011 the airline industry is forecast to have a value of  £89 billion with 773.5 million passengers anticipated to use airline travel on an annual basis. Competition amongst the two airline providers is increasingly focused towards cost and brand marketing. Various management cost reduction initiatives with provision of only one class of service have developed each airlines reputation as a no-fill providers due to costs being charged for all non-essentials. To assess the external profile of Easyjet in comparison to Ryanair a SPECTACLES approach is applied with consideration towards the various categories as well as applying Porters five forces model (1980). Social considerations include recognition of both airlines as market leaders with strong brand identification for low cost fares. Furthermore, both airlines have developed a reputation for reliability through punctuality of flight times, minimal flight cancellations and reduced lost lug gage claims. Political considerations include all regulatory constraints that may apply to both providers such as airport charges which are generally levied through regulation rather than commercial negotiation. Economic considerations include the economic downturn, reduced disposable income and expenditure of customers together with increasing fuel costs due to global conflict and fear of terrorism attacks. In addition, global events have increased insurance provisions and requirements within the airline industry. Cultural considerations include the perception that low cost airlines provide an inferior service in comparison to traditional flag carrier and charter airlines that concentrate upon a differentiation competitive advantage. Technological considerations include the recognition that safety is a main consideration and cost aspect with all aircraft parts have a defined life-span before replacement is required. The replacement of prop aircraft to jet engines as par t of fleet modernising as well as increasing safety requirements requires airlines to a continual review of their projected capital and maintenance allowances. Aesthetic considerations include the preference for one airline over another with Easyjet achieving a global focus due to broader activities in comparison to Ryanair. Both airlines provide the same class of service on all flights with emphasis upon low costs. Customer considerations include ease of on-line booking together with ticket costs combined with reliability of each airline operating the prescribed flights and minimal loss baggage claims. Against Easyjet, Ryanair has achieved significant short-term success in this category at the expense of generating a love/hate relationship with the public. Legal considerations include the regulatory constraints for passenger safety, security provisions, noise reduction, and environmental issues. In addition, to employment and aviation law, there is competition and liabilit y legislation that restricts the operating activities of each airline. Environmental considerations include all regulatory constraints that may apply such as noise reduction, emissions and fuel efficiency, reduced energy, water and material consumption and air traffic congestion. Sectoral considerations include review of competitors and future regulatory considerations to enable a competitive advantage to be developed over rival airlines. In many respects review and implementation of Porters (1980) competitive forces provides the sector framework for analysing the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness within an industry. The below five forces diagram illustrates the relationship between the different competitive forces (Porter, 1980). Adapted from Porter (1980) Five Forces Model Threat of new entrants low The preference for lower air fares generated the business opportunity for Easyjet and Ryanair to compete against traditional flag carrier and charter airlines. A high capital investment and legislation requirement combined with competition for additional airport slots/positions creates physical and financial barriers for new operators within the airline industry. Bargaining power of customers increasing Availability of constant information through the World Wide Web provides information of which airline has the cheaper fare and within an economic depression, the preference of the customer is generally towards the cheaper service provider. Bargaining power of suppliers strong but limited The price of aviation fuel is directly related to the cost of oil, as an individual company Easyjet and Ryanair does not have the power to alter this. The impact of the supplier depends on the availability of alternative suppliers and product substitutes (Dibb Simpkin, 2001). The more these airlines expands the more power it will possess over its suppliers Threat of the substitute products or services low There are no tenable threats from other modes of transport as distances are too great except from London to Paris, which can be reached by Euro Star. Current competitors Easyjet and Ryanair sustain a cost leadership advantage over all other operators including traditional flag carrier and charter airlines that utilise a differentiation rather than a low cost base. Overview: Both Ryanair and Easyjet have membership of the European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) to assist with their equal representation within the airline industry. According to ELFAA (2009) statistics Ryanair provides 1,200 daily flights in contrast to the 1,000 daily flights provided by Easyjet. As a consequence of providing a higher volume of daily flights than Easyjet, the passenger load factor for Ryanair is lower at 81.4% according to the June 2009 ELFAA statistics. The passenger load factor of 85.2% for Easyjet identifies on average their passenger occupancy per flight which can be compared to the break-even point to identify the profitability of a specific flight (ELFAA, 2009). The below table provides an insight of each organisation in relation to their operations and company profile. RYANAIR EASYJET ESTABLISHED 1985 1995 ANNUAL TURNOVER 2171 million 2,362 million OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE Ryanair Holdings Plc Easyjet Plc NO OF AIRCRAFT 220 165 MAJOR FLEET TYPE BOEING A320 ;BOEING MAIN HUB LONDON, STANSTED LONDON, LUTON AIRPORT H/Q DUBLIN, IRELAND LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM NO OF ROUTES COVERED 950 400 NO OF COUNTRIES COVERED 147 COUNTRIES 28 COUNTRIES EMPLOYEES 5920 6107 PASSENGER VOLUME 60 MILLION 43 million PASSENGERS 5.12 million 3.53 million PUNCTUALITY FLIGHTS ON TIME 88% 80% ACQUISITION MERGERS FAILED TO ATTEMPT AER LINGUS ACQUIRED GB AIRWAYS EXTERNAL AUDITORS KPMG PRICEWATER COOPERS AIRLINE PASSENGERS PER EMPLYOEE 9679 6772 Source : Easyjet plc 2009 Ryanair plc 2009. Both the airlines follow the going concern basis in preparing their financial statements which have been certified by independent respective external auditor as being a true and fair status of the companys financial overview. The financial statements are prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting standards (IFRS) as adopted by European Union (EU) and effective from March 2008; as applied in accordance with the prevailing Companies Act legislation. Both airlines amended their accounting policy in 2005 from UK GAAP to International Financial Reporting Standard (Ryanair Plc, 2008 Easyjet Plc, 2008). Both airlines are successful in strategising for revenue generation with Ryanair maximising its profit through effective control of operating expenses in comparison to Easyjet. An example is Ryanairs effective fuel hedging policy which allows the airline to allocate fixed fuel costs without surcharge to the customer whereas Easyjet varies their fuel surcharge to the customer. The turnover for Easyjet is  £2,362 million (2008) from  £1,797 million (2007) which is a 20% increase in the turnover. Unfortunately due to the increased administration expenses incurred profit margins have not been maximised due to staff, marketing and fuel costs. These costs cumulatively represent a total cost increase of 28% in 2008. The final outcome was a decrease in profit margin from 11.23% from 4.66%, which trails far behind Ryanairs profit margin (Easyjet plc, 2008). Ryanair in comparison to Easyjet has increased its turnover to  £2,171 million (2008) from  £1,789 million (2007) which is a 13% increase whereas their administration costs increased by 13% from last year. This has led to Ryanair capitalising on the increase in turnover to profit (Ryanair plc, 2008). Airline passenger per employee for Ryanair is greater in comparison to Easyjet and reflects an optimum utilisation of resources. Ryanairs punctuality of flights on time is 88% when compared to 80% of Easyjet which demonstrates the operational efficiency of staff. The customer base has increased for both airlines with Ryanair achieving greater customer retention through market domination of the short haul flights. The addition of 16 more aircrafts through Easyjets acquisition of GB airways to 165 aircrafts am ounted to a capital expenditure of  £118 million (Easyjet plc, 2008). Ryanair took the delivery of 30 new aircrafts bringing its total to fleet of 220 aircraft which amounted to  £97.1 million towards capital expenditure incurred for the year. Both the airline has an expansion plan which clearly shows in their adding of more aircrafts to their existing fleet. Ryanair has raised finance through the mortgage of their aircraft, with a book value of  £3,061.5 million as collateral security for finance generated through loans for purchase of next generation 737-800 Boeing aircrafts (Ryanair plc, 2008). Ratios The calculated ratio analysis establishes the relationship between stated totals within the Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement and Income Statement to establish the base of Evaluation for financial performance between Easyjet plc (Easyjet) and Ryanair plc (Ryanair). The three main areas of Strategic analysis include Profitability, Liquidity and Efficiency as well as Gear ing and Investment. Consideration of the ratios reflects the performance of Easyjet in achieving strategic goals in comparison to Ryanair and other rivals. The ratios are in the table format and the implications are discusses below (Moon Bates, 1993). Ratios RYANAIR EASYJET 2008 2007 2008 2007 Profitability ROCE 9.20% 9.86% 5.78% 12.08% Net Profit Margin 16.17% 20.16% 4.66% 11.23% Goss profit margin 19.79% 21.09% 3.85% 9.57% ROSF 15.61% 17.15% 6.51% 13.22% Liquidity Current Ratio 1.53 Times 2.02 Times 1.56 Times 1.88 Times Acid Test Ratio 1.53 Times 2.02 Times 1.56 Times 1.88 Times Gearing Ratio 47.55% 44.47% 41.53% 39.19% Interest Cover Ratio 5.53 Times 5.09 Times 3.36 Times 6.70 Times Efficiency Ratio Earnings per share 20.67 22.56 19.84 36.61 Wage Cost (%) 10.51% 10.13% 11.14% 11.36% Other ratios Debtors Collection days 4.6 days 3.82 days 21.55 days 34.2 days Creditors Payment days 17.39 days 8.94 days 11.97 days 8.04 days Source: Easyjet Plc.2008 Ryanair Plc, 2008. The financial ratios provide a quick and relatively simple means of assessing the financial health of the organisation (Atrill Eddie, 2006). Evaluation: To complete the CORE model an evaluation of the two airlines has been prepared with a succinct summary of the main findings of the report including key recommendations identified. Both airlines have reduced profit margins with Easyjets profit margin gap is significant in compared to Ryanair. The decline in the profit is mainly due to an increase in administration cost as previously reported. The main contributing factor is 66% increase in the fuel cost when compared to 2007 whereas Ryanair had only 14% in increase in fuel cost due to its effective (73%) hedging policy on fuel charges. Neither airline released dividend payments for 2008. To reduce short-term earnings volatility Easyjet has put the following fuel and currency hedging positions in place: 66% of anticipated 2009 funding requirement is hedged at  £1.96/ £,an additional 5% of requirement are hedged with collars with average floors of  £1.73/ £ (of what Shinde per sq metre); 56% of 2009 capital expendi ture relating to aircraft deliveries hedged at  £1.97/ £; 81% of anticipated 2009 euro surplus hedged at ÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¬1.24/ £. (Easyjet plc, 2008). Easyjet has also achieved a positive trend through reduced wage costs in comparison to Ryanair, which is a consistent consideration to maintain during an economic downturn to ensure competiveness with Ryanair. The operating profits for Easyjet were lower due to incurred advertising costs which were high in comparison to minimal advertising costs incurred by Ryanair and recorded as zero within the Income Statement. Online booking for Ryanair is greater than 90% which results in a small operating expense towards marketing. In contrast to Ryanair, Easyjet is applying a long term strategic approach to maximise revenue through advertising in the media and other channels to inform customers of their service value with competitive low fares. The acquisition costs for integrating GB Airways costed at  £12.9 million in 2008 which is going to reflect as an expense on next years income statement will assist Easyjet to increase profit margins. Easyjet has also increased ancillary revenue which will assist the company to mitigate its corporate risks through diversification of activities. Both airlines use the straight line method for calculating depreciation due to which Easyjet is showing 33% increase in its depreciation cost versus Ryanair 22% increase in depreciation. In relation to Easyjet the depreciation cost is high due to the acquisition of GB Airways with additional assets to be depreciated. The interest cover ratio, which is used to determine how easily either airline can pay interest on outstanding debt, was calculated by dividing each airlines revenue before interest and taxes with ratio. The interest cover ratio has declined dramatically for Easyjet by 3.34 times when compared to Ryanair which increased by 0.44 times. Thus the decline in Easyjets interest cover ratio can be explained through an increase in borrowing and combined with a dramatic decline in profitability in 2008. The lower the level of operating profit coverage, the greater the risk to lenders that interest payments will not be met, and the greater the risk to the shareholders that the lenders will take action against the business to recover the interest rate. Whilst Ryanair has its maintained a preferable interest cover ratio in comparison to Easyjet due to the profit  £429,664 achieved despite high borrowings. Easyjets Interest cover ratio was not as favourable due to their profit margins of  £910,000 despite achieving a preferred gearing ratio in comparison to Ryanair. The gearing ratio refers to the relationship between the amount of fixed interest capital and the amount of equity within each airline. Ryanair has increased from 44% (2007) to 47% (2008) primarily due to an increase of long term debts at 13% in 2008. When the value of debt capital is more than the value o f equity as in Ryanairs situation the organisation is highly geared due to significant borrowings of  £1,814.57 increasing the risk of becoming insolvent in the medium to long term particularly if the economic downturn continues. Ryanair is raising finance for operational activities at the expense of an increased gearing ratio from 9.32% in 2007 compared to 39.96% in 2008 due to a decrease in profit margins (Ryanair Plc, 2008). Whilst, the gearing ratio for Easyjet increased to 41.53 % (2008) from 39.19 % (2007) this is primarily attributed to the acquisition of GB Airways. The future gearing for Easyjet will reduce due to consolidation of activities whereas Ryanair increased gearing is attributed to the intended acquisition of Aer Lingus, purchase of market shares and investment within operational activities. It would therefore appear that Ryanair have exhausted the potential to achieve future funding due to their current gearing ratio whereas Easyjet focus is towards conso lidation of activities with an increase in profit margins anticipated in 2009/10. Easyjet have increased current liabilities in terms of aircraft maintenance cost and derivative financial instruments (hedging losses) that have generated a reduction in the current ratio combined with the acquisition of GB Airways. Whilst Easyjet can access significant cash and liquid investments to mitigate the risk of business disruption events of approximately  £863 million as at 30 September 2008 this excludes restricted cash of  £66 million for short-term liabilities. Whereas the cash balance for Ryanair has improved it is only through analysis of the ratios that a downward trend is developing due to an increase in current liabilities within derivative financial instruments. Ryanair utilises derivative financial instruments to hedge against losses by anticipation of future price increases concerning predicted variability in cash flows of an asset, liability or a highly probable forecast ed transaction. A significant contribution for an increase in the current ratio for Ryanair is the increase in maturity of debts. Both Ryanair and Easyjet have a similar acid ratio due to absence of stock or inventories within their published balance sheets. The sales revenue per employee ratio identifies how each airline is utilizing their employee productivity with an increase generally reflective of efficiency with management establishing additional key performance indicators for staff to achieve. As previously detailed on the ratio comparison table, Ryanair has increased sales revenue per employee. Return on capital employed identifies the relationship between the operating profit and average long term capital invested and is significantly reduced for Easyjet due to long term liabilities yet this is recognised as a temporary phase following the GB Airways acquisition as well as undertaking airline operations within a competitive market. Achieving a profit within an economi c downturn combined with adjustment of the hedge reserve will enable Easyjet to improve their effectiveness in 2009/10. In contrast, the capital redemption reserve for Ryanair has increased due to purchasing previously released equity shares as well as increasing long term liabilities with various financial institutions and established primarily on the basis of guarantees granted by Export-Import Bank of the United States to finance the acquisition of 107 Boeing 737-800 as a next generation aircraft. Whilst having less favourable ratios than Easyjet the funding provided by the Export-Import Bank of the United States for Ryanair is attributed to the bank emphasis to support the financing of U.S. goods and services (Trade Finance, 2004). It could also be suggested that the purchase of previously released shares by Ryanair was implemented to prevent another airline purchasing Ryanair shares due to their perceived vulnerability since the continued reduction of operational costs is not a sustainable activity. The Debtors Ratio identifies the effectiveness of a debt collection routine and within the competitive low fare airline industry, efficient ratios would be anticipated especially when the focus is towards cost reduction measures and borrowing finance is a chargeable activity. Ryanair has an excellent debtor collection policy with a minimal increase 0.78 days in 2008. This could also be reflective of the absence of available liquid reserves within a business to increase the availability of working capital and reduce finance borrowings. In contrast, Easyjet debtor ratio can be optimised from 12.65 days in 2008 to improve the availability of working capital within the business and limit borrowings. In comparison of the two airlines, Easyjet could improve their debtor ratio to seven days for efficiency purposes whereas Ryanair requires a constant focus on their debtor ratio analysis due to availability of working cash and requirement to minimal all non-es sential costs. The Creditors Ratio provides an alternative perspective on how the two airlines consider their debt considerations. Ryanair creditor payment period is 8.45 days and therefore due to the volume of activities there is the availability of finance for other activities for an average of 8.45 days until payment/settlement is issued. Through utilising the credit payment period as a temporary borrowing option there is the perceived high risk that funds for payment could become committed and rather than generating revenue growth, funds are being juggled. In contrast the creditor payment period for Easyjet is 3.93 days restricting the availability of working capital to be paid to creditors rather than using it for day to day operations. In summary of the ratios selected for comparison the creditor and debtor ratios is reflective in general of how each airline is approaching their activities. Ryanair is quick to require settlement from debtors due to their restricted borro wing availability and uses a period of 8.45 days as an opportunity to generate additional revenue prior to settlement. Depending upon the volume of finance available within this period, Ryanair is anticipating the generation of additional revenue through hedging activities and received interest returns. In contrast, Easyjet is quick to make settlement as a creditor and less efficient in seeking settlement from debtors. This is similar to the Easyjet approach to strengthen their brand image and also diversify into other activities. Succinct summary of the main findings of the report including key recommendations identified. The Profit and Loss statement for Easyjet appears robust as confirmed through review of the selected ratios in comparison to Ryanair. In addition, whilst the purchase of GB Airways by Easyjet on January 31st of 2008 could disguise discrepancies within their accounts, it is worthy of note that despite this acquisition their accounts still remain favourable in comparison to Ryanair. Easyjet in comparison to Ryanair is expanding and diversifying their activities as well as strengthening their brand recognition. The Easyjet brand has a separate value to the airline through selective marketing enabling the separate sale of the brand through an acquisition or management buyout; in contrast Ryanair brand has become devalued and linked to cost cutting initiatives. The 2008 accounts for Easyjet includes the  £12.9 million integration of GB Airways as an integration cost specific to this year and in future years should generate profit to recoup the initial expenditure. The profit for Easyjets financial performance in 2008 has declined by 6.57% when compared to 2007 although it retains strong liquidity with cash and money market deposits of  £863 million. (Easyjet Plc, 2008). The ancillary revenue generated by Easyjet is increasing as evident from the cash flow statement. Through diversification a wider market segment is being target ed in comparison to Ryanair. The overall Easy brand has a high level of recognition and customer advocacy in all selected key markets as confirmed by the Family Brands Poll in 2009; in contrast Ryanair is recognised, as the least preferred family brand (Telegraph, 2009). The credit and debt collection ratios for Easyjet though not a necessity can be improved whereas Ryanair is maximising their efficiency to facilitate the availability of working capital having mortgaged their airline fleet to raise finance. Both airlines have distributed their risk against rising fuel prices and dollar fluctuation through adoption of hedging initiatives. Ryanair in their attempt to purchase Aer Lingus have generated an impairment loss of  £51 million. In attempting to purchase Aer Lingus, Ryanair is potentially vulnerable to a reverse acquisition challenge, furthermore the value of Aer Lingus shares is predicted to reduce further generating an additional reduction on the 2009/10 profit margi ns (Ryanair Plc, 2008). The concentration of passenger service revenue by Ryanair as their primary operation is subject to industry fluctuations, whereas Easyjet have ancillary revenue and a marketable brand value to hedge against industry fluctuations. The policy of Ryanair to absorb the fuel surcharge to permit a low fare offering to the customer is not sustainable in the long term airfare due to predicted fuel increase costs. The corporate culture of the two airlines is evident through Ryanair Chief Executive Michael OLeary decree that there is no point in continuing to grow rapidly in a declining yield environment, where our main aircraft partner is unwilling to play its part in our cost reduction program by passing on some of the enormous savings which Boeing have enjoyed both from suppliers and more efficient manufacturing (Ruddick,2009).This is also reflective of the possibility that Ryanair will not be able to generate additional finance to enable expansion followin g recognition and review of the selected ratios. In summary of the evaluation between the two airlines it would appear that Ryanair could be assumed to be the market leader for the uninformed due to their current activities for 2008 only. The strategic planning within Easyjet has developed a special brand with opportunity to use available finances as well as capacity for increased borrowings to enter into a price war with Ryanair. Conclusion It is highly probable that with the acquisition of GB Airways in 2008, predicted consolidation of activities in 2009 and possible creation of a price war with Ryanair in 2010, Easyjet will establish recognition as the market leader instead of a rival low cost airline operator to Ryanair. The current economic downturn has increased the competitiveness between airlines with a requirement to establish a low cost base to ensure survival. Ryanair has already implemented this with their current activities due to high gearing not considered sustainable. Easyjet has the availability to introduce additional savings, generate additional finance and introduce further brand diversification during the economic downturn. The availability to undertake additional acquisitions during the economic downturn whilst other organisations suffer reduced market values will increase the future profit margins for Easyjet after consolidation of the new assets. The financial operations within Ryanair res trict the availability to generate additional financing during the economic downturn whereas Easyjet has opportunity to raise finance if considering the acquisition for Aer Lingus in 2011. Although it may be preferable not to enter into a determined bidding war with Ryanair intended purchase of Aer Lingus that should be challenged only to increase the acquisition costs applicable for Ryanair. This approach will financially exhaust Ryanair if the market value of Aer Lingus is contested. It is probable that Easyjet will be in a position to purchase Ryanair or Aer Lingus from 2011 onwards, if the projected profit margins of Easyjet remain consistent. -The End- References (1) Atrill.P Eddie.M., (2006).Accounting and Finance for Non-Specialists.5Th ed: Essex: Pearson Education Limited. (2) Brassington.F. Pettitt.S.(2007) Essentials of Marketing.2nd ed: Essex :Pearson Education Limited. (3) Porter.E.M (1985) Competitive Advantages: Creating and Sustaining Superior: Upd Exp edition (September 1, 2008),Harvard Business School Press. (4) Moon, P., Bates, K. (1993), Core analysis in strategic performance,  Management Accounting Research, Kidlington:  Jun 1993.  Vol.  4,  Iss.  2;   pg. 139, 14 pgs. (5) Dibb.S and Simkin.L. (2001).The Marketing Casebook. 2nd ed: London. Thomson Learning. (6) Ryanair Plc, 2008. Annual report 2008. [Online], Available at: https://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2008/Annual%20report%202008%20web.pdf[Assessed November 21 2009]. (7) Easyjet Plc, 2008. Annual report 2008. [Online], Available at: https://corporate.easyjet.com/~/media/Files/E/easyJet/pdf/investors/result-center/easyJet_ar081.pdf. [Assessed November 21, 2009]. (8) AIRLINES: Heat is on for short-hauls.  2006.  Marketing Week,  November  9,  20-21. Available at:  https://www.proquest.com/  [Accessed November 21, 2009]. (9) STANLEY PIGNAL.   2008 .  The Week:  [LONDON 1ST EDITION].  Financial Times,  February  23,  https://www.proquest.com/  [Accessed November 21, 2009]. (10) Done, K., 2000. Web prompts huge savings for Ryanair TRANSPORT PRE-TAX LINE AHEAD 54%: [London edition]. Financial Times, November 8, https://www.proquest.com/ [Accessed November 21, 2009]. (11) ELLFA, (2009). ELFAA condemns UK Governments further smash and grab on Passengers. (Online)(Updated 30 October 2009) Available at: https://www.elfaa.com/ELFAA_Press_Release_UKAPD_301009.pdf [Assessed November 1 2009]. 12) Lloyds TSB closes Ex-Im loan for Ryanair.  2004.  Trade Finance,  October  1,  21-22.   Available at: https://www.proquest.com/  [Accessed November 21, 2009]. (13)Ryanair Holdings plc, (2009) Company Profiles Data monitor (online) Available at : https://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=99hid=6sid=ae8119cb-7824-4419-b32c-e89f80cd4ca0%4 0sessionmgr12[Accessed November 12, 2009]. Easyjet plc, (2009) Company Profiles, Data monitor (online), Available at: https://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=98hid=6sid=ae8119cb-7824-4419-b32c-e89f80cd4ca0%40sessionmgr12[Accessed November 12, 2009]. (15) Telegraph.2009.Easyjet set to hit profit targets.[Online] (Updated 14 Nov 2009)Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/6570145/EasyJet-set-to-hit-profit-targets.html) [Assessed November 21, 2009]. (16) Ruddick, G.2009. Ryanair and Easyjet row after Irish airline says it could scrap `plans to buy 200 more aircraft :Telegraph.co.uk: Nov 2 2009.(Online) Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/6488871/Ryanair-HYPERLINK https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/6488871/Ryanair-and-easyJet-row-after-Irish-airline-says-it-could-scrap-plans-to-buy-200-more-aircraft.htmland-easyJet-row-after-Irish-airline-says-it-could-scrap-plans-to-buy-200-more-airc raft.html [Assessed on November 21, 2009]. (17) Telegraph 2009. Ryanair named worst family brand. [Online] (Updated 23 Nov 2009) Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/6641220/Ryanair-named-worst-family-brand.html [Assessed November 21, 2009].

Prose Narrative Criticism Essay - 1911 Words

Prose Narrative Criticism: â€Å"Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† and â€Å"Greasy Lake† Studies in Literature Kathleen Lohr August 25, 2012 Prose Narrative Criticism While reading any composition of literature, the reader must address how they will connect with the text. To do this, the reader considers different forms of literary criticism. There are an abundance of approaches to literary criticism. For the purposes of looking at â€Å"Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† by Robert Louis Stevenson and â€Å"Greasy Lake† by T.C. Boyle, the narratological approach will be used here. The narratological critical approach to assessing literature expects that the audience reads to â€Å"understand how events are constructed and through what point†¦show more content†¦Many musicians wrote songs about doing drugs such as cocaine in the 1980’s. In â€Å"Greasy Lake†, the narrator describes himself and his friends as â€Å"dangerous characters, wearing torn up leather jackets, slouched around with toothpicks in our mouths, sniffing glue and ether, and what somebody said was cocaine† (Boyle, 1981). These events are accurate to the time period, which shaped the characters and events in â€Å"Greasy Lake†. A noteworthy theme of â€Å"Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde† is the natural duality of human beings. Dr. Jekyll is in a constant struggle to conceal Mr. Hyde from the world because he considers him to be indecent and capable of evil. Throughout the novella we are lead to believe that Mr. Hyde is some sort of deranged killer who has fled London after murdering a man. It isn’t until the final chapter that the reader learns from a note from Dr. Jekyll that Mr. Hyde is a persona of Jekyll. Jekyll claims that he allowed himself to become Hyde when he felt unacceptable impulses. This allowed him to act, free of morals, and later return to being the respectable Dr. Jekyll. This arrangement didn’t hurt his reputation, and satisfied his darker half. Therefore, he would drink a self-created potion to become Hyde whenever he wanted to. Dr. Jekyll clearly had two personalities that were battling to be dominant. The theme of human duality is represented in the upstanding, well likedShow MoreRelatedThe Importance of Quran1703 Words   |  7 PagesDr. Nuha al Shaar Arabic 301- Arabic Prose until end of 3rd Century Sally Al Nazer-36794 Essay Assignment The importance of the Quran in influencing the literary Arabic genres Quran is a very influential masterpiece in terms of religion, Islamic sciences and other Arab literary genres. 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Sunshine Chapter 9 Free Essays

string(93) " early experiments with what turned out to be the ancestors of Bitter Chocolate Death et al\." I nodded. I picked up my jackknife and put it back in my pocket. I looked at Jesse. We will write a custom essay sample on Sunshine Chapter 9 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Then I looked at the blood-smeared table knife lying on his desk, and he watched me looking. â€Å"That’s the next thing, isn’t it?† he said. â€Å"Okay – you have some kind of line on worked metal. Some pretty astonishing line, it must be. But that doesn’t explain†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The phone rang. He picked it up. â€Å"Ah. Well, better send him up then.† We all looked hard at Pat. He wasn’t blue at all. Theo unlocked the door. Mel came through it about ten seconds later, looking fit to murder battalions of SOFs with nothing more than a table knife. â€Å"What the dharmic hell do you red-eyed boys think you are up to, keeping a law-abiding member of the human public incommunicado for over an hour?† I managed to keep a straight face. â€Å"Red-eyed boy† (or girl) is an accusation of Other blood: just the sort of thing a pissed-off civilian would say to a SOF. They all looked perfectly blank. â€Å"Sorry,† said Jesse. â€Å"We didn’t mean to keep her incommunicado. We were getting her out of a bad situation as fast as possible – brought her in the back way, of course. The media jokers can’t get to her here. But we forgot to send word to the front desk that we weren’t – er – holding her.† Sure you forgot, I thought. Mel, still quivering with fury, and equally aware Jesse was lying, turned to me. â€Å"I’m okay,† I said. â€Å"I was a bit – hysterical. They let me have a shower,† I added inconsequentially. I’d had a rough night, and it was getting harder and harder to remember what I’d told whom and why. â€Å"A shower?† said Mel, taking in my fuzzy-bunny clothing – probably the first time he’d ever seen me in anything that didn’t involve red or pink or orange or yellow or at least peacock blue or fluorescent purple – and I realized he didn’t know what had happened. He wouldn’t, would he? You don’t destroy vampires by rushing up to them and sticking them with table knives. The only sure thing about the night’s events was that there’d been some kind of fracas – some messy kind of fracas – and I’d disappeared with some SOFs. There were probably half a dozen incompatible versions of what had happened out there by now. No wonder Mel was feeling a little wild. â€Å"It’s sort of a long story,† I said. â€Å"May I leave now, please?† Before you start asking me about tonight, I thought. â€Å"That’s what I’m here for,† said Mel, throwing another good glare around. â€Å"See you tomorrow,† said Jesse. â€Å"What?† said Mel. â€Å"I’ll tell you on the way out,† I said. â€Å"Sleep well,† said Pat. â€Å"You too,† I said. They gave me my soggy clothes in a plastic Mega Food bag and I managed to jam my feet into the clammy, curled-up sneakers so I could walk. Jesse offered to call a taxi, but I wanted some outdoor air. Even midtown civic center outdoor air. We had to go back to the coffeehouse: the Wreck was there. Mel had walked over. Well, I don’t know about walked. He had come over without vehicular assistance anyway. He was still putting out major anger vibes, even after a successful rescue of the damsel from the dragon-encircled tower. The dragon had been blue, and essentially friendly. The real problem was about the damsel†¦I had never wanted someone to talk to so badly, never been so unable to say what I wanted to talk about. And if I managed to tell him, what was he going to say? â€Å"I’ll start ringing up residential homes for the lethally loony tomorrow, see where the nearest openings are†? â€Å"Don’t even try to tell me what happened till you’ve had some sleep,† said Mel. â€Å"The goddam nerve of those guys†¦I thought Pat and Jesse were okay.† â€Å"I think they are okay,† I said, regretfully. In some ways it would have been easier if they weren’t. â€Å"Jesse and Theo did get me out of there – um – and they couldn’t help being, you know, professionally interested.† Mel snorted. â€Å"If you say so. Listen, the whole neighborhood is talking about it. Whatever it is. The official SOF report – what they’ve already fed to the media goons – is that you were an innocent bystander. None of us is going to say anything, but there were a lot of people in that alley by the time Jesse and Theo got you away, and it’s unanimous that you were†¦Ã¢â‚¬  There was a pause. I didn’t say anything. He added, â€Å"Charlie seemed to think Jesse was doing you a favor. That SOF could protect you better than we could.† Yeah. Further destruction of personal world view optional. Mel sighed. â€Å"So we hung around the phone at the coffeehouse, waiting – Charlie and me. We sent everybody else home – including Kenny, sworn on pain of having his liver on tomorrow’s menu not to tell your mother anything. The phone didn’t ring. So then we rang SOF and got yanked around by some little sheepwit on the switchboard, and that’s when I came over†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I’m sorry,† I said. The coffeehouse was dark and the square silent and empty, although there was some kind of distantly audible fuss going on somewhere it was easy enough to guess was a block or two over and down a recently defiled alley. We went round the side of the coffeehouse and I could see a light on in the office. Charlie, drinking coffee and pacing. He had his arms wrapped around me so tight I couldn’t breathe almost before I was inside. Charlie is such a mild little guy, most of the time. â€Å"I’m okay,† I said. Charlie gave a deep, shuddering sigh, and I remembered him backing me up with Mr. Responsible Media. I also remembered all the time he’d spent in years past, encouraging my mundane interest in learning to make a mayonnaise that didn’t crack, how much garlic went into Charlie’s famous hash, my early experiments with what turned out to be the ancestors of Bitter Chocolate Death et al. You read "Sunshine Chapter 9" in category "Essay examples" There was no magic about Charlie. Nor about most restaurants, come to that. Human customers tend to be a little twitchy about anything more magical than a waitress who could keep coffee hot. I wondered about my mother’s motive in applying for a job as a waitress all those years ago: I was already making peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies while we were still living with my dad (if there was a grown-up to turn the oven on for me), and if she was looking for nice safe outletsâ⠂¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Tonight. It’s – it’s connected with what happened – when I was gone those two days.† â€Å"I was afraid of that,† said Charlie. â€Å"Jesse wants me to try to find the place it all happened. Out at the lake. They’re taking me out there tomorrow.† â€Å"Oh bloody hell,† said Mel. â€Å"It’s been two months. They don’t have to go tomorrow.† I shrugged. â€Å"Might as well. I have the afternoon off.† â€Å"The lake,† said Charlie thoughtfully. I’d told everyone I’d driven out to the lake. I hadn’t said that what happened afterward also happened at the lake. Till tonight my official memory had ended sitting on the porch of the old cabin. â€Å"Yes. I was – er – held – at a house on the lake. They want me to try to find it.† Either Mel or Charlie could have said, when did you remember this? What else do you remember? Why did you tell SOF when you haven’t told us? Neither of them did. Mel put his arm around me. â€Å"Oh, gods and frigging angels,† he said. â€Å"Be careful,† said Charlie. One of the (few) advantages to getting to work at four-thirty a.m. is that you can be pretty sure of finding a parking space. When I come in later I’m not always so lucky. I’d had to park the Wreck in a garage lot that evening, and it was locked at eleven. Mel took me home. When we got there and he turned the bike off the silence pressed against me. The sudden quiet is almost always loud when you’ve been on a motorcycle and got somewhere and stopped and turned it off, but this was different. Mel didn’t say any more about the night’s events. He didn’t say any more about SOF taking me out to the lake the next day. I could see him wanting to†¦but as I’ve said before, one of the reasons Mel and I were still seeing each other after four years was because we could not talk about things sometimes. This included that we both knew when to shut up. It was blissful, spending time with someone who would leave you alone. I loved him for it. And I was happy to repay in kind. It had never occurred to me that leaving someone alone could harden into a habit that could become a barrier. It had never occurred to me before now. I had to repress the desire that he not shut up this time. I had to repress the desire to ask him if I could talk to him. But what could I have said? We stood there in the darkness for a minute or two. He was rubbing another of his tattoos, the sand wheel, on the back of his left hand. Then he came with me to check that I still had Kenny’s bicycle and the tires weren’t flat. Then he kissed me and left. â€Å"See you tomorrow,† is all he said. I reached over my head to touch the wards strung along the edge of the porch roof on my way indoors. These were all Yolande’s. Her wards were especially good and I’d often thought of asking her where she got them, but you didn’t really ask Yolande questions. I had noticed that her niece, when she was visiting, didn’t seem to ask questions either, beyond, â€Å"I’m taking the girls downtown, can I bring you anything?† And the answer would probably be â€Å"No, thank you, dear.† I wiggled my fingers down the edges of my pots of pansies on the porch steps, to check that the wards I’d buried there were still there, and that a ping against my fingers meant they were still working. I straightened the medallion over my downstairs door and lifted the â€Å"go away† mat in front of the one at the top of the stairs to check that the warding built into the lay of the planks of the floor hadn’t been hacked out by creature or creatures unknown. I fluttered the charm paper that was wound round the railing of my balcony to make sure it was still live, blew on the frames of my windows for the faint ripple of response. I didn’t like charms, but I wasn’t naive enough not to have good basic wards, and I’d been a little more meticulous about upkeep in the last two months. Then I made myself a cup of chamomile tea to damp down the scotch and the cheese. I took off the bunny pajamas and put on one of my own nightgowns. The toilet paper had held; there wasn’t any blood on the SOF thing. I put my still-wet clothes in a sinkful of more soap and water. Tomorrow I would put them through a washing machine. I might throw them out anyway, or burn them. (I still hadn’t burned the cranberry-red dress. It lived at the back of my closet. I think I knew I wasn’t going to burn it after the night I dreamed that it was made of blood, not cloth, and I’d pulled it out of the closet that night, in the dark, and stroked and stroked the dry, silky, shining fabric, which was nothing like blood. Nothing like blood.) My sneakers would live. I had dozens of T-shirts and jeans if I decided I wanted to burn something but I wasn’t going to sacrifice a good pair of sneakers if I could help it. I pushed open the French doors and went out and sat on my little balcony. It was a clear, quiet night with a bright quarter moon. When Yolande had had mice in her kitchen I had set take-’em-alive traps and driven the results twenty miles away and released them in empty farmland. (Wards against wildlife are notoriously bad: hence the electric peanut-butter fence to keep the deer from eating Yo-lande’s roses. And a house ward successful against mice and squirrels would be almost the money-spinner that a charm to let suckers walk around in daylight would be.) I couldn’t kill anything larger than a housefly. I’d stopped putting spiders outdoors after I read somewhere that house spiders won’t survive. When I dusted, I left occupied cobwebs alone. I hadn’t drawn blood in anger since the seventh-grade playground wars. I don’t eat meat. I’m too squeamish. It all looks like dead animals to me. On the days I cover in the main kitchen, the only hot food is vegetarian. Maybe my mother had successfully coerced and brainwashed her daughter into being a nice, human wimp. But I’d blown it. I’d blown it when I’d turned my knife into a key, because it was the only way to stay alive. Because – maybe only because I didn’t know any better – I wanted to stay alive. I looked down at my arms, at my hands cupping the tea mug, as if I would start growing scales or fur or warts – or turning blue – immediately. Most demon blood doesn’t make you big or strong or blue though, whether it comes with magic ability or not. A lot of it makes you weaker or stupider. Or crazier. I’d been doing okay as my mother’s daughter. My life wasn’t perfect, but whose was? Yes, I’d always despised myself for being a coward. A wuss. So? There are worse things. And then I had to drive out to the lake one night. They’d started it. And I may be a wuss, but I’ve never liked bullies. Maybe, if it was all about to go horribly wrong, I could at least go out with a bang. How cute and sweet and winsome and philosophically high-minded, that I didn’t like bullies, that I wanted to go out with a bang. I was still a coward, I had a master vampire and his gang on my tail, I was all alone, and I was way out of my league. â€Å"Oh, Constantine,† I whispered into the darkness. â€Å"What do I do now?† I slept the moment my head touched the pillow, in spite of everything that had happened. It was very late for me though, and I’d had two generous shots of scotch. The alarm went off about three hours later. I woke strangely easily and peacefully. I can get by on six and a half hours, just, and only if I’m feeling lively generally, which I hadn’t been lately. Three hours’ sleep doesn’t cut it under any conditions. But I sat up and stretched and didn’t feel too bad. And I had the oddest sensation†¦as if someone had been in my bedroom with me. Given the events of the night before, this should have been panic stations, but it wasn’t. It was a reassuring feeling, as if someone had been guarding me in my sleep. Get a grip, Sunshine. I had to get moving quickly however I was feeling, because it took so much longer to bicycle than to drive into town. But as it turned out, it didn’t. When I went round to the shed to fetch Kenny’s bike there was a car parked at the edge of the road, engine off, but SOF spotlight on, illuminating the SOF insignia on the door, and the face of the man leaning against the hood. Pat. † ‘Morning,† he said. â€Å"We are not going to the lake at this hour,† I said, half scandalized and half disbelieving. â€Å"I am going to make cinnamon rolls and oatmeal bread and brownies and Butter Bombs, and you can call out the cavalry at about ten.† â€Å"Sheer. I know you’re going in to make cinnamon rolls. You want to be setting some aside to bring with you later on. The only good Monday is a holiday Monday when Charlie’s is open. But we figured that Mel would bring you home last night which would leave you with only two unmotorized wheels this morning. And we don’t want you tired this afternoon.† Tired but alive would do, I thought. Dawn isn’t for another hour and a half, and if I’m the first person to stake a sucker with a table knife I could be the first person to get plucked off a bicycle†¦I had been thinking about this as I walked downstairs in the dark. Living alone has its advantages in terms of warding: your wards don’t get confused, nor do they blunt as fast as they will if there are several of you. A big family with a lot of friends will go through wards like the Seddons through popcorn on Monday nights. And unless you are so fabulously wealthy that you can spend millions on made-to-order wards, there are always going to be some holes in the barrier. Someone living alone who isn’t constantly having different people over can probably build up a pretty good, solid, home ward system. That’s probably. But wards are unstable at best, and they tend to blow up or fall over or go rogue or get their attributes crossed and morph into something else, almost certainly something you don’t want, pretty easily, and generally speaking the more powerful they are the more likely they are to go nuts. And wards are the sober end of the charm family. Most of the rest of them are a lot worse. One of the most dependable ways to make a ward kali on you is to expect it to travel. All charms, including wards, that you wear next to your skin, are different – hence the perennial, if problematic, popularity of tattoos – but wards you hang at a distance have to stay put. Consequently the eternally vexed question of warding your means of transportation. And while it’s true that the chauffeur-driven limos of the global council are almost more ward than limo, it’s also true that no council member travels anywhere without a human bodyguard stiff with technology, including to the corner store for a newspaper. If there are any global council members that live in neighborhoods with corner stores, which there probably aren’t. The irony is that the best transport ward for us ordinary schlemiels remains the confusing fact of motion itself. (There’s a crucial maintenance speed of a little under ten mph. This is a brisk pedal on your bicycle and sensible joggers, if this isn’t a contradiction in terms, get their exercise during the day. In the horse era a harness or riding horse that couldn’t maintain a nine-mph clip for a useful distance was shot. This made horses short-lived and expensive and most people stayed at home after dark: but at least travel was possible.) The protection of movement is nothing like perfect, which is why they keep trying to create transport wards, but it exists – and thank the gods and angels for it, since without it I don’t think there would be many sane humans left. There’s only so much constant relentless constrictive dread you can live with. Anyway I knew to be grateful for it, but it had never made much sense, at least not till a vampir e had told me it is not the distance that is crucial, but the uniformity and given me an inkling. But what kind of homogeneity is it, about sucker senses? Had the goblin giggler’s last sight of the human who offed him been transmitted anywhere? I’d felt relatively safe inside my apartment. I had good wards, and you can kind of feel the presence of the screen they put up, that it’s there, and there aren’t any big drafts coming through it. And you feel it when you come out from behind it too. But I’d never been able to bear a charm against my skin. They make me a total space cadet. I’d agreed to the key ring loop to make Mom feel good, and that was pushing it. Poor thing. It had probably been grateful to be drowned in the shower, last night, if it had survived the little incident shortly before. I said to Pat unkindly, â€Å"You might have thought of that last night.† He grinned, and opened the passenger door. I got in. â€Å"Why did you draw the short straw?† † ‘Cause I’m best at going without sleep. My demon blood has its uses.† There were at least two classes of demons who didn’t sleep at all. My favorite is the Hildy demon, who gets all the sleep it needs during the blinking of its eyes. You’d think this would seriously interrupt any train of thought that takes longer to pursue than the time between one eye blink and another, but not to a Hildy. (They’re called Hildies after Brunhilde, who slept for a very long time surrounded by fire. Hildies also breathe fire when they’re peeved, although they’re even-tempered as demons go.) Hildies aren’t blue though. I certainly couldn’t get all the sleep I needed by blinking my eyes. I stayed in the bakery all morning. Charlie and Mel kept everyone who didn’t belong behind the counter on the far side, Mom answered more phone calls than usual and said â€Å"she has nothing to say† a lot. With the bakery door open I could sometimes hear conversations in the office. Mom is good at hanging up on people. It’s one of her great assets as a small-business manager. (She and Consuela had lately been working up a good cop/bad cop routine that was a joy to eavesdrop on.) I had no idea what Charlie had told her about the events of the night before. I didn’t want to know. But he must have told her something. Miraculously, she left me alone, although a particularly lurid new charm was waiting for me on my apron hook that morning. I left it there, glowering to itself. I like orange, but not in over-decorated feather whammies. It wasn’t as bad as it might have been by a long shot. I felt some grudging admiration for SOF. Nobody tried to follow me when I left the coffeehouse at ten, or at least nobody but some of the overweight so-called wildlife that hangs around the pedestrian precinct and tries to cadge handouts from the weak-willed. They know a white bakery bag when they see one, and I was carrying a dozen cinnamon rolls. I swear some of our sparrows are too fat to fly, but the feral cats are too fat to catch them. And the squirrels should have had teeny-weeny skateboards to keep their bellies off the ground. One of the recent rumors about Mrs. Bialosky’s neighborhood activities was that she ran a commando unit that protected us from some of Old Town’s larger, more threatening wildlife, the rats and foxes and mutant deer that never shed their short but pointy horns. If Charlie’s had had to keep all of that lot too fat to intimidate anybody we’d have gone out of business. It was just Jesse and Pat today. They put me in the front seat – of an unmarked car – with Pat alone in the back. Jesse ate four cinnamon rolls and Pat ate five. I didn’t think this was humanly possible – but then maybe it wasn’t. I ate one. I’d had breakfast already. Twice. Ten o’clock is a long time from four in the morning. We drove first to the old cabin. I was still clinging to that mysterious sense of someone keeping a protective eye on me, but I was beginning to feel a little rocky nonetheless. Maybe I should have brought the feather whammy instead of hiding it under my apron when I left. As the weed-pocked gravel of what had once been a driveway crunched under my feet, I put my hand in my pocket and closed it round my little knife. I had been not remembering what had happened two months ago so emphatically that the edges of my real memory had become a little indistinct. Standing on the ground where it had begun brought it horribly back. I looked at the porch, where I hadn’t heard them coming from. I looked at the place where my car had no longer been, two days later. I went down to the marshy reach near the shore, where the stream had run fifteen years ago. It didn’t look like anybody had been there playing in the mud recently. I went back to the cabin. â€Å"Yeah,† Pat was saying. â€Å"But it’s been a long time, and they haven’t been back,† said Jesse. They were just standing there, no gizmos in sight, no headsets, no wires, no portable com screens with flashing lights making beeping noises. I guessed it wasn’t technology that was helping them draw their conclusions. What a good thing Pat hadn’t walked on my porch this morning, and up my stairs and knocked on my door and, maybe, walked into the front room where the same, if savagely stain-removed, sofa still stood, and the little square of carpet beside it, and maybe even the handle of the fridge door, the same handle that had been there ready to expose a carton of milk behind it if someone pulled on it, two months ago. What a good thing that good manners dictate that you don’t idly cross people’s probable outer ward circle and knock on their doors unless invited. Carthaginian hell. We got back in the car and drove on the way we’d been going, north. There was a bad spot almost at once. I picked it up first, or anyway I was the one who said, â€Å"Hey. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go any farther this way.† â€Å"Roll up your windows,† said Jesse. He hit a couple of buttons on the very peculiar dashboard I was only now noticing and suddenly there was something like heavy body armor enclosing me, oppressive as chain mail and breastplate and a full-face helm, plume and lady’s silk favor optional. I could almost smell the metal polish. â€Å"Ugh,† I said. â€Å"Don’t knock it, it works,† said Jesse. Our voices echoed peculiarly. We drove very slowly for about a minute and then a red light on the dashboard blinked and there was a manic chirping like a parakeet on speed. â€Å"Right. We’re clear.† He hit the same buttons. The invisible armor went away. â€Å"Spartan, isn’t it?† said Pat. â€Å"No,† I said. We drove through two more bad spots like that and I hated the body armor program worse each time. It made me feel trapped. It made me feel as if when I woke up again I’d be sitting at the edge of a bonfire with a lot of vampires on the other side. It was a long drive. Thirty miles or so. I remembered. Then we reached a really bad spot. Jesse hit his buttons again but this time it really was like being trapped – held down while Things slid through the intangible gaps between the incorporeal links, reached out long taloned fingers and grabbed me†¦ Big. Huge space. Indoors; ceiling up there somewhere. Old factory. Scaffolding where the workers had once tended the machines. No windows. Enormous square ventilator shafts, vast parasitic humps of silent machinery, contortions of piping like the Worm Ouroboros in its death throes†¦ And eyes. Eyes. Staring. Their gaze like flung acid. No color. What color is evil?†¦ When I came to, I was screaming. I stopped. Even the guys looked shaken. I could see the scuff marks in the road ahead of us, where Jesse had slammed us into reverse. Good thing the driver hadn’t gone under. I put my hands over my mouth. â€Å"Sorry,† I said. â€Å"Nah,† said Pat. â€Å"If you hadn’t been screaming, I’d’ve had to do it.† â€Å"What now?† said Jesse. They both looked at me. â€Å"Maybe this is the really big bad spot behind the house,† I said. â€Å"I told you there was one. We’re pretty well north of the lake now, aren’t we? Seems like we’ve come far enough, but I keep losing the lake behind the trees.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Jesse. â€Å"The road’s well back here, because this is where the big estates are. Were.† â€Å"Okay,† I said. â€Å"So we walk.† I opened the car door and clambered stiffly out. This was harder than it would have been if I hadn’t been squashed by SOF technology four times, especially the last time when it didn’t work. I patted my stomach as if checking to make sure I was still there. I seemed to be. The cut on my breast was itching like crazy: the sort of variable itch that reinforces its performance by regular nerve-fraying jabs of pain. How to cite Sunshine Chapter 9, Essay examples