Descriptive Essay About Reefing - 1615 Words

Twenty-five at the time, just married, having had my first son I’m not sure what possessed me to jump head first into the most expensive hobby conceivable, but, that’s exactly what I did. The reefing hobby is both challenging, and extremely rewarding. There are many daily, weekly, monthly, and even annual tasks that must be done to maintain a thriving system. In this essay I hope to give an understanding of what it’s like to keep a piece of God’s majestic ocean in my home. My current system is 300 gallons in total water volume. It towers in the corner of my living room, dwarfing everything in its presence. The wall mounted TV is but a small fraction the size of the tank. A faint hum not unlike that of a refrigerator can be heard from the†¦show more content†¦The arch is riddled with corals, it’s crowned with a particularly large SPS colony at least a foot tall known as a green slimmer. It was given this name because when removed from the water it will excrete a thick, snot like mucus to protect its delicate polyps. Polyps are the individual animals that make up the coral colony. They are essentially a round animal with a mouth in the middle and a ring of tentacles around the mouth. The tentacles possess stinging cells (called nematocysts) and can be used to sting, paralyze, and catch prey. They also share a communal skeleton that is made up of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The calcium carbonate is collected from the water column, and in a closed system (like a fish tank) this must be dosed daily. Proper levels of calcium and alkalinity are essential for overall health of the reef. The left side of the aquascape is separated from the right by a deep chasm, or crevasse if you prefer, in the rockwork. It’s dominated by SPS corals. Although their branch structure and overall growth patterns vary, they essentially look like trees. They come in a variety of bright colors, ranging from crimson to deep blue. They are often more than one color, for instance some have a green base that turns to a vivid blue towards the tips. If you were to touch one it would have the texture, and feel of sharp jagged rock. Small acropora crabs and various other tiny crustaceans inhabit their branches. This is where many small prey

Tralfamadore An Escape To Sanity - 1879 Words

Kurt Vonnegut is considered by many to be the greatest American author of the twentieth century. He was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11, 1922 to Kurt Vonnegut, Sr. and Edith Vonnegut. His father was a prominent architect in Indianapolis, and provided well for his three children until the Great Depression hit in 1929. The Depression put Kurt, Sr. out of work, and harmed his spirits in such a way that he essentially gave up on life. His wife, Edith, ultimately resorted to alcoholism and prescription drug abuse as an escape from the troubling times the Depression brought upon the Vonnegut household. These habits eventually resulted in her death in 1944. At age 20, Kurt, Jr. was deployed in Germany to serve during the Second World†¦show more content†¦Time travel is Billy’s way of dealing with the stress brought upon him by his traumatic wartime experience. Billy does not have an adequate amount of time to accept his experience for what is was before he is th rown back into the real world. Billy quickly transitions from wartime life back to working a desk job, having a love life, a family and also learning to interact with people on a personal level. This is psychologically exhausting to Billy, as he has â€Å"never fully left World War II† (Vees-Gulani 177). Vonnegut makes this apparent as he cites Billy as being â€Å"simultaneously on foot in Germany in 1944 and riding his Cadillac in 1967† (Vonnegut 58). Though Billy Pilgrim shows many symptoms of PTSD, his diagnosis probably goes deeper than that. This diagnosis goes not only for Billy but also, in many ways, for Vonnegut himself. Vonnegut created Pilgrim as a fictional representation of himself. Both Pilgrim and Vonnegut were born in 1922, had fathers who hunted, are tall; both were captured in Luxembourg during the Battle of the Bulge, were sent to Dresden, where they stayed in Schlachthoffunf, worked in a plant that manufactured malt-syrup for pregnant women; both s urvived the Dresden holocaust and helped dig up the corpses afterwards; both were discharged in 1945, returned to college, and were married soon afterwards. (Harris NP) While Tralfamadorian time travel isShow MoreRelatedSlaughterhouse Five Comparison1717 Words   |  7 Pagesthe sanity of Billy is questioned by numerous characters, ranging from his family to other military personnel. Another comparison would be the abnormal structure of the story. This serves to reflect the chaos and the preposterousness that war brings to society, which matches the overlapping theme of sources. The recurrence of absurd events and the abnormal structure of the novel demonstrates how war has affected Billy and how it has ultimately lead to his lost hope in humanity and his sanity. Read MoreThe Madness of War1458 Words   |  6 Pagesface of overwhelming and inexplicable cruelty and violence (â€Å"Slaughterhouse-Five† 263). Billys condition and his time travels could be the delusions of an emotionally unstable man, and a symbol of the shock, confusion, dislocation, and desire for escape that result from the horrible experiences of war (Cox 270). The emot ional separation that Billy experiences is a direct result of the awfulness he faces in war. Billy encounters countless atrocities and absurdities in his life and his war experiencesRead MoreSlaughterhouse Five and Hamlet1701 Words   |  7 Pagesother words his insanity, much like Hamlet’s. â€Å"We know how the world ends and it has nothing to do with Earth, except that it gets wiped out too† (01:26:20) this quote explains that he has seen the end of the world and that the aliens from planet Tralfamadore have told him why and how it happens. The bombing of Dresden is a significant event which makes Ibrahim 3 him insane. â€Å"I was there, I was there in Dresden† (7:5:13) this was said in the hospital bed when the crazy man beside

Postal Service Case Analysis Free Essays

Postal Service Case Analysis The United States Postal Service receives no tax dollars from the federal government for their operations. They are a self-supporting agency, using the revenue from the sales of postage and postage-related products to pay expenses. Each year the postal service delivers 212 billion pieces of mail to over 144 million homes, businesses and Post Office boxes in virtually every state, city and town in the country, including Puerto Rico, Guam, the American Virgin Islands and American Samoa. We will write a custom essay sample on Postal Service Case Analysis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Delivering this much mail, requires managing almost 800,000 employees and contractors, 38,000 facilities and 214,000 vehicles. Managing 214,000 vehicles to deliver an abundance of mail, it is no wonder that accidents happen but many can be avoided. According to www. usps. com, in 2005, the Postal Service incurred $49 million for traffic accidents and in 2006 reported 100,000 motor vehicle accidents. How can the United States Postal Service reduce the annual number of motor vehicle accidents thus saving money? The three options to address the issue of reducing the amount of motor vehicle accidents per year are as illustrated below. One option is to offer an accident-free incentive plan to drivers. Regardless of fault, if a driver remains accident-free during the course of a year, they will receive a bonus. The bonus amount will fluxuate each year depending on the dollar amount saved on accident reductions that year. So for example, if the Postal Service saves $10 million in 2007, the bonus amount would be a certain percentage of the $10 million. Another option is to offer annual driver training. Each year, drivers would have to attend a drivers training in-service in order to continue driving a motor vehicle for the Postal Service. The in-service would be a hands-on training session where the drivers would need to pass a road course. Lastly, the Postal Service can execute a more stringent driving record policy. Upon hire, the candidate would need to provide a certified driving record as a condition of employment. On an ongoing basis, the Postal Service would run annual driving record checks. If any new traffic violations appear, depending on the severity of the violation, the employee would be transferred to a position that does not require driving or their employment would be separated. The time it would take to implement the accident-free incentive option would be 6-12 months. The policy would need to be developed and approved, then an effective date would need to be determined, it could be the first of the year or the beginning of the fiscal year for the Postal Service. The cost and ease of implementation would be fairly straightforward, just the cost and resources utilized to develop the policy. The annual bonus payout wouldn’t be determined until the savings from the year is figured out. Once the savings is figured out, the bonus would be a percentage of that amount and of course, each year that amount would vary. Having an incentive for drivers to take the time and think about their actions while driving, could result in a high return on investment for the Postal Service. If traffic accidents decrease even the slightest bit, the cost savings could be hundreds of thousands of dollars. The time and cost to implement the annual drivers training option would be more lengthy and expensive. The Postal Service would need to locate a facility in each state to hold the driver training and hire qualified trainers. Providing more intensive driver training could also result in decreased traffic accidents for the Postal Service. The problem with this option is not only is it costly, employees may not take the training seriously. There have been many trainings that I have attended where employees tend to goof-off and not take it as seriously as they should. The last option regarding implementing driving record checks would be relatively inexpensive. Upon hire, the candidate would absorb the initial cost of obtaining their driving record but going forward on annual basis, the Postal Service would be responsible for the cost. A driving record costs around $10. 00 and with an estimated 214,000 drivers, the annual cost would be around $2,140,000. This option seems costly; however, if the traffic accidents decrease as a result of the checks, the amount of money saved would more than the Postal Service pays for the driving record checks. To conclude, the option I think would be best is the accident-free driver’s incentive plan. When a company offers an incentive to earn more money, employees seem to respond. Not only will employees take this option seriously, the Postal Service would see a dramatic decrease in traffic accidents. By putting the onus on employees and providing them a bonus opportunity they are more likely to make better decisions when driving. Source: www. usps. com OptionsCriteria 1Criteria 2Criteria 3Criteria 4 Time to implementCostEase of ImplementationReturn on Investment Accident-free incentive plan6-12 monthsVaries depending on cost savings on accidentsRelatively easy-policy development and researchPotentially high-money talks to employees Annual Driver TrainingMore lengthyExpensive-need to buy/rent land and/or building plus equipment, trainer, etc. DifficultPotentially low-employees may not take training as seriously More stringent driving record checksImmediate~$2-3 million per yearEasyUnknown-Could lose employees due to results of check How to cite Postal Service Case Analysis, Papers

Brazil The Gathering Millions Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Brazil The Gathering Millions Essay, Research Paper # 8220 ; Brazil, The Gathering Millions # 8221 ; Population growing is one of the most important planetary jobs presently faced by humanity. About a one-fourth of the universe # 8217 ; s population suffers from malnutrition, and over 10 million people dice of famishment each twelvemonth. This wretchedness is concentrated in the Third World states. Ninety per centum of the universe # 8217 ; s population growing until 2030 is projected to happen in the Third World states. ( Giddeons, 484 ) . The gruesome movie, # 8220 ; Brazil, The Gathering Millions # 8221 ; , illustrates the regulating factors of population forms: birthrate, mortality, and migration. Migration normally has the greatest impact on the population alteration in little geographic countries and where there is small or no natural addition from the surplus of births over deceases. Massive urban development is happening in Third World states. Ideally when we think of people # 8220 ; traveling # 8221 ; we think of people reacting to a life rhythm alteration such as matrimony or go forthing a parental place, nevertheless people of non-industrialized societies are drawn to metropoliss in the Third World either because their traditional systems of rural production have disintegrated or because the urban countries offer better occupation chances. We will write a custom essay sample on Brazil The Gathering Millions Essay Research Paper or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Migrants crowd into homesteaders zones on the peripheries of the metropolis. A major factor of the demographic conversion is the fact that the bulk of the population migrating is less than 15 old ages old. Even though ( throughout the passage ) there has been a bead in the mortality rate, the birth rate remains high. This combinatio N has produced a wholly different age construction in Brazil compared to more industrialised societies. In Brazil, 50 per centum of the population is less than 15 old ages old. The unbalanced age distribution adds to their societal and economic troubles. The disproportional figure of immature people is ground why the population will go on to turn even if the birth rate should fall. Birthrate remains high in Third World societies because traditional attitudes to household size have been maintained. Having big Numberss of kids is frequently still regarded as desirable, supplying a beginning of labour for the household. Within the group of adult females of generative ages, younger adult females have higher birth rates than older adult females therefore ; a female population with a significantly high proportion of immature adult females will bring forth more kids. Religion besides plays a function in the birthrate factor in the manner that the Catholic Church ( whose influence is particularly marked in South and Central America ) opposes the usage of contraceptive method. Not merely did this movie unfastened my eyes to the demographic passage procedure of the non- industrialised society, but I was besides made aware of the Western influence on the conditions of the Third World. Some of these factors deducing from Western influences are per se good, such as betterments in health care and hygiene ( one of the chief factors of the population addition ) . But others, such as dependance on international trade, have broken down traditional ways of life. If it continues at the present rate, universe population growing carries the hazard of planetary calamity.