The Farmers Almanac Essay Example for Free

The Farmers Almanac Essay Since the earliest memories in my grandparent’s farm in rural West Virginia, I have had a fascination for nature and our place in it. I remember with crystal clarity, the trip to the barn with my grandmother. She picked out a chicken, marched behind the barn and unceremoniously, without a warning, chopped off its head right before my eyes. As I screamed in terror watching the creature run headless and bleeding, my grandmother simply asked me to â€Å"hush and get some potatoes out of the basket from inside the barn. † As I moved toward the doorway, the chicken appeared to be running after me until it suddenly dropped dead in its last convulsion. That day on my grandparent’s farm was the first event of awareness I had of the harsh realities of life. I was three years old and inquisitive about everything on the farm. Although it was just a few miles from my own home, it felt as though one-stepped back in time when we visited, which we did frequently. With no running water, no indoor plumbing, no telephone and almost entire sustenance from the farm itself, it was a fantasyland. Although I had grown up in the 60’s and 70’s, it could have been the 30s due to our location in rural West Virginia. Life moved at a snail’s pace there. We were in greater touch with nature and the affinity with the earth was innate. Life was about learning to survive in a natural way. We never discussed politics, literature or history, at least not in a global sense. In my life, I have seen my father read just a single book The Farmers Almanac. As I was developing my own interest in literature, I recall asking him why The Almanac was the only book he read, and his response was simple and to the point, which was always his style. â€Å"Everything you need to know about everything important is in this book Kelly Lea†, he exclaimed with a gentle urgency. This has been a constant in my relationship with my father. â€Å"You think too much, it’s not that complicated. † Certainly, as I watch my children, I find myself thinking the same. I have learnt to utilize my hands and gain a sense of accomplishment from manual labor, from my father. Summers were spent building tree houses and working in the garden. Although I preferred working outdoors, my mother felt it was imperative that I learn to cook and develop my skills in home economics. My childhood could be taken right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We actually had a swimming hole and caught lightning bugs in a Kerr canning jar with holes punched through the top with a nail. Impromptu kickball games in the parking lot of the local lumberyard were infamous for heated debates followed by slow walks home along the railroad tracks for supper. Some of the enlightening lessons of life I learnt as a child were from my father. There were several years on and off when we suffered financial hardship. It was during one of those years that our county had record rains and flooding. We had little money to spend for unavoidable home improvements to secure us from the elements. My parents were worried about the integrity of our roof. In the neighborhood, some homes were being constructed on property that had belonged to my grandparents. As they grew older, the taxes had absentmindedly not been paid. It was auctioned off for a bargain price without prior notification, while my father was gathering the funds to pay off the debt. The workers had hastily left the building supplies outside, covered by a mere sheet of construction plastic. Several of my father’s acquaintances at work had â€Å"helped themselves† to the supplies and encouraged my father to do the same. Trying to even the score, his fellow factory workers felt the developer was only getting what was coming to him. One evening we drove by the site and my father parked the family truck and stared at the sight. My mother was frightened. She thought he was contemplating stealing from there. My father looked at her and said, â€Å"You know better, that’s not something I would do. I just wanted to see the land again before they chopped it up and got rid of our trees. † We got by without the supplies in a very leaky house but I remember feeling a sense of pride and comfort, with the knowledge that my father was a good and righteous man who would never compromise his values. Another defining moment transpired when I was a pre-teen. That incident has greatly affected my outlook on life, as I navigate my children through their natural world. I come from a family of hunters. All of the men as well as a few of the women, myself included, have had the experience of tracking wildlife on a blistery cold winter day. This is a ritual of passage for boys in particular. My brother had been hunting for several years and my father thought he had instilled in him a respect for the wildlife, the woods and his weapon. My brother was obsessed with hunting and shot a rabbit one day purely for the thrill of it. This was absolutely forbidden in our house. My father was a strong believer of living a needs-based life. He shot only what we would eat and this never included rabbits. After watching my brother skin the animal, my father boiled the carcass and forced my brother to consume every bite. To the best of my knowledge, my brother has never hunted for the sport of it, again. Whenever I hear a person protesting against hunting, I draw their attention to the ghastly practice of factory farming as opposed to hunting in the wilderness. My father’s philosophy of respect for nature as well as his intolerance of nature-abuse has remained a corner stone in my own life and hopefully, that of my children as well. Our neighbors were from Greece and Italy as well as Eastern Europe. They had come to work in the mines and factories as young men and women. My friends were often embarrassed by their cultural differences as compared to Americanized families. As a child I would listen to their grandparents speak their native tongue and delight in their sustained holiday traditions. I imagined what these distant countries would be like as I leafed through the family atlas that my mother had purchased at the grocery store with her philately books. As a young teen, I had begun asking questions regarding my family. An aunt and uncle had raised my mother and her siblings after they were abandoned by their father following their mother’s death. My mother has never recovered from the desertion. My father was raised by his violent, abusive, alcoholic parent. My victimized mother has never had a taste of alcohol out of fear of the addiction that claimed an older brother’s life. My parents were teenagers when they had met. After a brief period of courtship, they had married. They had vowed to become each other’s family and committed to not letting the ghosts of their past haunt their future. Unfortunately, this is not something one can absolutely control. My mother has suffered from depression for years, yet she refuses to seek help. She has spent so much of her life reflecting on her past. Both my parents had stopped growing as individuals when they found one another. Their knowledge is limited to what is necessary to sustain them as they have for decades. Fortunately, I knew my grandparents as different people and I adored my now sober, ‘Born Again’ Christian grandfather. I â€Å"grew up† in the church, with him by my side. Mine was an idyllic childhood, completely ignorant of the fact that we were poor. I had everything I wanted and was gifted with a vivid imagination, a true blessing for a child of limited means. It was not until high school that life changed. I have found in my many years of self-discovery, that at the age of 17 my life had taken a major turn. The fallout of which, I am still recovering from. I was smart, pretty and outgoing, the Trifecta for small town teenage girls. With a blue-collar worker father and a housewife mother, I suddenly realized this too would be my fate. My college counselor told me that I really didn’t need to go to college; cute girls usually wasted their time in higher education because we normally just got married. It was at this time that I began an intimate relationship with a teacher and coach in my high school. After several months, it ended and I was sent into a downward spin that, I believe, had drastically changed my life. I now understood my mother’s abandonment issues. I nearly failed out of school, unable to cope with the pressure. I realize now that I was suffering from major depression for years without any sort of treatment. I spent my twenties trying to duplicate my relationship. I had outgrown my parents by now and felt the only way to continue living was to stop trying to duplicate what I envisioned to be my life story and start another one. I moved to Europe after being spotted by a modeling scout and started a career in the most glamorous and destructive environment a young woman could be exposed to in the 1980’s. Finally, I stopped thinking about my lover of five years past. Determined to change my attitude, I delved into the glamorous world of travel and adventure. I seldom stayed anywhere longer than a few months. My calendar was booked with exciting trips to some of the worlds most exotic and intoxicating locations. However, my world came to a crashing halt when I was brutally attacked on a first date by a man I had just met in Italy. My experience of the world had not prepared me for such an assault to my psyche. The physical wounds were quick to heal but I became fearful and uncomfortable in a world that I had previously relished. I now know that I had become clinically depressed following the attack. Although I continued to work and travel, my focus had changed. I wanted a family, my own family, very badly. Perhaps it is because I had been â€Å"groomed† and expected to follow that path for my entire life or perhaps I was trying to find love that would heal my wounds of abandonment and assault. Whatever may be the case, I met the man that would most influence my life, in 1987. A year later, we got married. Sometimes change is slow and passive, while at other times it is aggressive and shocking. My move to California and into the world of my new husband and his family was cold and judgmental. By then, I was expecting our first child. As previously mentioned, I was raised as a Protestant and although I had not attended services regularly, my faith was still very much a part of my identity. Soon I was expected to convert to Judaism, and raise our family in a culture which I had no experience or identification with. My husband’s domineering nature and narcissism alienated my old friends and soon we were socializing only with those of the Jewish faith and in a certain economic bracket. My previous life was eclectic, colorful and inclusive. As the years passed, I felt my authentic self diminish and take on the role of a Jewish doctor’s wife from Beverly Hills. My soul felt suffocated and isolated. I had all of the material wealth and yet, I felt deprived. I compared my husband to a middle schooler wanting to sit at the popular table and willing to compromise principles and values for any glimpse into the world of the Hollywood elite. The people we called friends were ruthless and shallow and I isolated myself more as the years passed. Occasionally, there was a bankruptcy or divorce and the vultures would descend on the poor soul that was unlucky enough to ________. My husband would ridicule me saying I only had children so I would have someone to play with. Children are honest and open and show unconditional love. Something I was starving for from my husband. Few things are more delicate than society. The West Los Angeles elite were accustomed to disposing off people like a previous year’s handbag and the choice was easy. To whom they shall be loyal depends directly on who they could most likely benefit from. My decision to finally divorce was excruciating because I was now the mother of three. I was really the only parent my children knew. My husband’s work and social calendar spared him little time to be a hands-on parent. My older son, 11 years old at the time, suffers from learning disabilities and raising him as his mother, teacher, and therapist, among other things, required my full attention. I knew the children would suffer as a consequence of what my husband considered a betrayal. The truth is that, for the first time in over 12 years, I was not betraying myself. The price I have paid is high. Due to a pre-nuptial agreement, I was nearly bankrupt after paying the attorney fees and have watched my children traverse from a life of wealth and privilege with their father to a modest lifestyle when with me in a shared custody arrangement. His, my ex-husband’s, vow to drive me to the streets had nearly materialized. A consistently litigious divorce had buried me underneath a wall of debt. Every person I knew through my husband has turned his/ her back on me, which has proved to be a gift. I have rekindled old relationships that have enriched and fortified me. Over the several years since my divorce, I have watched with pride and exuberance, as my children have met and conquered their own challenges. Divorce is ugly and very painful but I have forced myself and my children to not let it define their identity. I have gained tremendous perspective and wisdom as a result of my relationships and parenting three children, particularly my special-needs son. I have emotionally and physically returned to that place I loved as a child. To feed my curiosity of nature and travel, I spend my time diving, kayaking, traveling†¦ and discovering new adventures with my new husband who shares these same traits.

Free Essay on Homers Odyssey: Hospitality :: Homer Odyssey Essays

Hospitality in Homer's Odyssey      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hospitality: Greek philoxenia; literally â€Å"love of strangers.†Ã‚   Homer might have had such a definition in mind when he introduced the theme of hospitality to his epic poem the Odyssey.   A multitude of reasons for the prominent position this theme plays, both in the Odyssey and perhaps in Homer’s own society, are hinted at in the introductory books, often referred to as the Telemachy.   Just two of these, namely the hunger for news and the belief in divinity, are illustrated by the words and actions of the hosts Telemakhos and Nestor.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first words the reader hears from young Telemakhos are those of greeting to an unknown visitor.   Seating the stranger in an elaborate throne to one side, providing finely worked implements, and acquiring generous portions of food and drink, Telemakhos displays the very soul of hospitality.   Why?   The poet states in Book 1, line 167 â€Å"†¦he wished privacy to ask for news/about his father, gone for years.†Ã‚   The island of Ithaka and indeed the whole of Greece were composed of isolated pockets of civilization.   Travel on the unpredictable sea and over the mainland’s mountainous terrain was no easy feat;   therefore news of the world by any means, even at the mouth of strangers, was welcomed and well-rewarded with hospitality.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nestor’s case is somewhat more entertaining.   Arriving amidst a sacrificial feast to the god Posidon, Telemakhos and Athena-as-Mentor are greeted by a crowd of celebrants and invited by one son of Nestor to recline in comfort close to the lord himself, honored further by being given the opportunity to make libations to the sea god from a precious golden cup.   Did Nestor believe these two were emissaries of or one even the great earth shaker himself?   Probably not, but one can never be too certain in a society in which Gods are purported to walk among men.   Greek culture of the time relied heavily on divination and searched constantly for omens as seen in the repeated motif of â€Å"bird signs.†Ã‚   The auspicious arrival of the pair likely suggested something of importance to the aged lord.   As it happens, Poseidon was â€Å"far off among the sunburnt races† being â€Å"regaled by smoke of thighbones burning† at the mome nt and Nestor had to make due with a disguised, grey-eyed goddess of wisdom and war (Book 1, lines 36 and 39).   Perhaps such cases of visiting deities were not as common in Homer’s Ionian Asia-Monor;   however, there are numerous tales of prominent dignitaries, often viewed with god-like awe, traveling incognito.

Best Financial Practices

Also, the organization's mindset is directed towards the future with an awareness of the hanging trends, market needs, technological advancements, and to cope and to operate within the changing environment (Herkimer, Jar. , 1988). Budgeting, expressed In dollar terms, involves detailed plans. There are several types of budgets that may dictate the organization's mission and structure and managerial preferences. They are: 1) Statistics Budget; 2) Expense Budget; 3) Operating Budget; and 4) Cash Budget.In addition to budget decisions, there Is timing. Healthcare services organizations should consider two types: 1) Conventional verses Zero-Based Budgets and 2) Top-down versus Bottom-up Budgets. Planning and budgeting are Important managerial activities. It allows health services managers to plan for and set expectations for the future, assess Flanagan performance on a timely basis, and ensure that operations are carried out In a manner consistent with expectations (Sheepskin, 2008).With out planning and budgeting, the business will be disorganized Pricing and Service Decisions In healthcare organizations, the managerial accounting department decides whether an established price for a particular service is profitable. Managers in a charge- based environment must set prices on the services that their organization offers. In addition, determine discounts for managed care plans or business coalitions. Pricing and service decisions affect a business's revenues and costs and determine viability in long term.Health services managers should have a better understanding of the pricing and service decisions they face, because they have the power to set prices. The healthcare providers may be price takers or price setters. When they are price takers, apply target costing, and when they are price setters, apply full cost pricing or marginal cost pricing. In making pricing and service decisions, managers should rely on managerial accounting and actuarial information.Pricing deci sions involve setting prices on services for which the provider is a price setter, and service decisions involve whether or not to offer a service when the price is set by the pay (the provider is a price taker) (Sheepskin, 2008). Without good pricing and service decisions, the business will lose profit and/ or lose customers. Ultimately, it can lead to business closure. Cost Allocation Cost allocation is a pricing process within the organization whereby managers allocate the costs of one department to other departments.There is no objective tankard established; therefore, a business must establish prices that would be set under market conditions. The purpose and goal for cost allocation is to assign all of the costs of an organization to the activities incurred (Sheepskin, 2008). Basically, cost allocation allows managers to make better decisions on cost control, on what services they provide, and how these services should be priced. The best results produced will come from manager s who perceive the cost allocation process to be accurate and fair, and the allocation process should promote cost reduction within heir department/organization.In the end, the managers will be held accountable for costs associated with services by their departments. Managers must know two important elements in cost allocation basics: cost pools and cost drivers. The more confidence that all managers have in its validity, the better the organization will function (Sheepskin, 2008). Without cost allocation, there will disorientation and chaos, because one department will have more cost allocated than the other. Time Value Analysis Time value analysis is the process of assigning appropriate values to cash flows.This s important part of healthcare financial management because it involves the valuation of future cash flows (Sheepskin, 2008). A timeline is the first step in time value analysis. Time lines illustrate and can help managers visualize cash flows analysis such as compounding, discounting, annuity, perpetuity, state rate, and periodic rate that managers must know so that financial decisions are made wisely. Without time value analysis, managers would not be able to appropriately assign values to cash flows, and it could lead to disorientation and financial ruin.Financial Risk and Required Return Unfortunately, there are risks and complications in businesses. In healthcare organizations, taking financial risks may mean investment in new hospital beds or a new managed care plan. A return that is earned less than the expected amount means the financial risk is greater. Managers in health care organizations should develop strategies to manage business and financial risk. One such strategy is to develop risk measures by using a standard of reference. This will allow for some comparison to another measure and a Judgment can be made.For an example, Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAMP) is the relationship between the market risk of a tock, as measured by its marke t beat, and its required rate of return (Sheepskin, 2008). A clear understanding of business and financial risk is essential if the health care organization wants to remain viable in the health care market. Without an understanding of the financial risk and required return, health care organizations can be blind to concepts that are failing and destined for financial ruin.They run a greater risk of losing profit. Reflection The various duties required by managers of healthcare organizations is complicated and multi- faceted. They must know so much in order to make the business run efficiently and successfully. They must understand a multitude of functions. Therefore, working with other experts, accountants, and managers from different departments is crucial in running a lucrative business. This includes planning, acquiring, and utilizing capital in the most efficient way possible.

Analysis Of The Documentary Inside Job Essay - 1472 Words

The documentary â€Å"Inside Job† offers its viewers with a thorough and thoughtful analysis of the 2008 financial crisis, which eventually led to the Great Recession that later cost the world ten trillion dollars and thirty million jobs. Almost all major economist as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agree that the recession is the worst global recession that has ever happened since the Great Depression of the 1930s. What caused the financial crisis to happen? The origin of the crisis, the film argues, can be traced back to the 1980s, when the process of deregulation was eagerly implemented under the Reagan Era. Prior to the emergence of Reaganomics, the financial industry was tightly regulated following the Great Depression. Most of the banks were local and were prohibited from speculating customers’ deposits (brought by the Glass-Steagall Act), while the investment banks were modest and private. However, everything changed after 1980, when Ronald Reagan became president and the U.S economy entered a thirty-year phase of deregulation. Financial institutions, which included commercial and investment banks then embarked on the process of maximizing profit by making risky investments with the depositors’ money. By the end of the decade, saving and loans companies went bankrupt, causing tax payers to lose more than one hundred billion dollars. However, the government did not implement any reform and deregulation continued to take place under the ClintonShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Documentary Inside Job 1576 Words   |  7 PagesThe documentary, â€Å"Inside Job† is divided in five sections in which it provides a detailed examination of the changes done in the government and the banks that were responsible for the generation of the global financial meltdown that took place in Fall of 2008. This crisis cause millions of jobs and home losses for many American citizens. As well, it caused a deep economic recession. The analysis of the causes of economic crisis of 2008 was a great realization for anyone that was affected, or notRead MoreAn Ethnography Of Wall Street986 Words   |  4 Pagesdiscussed in the documentary Inside Job, the males in corporations featured tended to be impulsive risk takers which can be related to the idea of â€Å"doing masculinity†. Using these sources, one is able to create a critique of the theory emancipation in accordance to corporate crime. Through the analysis of the documentary Inside Job and the article An Ethnography of Wall Street, it can be determined that corporations are gendered and are based around a sense of masculinity. Through the analysis of the articleRead MoreMAnagement 131254 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿ JAIME G. ASTOVEZA MWF FINANCE 6 6:00-7:00 PM REACTION PAPER M56 â€Å"Inside Job†   Ã¢â‚¬ Inside Job† provides a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalistsRead MoreThe Financial And Political Systems Have Always Played1226 Words   |  5 Pages2008, which costs â€Å"tens of millions of people their savings, their jobs, and their homes†. Interestingly, the root of the problem comes from the corruption of the financial industry and how the political figures respond to the crisis. This response paper corresponds to the documentary Inside Job, the movie that examined carefully the crisis of 2008. The major key points that we will analyze are: the main issue that the documentary is addressing; causes and implications of the 2008 crisis; roles ofRead MoreConspiracy Theories About The 9 / 111227 Words   |  5 Pagesinconsistencies involving several reports from both the investigation and government reports. As a result, groups were formed and documentaries were created. Examples of the documentaries created are Anatomy of a Collapse, 9/11 Commission Report, Loose Change, Pentagon Strike, and The 9/11 Conspiracies: Fact or Fiction. These documentaries include personal testimonies, analysis from both professional (experts in different fields) and nonprofessionals, and governmental documents. Architect and EngineersRead MoreWaste Land: All about Vik Muniz1040 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction The documentary â€Å"Waste Land† is about Vik Muniz, an artist known for his series of amazing and creative images made from sugar, chocolate syrup, pigment, dirt and peanut butter. He started using different materials from garbage for his art and through his art he tried to help the pickers of the largest landfills near Rio de Genaro. In this analysis I also implement French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s view about the society and culture. Jacques Lacan criticized the society and cultureRead MoreThe Inside Job, By Charles Ferguson Essay1583 Words   |  7 Pages In his documentary â€Å"The Inside Job†, Academy-Award winning filmmaker Charles Ferguson attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the financial crisis of 2008. In creation of the documentary, Ferguson performed extensive research on the underlying causes of a â€Å"global financial disaster† which many claim could have easily been avoided. The documentary provides interviews with financ ial insiders and advisers, many in ways that portray the wealthy bankers and executives on Wall Street, and thoseRead MoreRepercussions of the Global Economic Crisis: Analysis of Inside Job1873 Words   |  7 Pagesthe crisis. The film industry is probably the most relevant example in this sense, with some notable crisis inspired films including Inside Job (2010), Capitalism: A Love Story (2009), Up In the Air (2009), Collapse (2009), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) or Too Big to Fail, 2011 (Dietz, 2011). 2. Inside Job and social justice Inside Job is a 2010 documentary film directed by Charles Ferguson and narrated by Matt Damon, in which the focus falls on the effort to explain how the crisis wasRead MoreEating Disorders : A Well Known Secret817 Words   |  4 Pageseating disorders are highly recognized amongst the general public. From the numerous after school specials to the headlines on various gossip magazines accompanied by underweight starlets, the issues of eating disorders is a hard one to ignore. The documentary I chose to watch is one called Dying to Be Thin directed and produced by Larkin McPhee. This compelling picture focuses on eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia in relation to teenage girls and young women in the United States. Before watchingRead MoreAssisted Suicide Should Be Legal1130 Words   |  5 Pagesperson have the right to end their own life? That is the main debate behind assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is a very secret, but surprisingly available option for suffering people. The documentary The Suicide Plan focuses on the people who believe assisted suicide should be legal. The documentary takes us inside the hidden world of assisted suicide, as seen through the eyes of the people considering it. Assisted suicide is only legal for terminally ill patients in Oregon and Washington. Individuals