Brotherly Love essays

Brotherly Love essays BROTHERLY LOVE The snow fell from the night sky like millions of little white stars that lost their hold on the firmament. Little Sammy always one to love the snow ignored it for the moment, showing uncharacteristic concern for his brother. "What's the matter Todd? You've been acting strange all day. I know something's on your mind or you wouldn't have that look on your face. You always look that way when something's wrong". "Oh, it's nothing important little brother, just problems with Sandra again last night. The date went fine and I actually liked the flick this time but later in the back seat I shot jungle juice everywhere before we could even get started. If this had been the first time I wouldn't be so angry but dammit," he accented his curse by punching his thigh, "it's been four times now". Sammy's brow creased for a moment in thought and then his eyes lit up. Being a bit too quick of a thinker, Sammy often stated the obvious and did so now. "Remember that scare you had when you were slamming saddles every night with Judith? She had to go out and buy a pregnancy test. Obviously you weren't having much trouble with her; I think it must have something to do with Sandra herself". Todd could almost see the light Sammy was basking in from the bulb above his head and offered the tyke a warm smile. Sammy was only twelve years old but sometimes he dissapointed Todd with his slow wits. He liked to encourage the boy though and did not mention that he had already come to this conclusion quite some time ago. Even Albert Einstein had trouble in his youth and he could see that Sammy had that kind of potential. In fact he was lucky his brother could think at all. Some kids were born retarded you know. "That's probably right kid but I just don't know what it could be about her that makes me miss the boat and jizz every time. I mean I got my lovebone all poised to slip inside that perfec...

Nissan Altima Electric Mode Hybrid Car Question

Nissan Altima Electric Mode Hybrid Car Question Hello Christine and Scott, I was very relieved to find your pages under About.com and find out I could email you. A few weeks ago we purchased a 2008 Nissan Altima Hybrid and recently we noticed something that has us worried: the gasoline engine kicks on a few seconds after starting the car and while the car is still in PARK. It stays on EV MODE for only the first few seconds. This is not what we expected! We thought (from research) that the high voltage battery would have total control at startup, low speeds, and when not moving (at a stop sign /red light). In other words, NO GASOLINE being used at these times. EV MODE the whole time! We also observed: 1. After we shift to D, DRIVE, it happens again every time the vehicle comes to a full stop while at a stop sign or red light and were not moving for more than a few seconds. 2. The engine stays on for at least a minute and then shuts off, EV MODE resumes and all is quiet until I start moving and accelerating. 3. This behavior seems to happen when the engine is cold, in other words, when it hasnt been used for hours (e.g. first drive in the morning) and keeps happening for about 1/2 hour or so during that first drive. After 1/2 hour or so, this stops happening. In other words, the EV MODE sign comes on and STAYS ON the whole time the car is stopped (idle) at a stop sign/red traffic light or while the car is in PARK but still on. This is what we thought would ALWAYS happen! 4. There is one exception to what I just said in item 3 above. Today for the first time, while at a red light, and after the car went into EV MODE, the engine kicked on even though I had just driven the car for at least one hour at high speeds on highway. Is something wrong with my car? I noticed on your website that you own your own 2008 Nissan Hybrid. Please tell me whats happening with yours. At first my husband thought that this was due to the cold weather (under 40 degrees). But today, the temperature was at 48 degrees and it still didnt stay in EV MODE at startup. Please help. I am afraid this might be a defective car. Dora PS. Yesterday I drove the car to the dealer and the salesperson that sold us the car told us that he has seen it happen before and that it is normal. He even had me drive another hybrid (2007) that had not been sold yet and sure enough, seconds after the car started, the EV MODE signal disappeared and the engine started EVEN THOUGH I was still in park mode. I dont know whether to believe him or not. I also dont find any info on manual to either identify this behavior as normal or not normal. Hey Dora, Thanks for writing - good questions. We understand your concerns. No worries – it sounds as if your 2008 Altima Hybrid is working perfectly normally. Your husband is right - it does have a lot to do with the cold temperatures, and there actually are several conditions that will make the engine on your car run, regardless of your input. They are: State of battery charge Temperature of the engine and hybrid components Ambient air temperature When you start the car, it will usually start the engine after just a few seconds, even if its been only a few hours since youve last driven it. The computer does this automatically to warm the engine, hybrid battery and associated hybrid components. Under mild weather conditions, the engine should shut off after just a few minutes, but when it’s colder out, it could take substantially longer- it also depends upon the amount of charge left in the hybrid battery. If it’s on the low side, the engine may continue running to charge the battery up to full capacity. Also, and this is especially true in the winter (and if you are using the heater and/or the defroster a lot), the engine will run longer. The engine has to run to warm the cabin- and the higher you have the heat set (and the longer it’s on), the more the engine will run. If you have electrically heated seats, using those can help minimize the need to heat the cabin air as much, thus minimizing the engine ru nning time also. Even if you are stopped for a minute or more at a traffic light and the car is in EV mode, if any of these conditions come up (low battery, car needing heat), the engine will start. Again, all of this is normal. You’ll notice as we get into spring and early summer (and you won’t be needing the heat/defroster as much), everything will come up to operating temperature quicker and the Altima Hybrid will stay in EV mode much longer. In the summertime when it gets really hot and you’re using the AC a lot, you could notice that it runs the engine more. The AC compressor runs off electricity, so you may find the engine kicks on more often to keep the battery charged. Just bear in mind that this is a hybrid electric car and is reliant upon the gasoline engine to keep the entire system up and running. Even though you can drive in electric mode, it’s still more of an assistant than a main power source. Your Altima uses Toyota’s Synergy Drive System- in our opinion, it is the best one available. As you get used to this car, we bet you’ll not only be able to maximize the EV mode driving (and fuel economy), but come to love it as well. For your reference, here’s an article we wrote about hybrids and cold temps, and some info about obtaining the best mileage from your hybrid via hypermiling. (Yep, Scott hypermiled in the Altima Hybrid- look what it can do. Thanks for visiting our site and writing- please feel free to let us know if you have any more questions. Best regards, Christine Scott

The use of Derivatives markets and products by a company Essay

The use of Derivatives markets and products by a company - Essay Example Derivatives serve as ideal substitutes for complex investment strategies at a minimal cost. (Haugh and Lo 2001) Firms using derivatives have lesser risk exposure than which do not use.(Hentschel and Kothari, 2001) The banks who have used interest rate derivatives have shown higher growth in lending than those banks who do not use derivatives. (Brewer, Minton, and Moser 2000) From Micro-economic point of view, derivatives in different forms have the following functions. Swaps: These are mostly OTC contracts having longer period than options and futures and serve the purpose of meeting needs single client of a Bank or any institution. They afford firms to have new investment opportunities to hedge against any risks in currency rates, interest rates, and credit default etc. It is the periodical payments that represent the risks undertaken by these contracts and not their notional value. Futures: These are capable of increasing market efficiency and liquidity. Depending on national and international laws, this type of derivatives display very high transparency and are used to hedge and speculate in financial and commodity segments. Options: These are similar to futures but do not reflect clearly the underlying assets and do not give unique empirical results unlike options. The notional value does not represent the risk undertaken but the premium paid for opening and closing signify the extent of investment. Repos: These are unique to inter-banking transactions between RCB and European inter-bank system and are meant for finance liquidity rather than to hedge or speculate. The use of derivatives by a company is proposed to be demonstrated in this paper by the example of Glaxo Smithkline (GSK), world's one of the largest pharmaceutical giants. GSK uses derivatives among various finance instruments to finance its operations and manage market risks. The company's derivatives are mainly foreign currency contracts, interest rates and currency swaps. It uses them for swapping of its borrowings and liquid assets into currencies needed for the entire group of the plc. It uses derivatives to guard against changes in foreign exchange currency rates and interest rates. The derivatives are not used for speculation but only used to hedge against its own risks stemming from targeted business operations. It neither issues nor holds derivative financial instruments for trading purposes as a company policy. They are initially shown at cost in the Balance Sheet and revalued subsequently on the relevant reporting dates at fair value. The ones that are treated as hedges are designated as fair value hedges, cash flow hedges or net investment hedges. Changes in fair value of derivatives designated as fair value hedges are shown in the income s tatement with corresponding entries in the hedged asset or liability. Those designated as cash flow hedges are reflected in equity to the extent they are effective. The remaining portion that is not effective is reflected in profit and loss account at the same time. Those deferred in equity are later taken to income statement when the hedged asset results in

Prejudice Vs. Tolerance, God And Religion, Violence And Creulty Themes Essay

Prejudice Vs. Tolerance, God And Religion, Violence And Creulty Themes in A Good Man is Hard to Find - Essay Example "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," the title selection of O'Connor's 1955 collection, has received a great deal of critical attention. The story serves as an excellent introduction to O'Connor's fiction because it contains all the elements that typify O'Connor's work: a combination of humor and horror, grotesque characters, and an opportunity for characters to accept God's grace. Here the author narrates the story in juxtaposition with predominantly three prime themes viz. Prejudice vs. tolerance, God and religion and over all violence in relation to cruelty. To deal with the story it should be remembered that first the circumstantial evidences prevailing at the point of time. The socio-economic context is the most important scenario to understand the narrative of the story. The Civil Rights Movement Fueled with the speeches of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and with the deaths of several African-American activists, the civil rights movement was at its peak in 1955. (Brinkmeyer, 18-22). The story unfolds in this context. O'Connor's story is told by a third-person narrator, but the focus is on the Grandmother's perspective of events. The first and very important theme of this story is the conflict between prejudices vs. tolerance. The Grandmother proclaims "Here this fellow that calls himself The Misfit is aloose from the Federal Pen and headed toward Florida and you read here what it says he did to these people. Just you read it. I wouldn't take my children in any direction with a criminal like that aloose in it. I couldn't answer to my conscience if I did." (O'Connor, 137) on a different occasion she is dressed up "in case of an accident, anyone seeing her dead on the highway would know at once that she was a lady" (O'Connor, 138) shows the conservative nature of the woman which is nothing but an extended ego of her prejudices. Time and again her exclamations and statements narrates that she is not color blind in any sense. But once confronted with Misfit she appears more open and avant-garde with dialogues like "you shouldn't call yourself The Misfit because I know you're a good man at heart. I can just look a t you and tell" (O'Connor, 147) or when she tells him "I just know you're a good man, you're not a bit common!" (O'Connor, 148) This is a nice gesture to overcome her prejudice and convey herself as an open minded lady who is in the heart a tolerant person by nature. The second theme of this story is the underlying faith in God and religion. The theological discussion at the end of the story, between the grandmother and The Misfit, has gotten a lot of attention from critics. Is she serious about him being her child Does he really believe in Jesus' miracles, since he believes there is no pleasure in life Religious beliefs, invoked only at a moment of dire need are nothing like the beliefs that people live by--or are sudden realizations the actual crux of religious belief There might not be any direct answers to these questions, but there is plenty of room for discussion. The "good man" of the title reverberates off the "good woman" of the last lines. The grandmother would have been a good woman, but during the earlier course of the story, the term "good man" is used quite loosely: the grandmother calls just about anyone she wants to please a "good man." She bemoans, with others, the lack of any real respect or goodness in the present day--people make this complaint all the time. (Gordon, 87) At the same time, she lies, and manipulates, and is generally a pain to everyone--she gets her entire family killed. At the same time, The Misfit does have some points: do punishments fit crimes What is "good" And what did Jesus really do, exactly Dialogues between Grandma and Misfit reveal in entirety the friction between them in terms if faith and a subdued inclination towards religion like "Pray, pray," the grandmother began, "pray, pray . . ." To this Misfit relies "I never was a bad boy that I

The Other Side Of The by Dale Phinn Essay Example for Free

The Other Side Of The by Dale Phinn Essay What does the extract The Other Side Of The Dale show about the things the inspector was looking for when visiting a school? An inspector looks at the teachers and the quality of their teaching. In The Other Side Of The Dale Phinn writes the following about one of the teachers mentioned. She smiled weakly and introduced her self as the teacher of the little ones. Her hand trembled These quotes show the teacher was nervous. Later in the piece he comments about her again. Despite her trembling and frequent blinking at the start of the lesson, she proved to be a good teacher. In this account the inspector notes they have two classrooms and uses one for the infants and one for the juniors. This also shows he is inspecting a Primary school. He also notes the size which is long square rooms with high beamed ceilings. The inspector also comments on the classrooms. He says that the classroom was neat and tidy. This shows they work in a tidy environment and it would make the inspector think they are a good school. He comments on the setting which he would look at when inspecting any school. It is on a cold bleak moor which was strange and desolate. Also it had a grey mist which hung low. The setting shows this is based in the North. This is emphasised by the pupils dialect; Miss twatter in then coops froz up last neight. It were as ard as Brimham rocks. Phinn is also told by a child, Joseph Richard Barclay, that the moor was the scene of a famous battle which took place over four hundred years ago, between the round heads and cavaliers. A lot of men perished on that moor. They say the ground was red with blood. This interest in local history is repeated later when another child, Emily, talks about an object her mum found. Its a sort of buckle. Its maybe from a belt or bag. Its all rusted up with a silver rose in the middle. Other old objects were also discovered but the most humorous is that of a dead cat These examples show the pupils enthusiasm for learning and engaging with their teacher. The inspector is impressed by the schools historical research and another example of this is when he is invited to have a look at the school log books which go back over a hundred years. The log book contains information on the past headmasters of the school. He takes particular interest into the recount of a past inspector. The subjects the headmaster used to teach compared. The interest in the past report is it is negative. ill-managed by a committee of languid, inept amateurs. Phinn comments on how harsh inspectors could be. But mainly the inspector would look at the quality of the pupils work. In The Other Side Of The Dale the write notes the work of the pupils which he sums up by saying I spent the remainder of the morning listening to the children read confidently and clearly and examined their written work. The structure of the poem relates to the theme which is about the school inspector. The structure of the piece is one of the inspector inspecting something then commenting on Joseph Barclay.

The link between the number of carbon atoms in a fuel with the amount of energy it releases :: GCSE Chemistry Coursework Investigation

The link between the number of carbon atoms in a fuel with the amount of energy it releases Alcohols generally belong to compounds whose molecules are based on chains of carbon atoms. They usually contain one oxygen atom, which is joined to a carbon atom by a singular bond. This makes them different to other compounds. The oxygen atom is joined to the hydrogen atom as well as the carbon atom, which makes the oxygen a part of a hydroxyl group. These atoms are generally a part of a hydrocarbon chain. These alcohols can take away water from the body, in which a hydrocarbon chain has replaced a hydrogen atom. Alcohols have a general structure of CnH2n+1OH The aim of this investigation is to see the link between the numbers of carbon atom in a fuel with the amount of energy it releases. There would be a change in the amount of energy given off that is getting greater, the more carbon atoms in the fuel, the more there are more bonds to be broken and formed, thus producing more energy. ‘In a chemical reaction, bonds in the reactant molecule are broken and new ones are formed. Atoms are rearranged. Energy has to be put in to break bonds, and energy is given out when bonds are formed.’ When the total energy put in is greater than the energy put out, the substance cools down (it is endothermic). This is expressed as Ά +ve (delta positive). If the total energy put in is less than the energy created, then the substance warms up (it is exothermic). This is expressed as Ά -ve (delta negative). I will investigate eight different alcohols using an alcohol or spirit burner, to measure the energy change during burning them by measuring the change in temperature of some water held by a container. This container must have a value of specific heat capacity so I could calculate heat transferred to it as well. Probably the most conductive container available for use in the classroom is a calorimeter. As well as not wasting energy in the heating of the container, I could also try to stop heat from escaping the top and edges of the container by covering it with a fitting lid. I will try to prevent the wind from blowing the flames to a different direction so all the windows must be shut. HYPOTHESIS More energy is released as more bonds are formed, below is the list of approximate energy required to break and form all bond involved in burning alcohols TYPE OF BOND ENERGY REQUIRED TO BREAK THE BOND (j)

Frostbite Chapter 6

Six I WAS FEELING PRETTY GOOD about life when I headed to my before-school practice the next day. The secret gathering last night had been super fun, and I felt proudly responsible for fighting the system and encouraging Dimitri to go with Tasha. Better still, I'd gotten my first crack at a silver stake yesterday and had proven I could handle one. High on myself, I couldn't wait to practice even more. Once I was dressed in my usual workout attire, I practically skipped down to the gym. But when I stuck my head inside the practice room from the day before, I found it dark and quiet. Flipping on the light, I peered around just in case Dimitri was conducting some kind of weird, covert training exercise. Nope. Empty. No staking today. â€Å"Shit,† I muttered. â€Å"He's not here.† I yelped and nearly jumped ten feet in the air. Turning around, I looked straight into my mother's narrowed brown eyes. â€Å"What are you doing here?† As soon as the words were out of my mouth, her appearance registered with me. A stretchy spandex shirt with short sleeves. Loose, drawstring workout pants similar to the ones I wore. â€Å"Shit,† I said again. â€Å"Watch your mouth,† she snapped. â€Å"You might behave like you have no manners, but at least try not to sound that way.† â€Å"Where's Dimitri?† â€Å"Guardian Belikov is in bed. He just got back a couple of hours ago and needed to sleep.† Another expletive was on my lips, and I bit it back. Of course Dimitri was asleep. He'd had to drive with Tasha to Missoula during daylight in order to be there during human shopping hours. He'd technically been up all of the Academy's night and had probably only just gotten back. Ugh. I wouldn't have been so quick to encourage him to help her if I'd known it'd result in this. â€Å"Well,† I said hastily. â€Å"I guess that means practice is canceled† â€Å"Be quiet and put these on.† She handed me some training mitts. They were similar to boxing gloves but not as thick and bulky. They shared the same purpose, however: to protect your hands and keep you from gouging your opponent with your nails. â€Å"We've been working on silver stakes,† I said sulkily shoving my hands into the mitts. â€Å"Well, today we're doing this. Come on.† Wishing I'd been hit by a bus on my walk from the dorm today, I followed her out toward the center of the gym. Her curly hair was pinned up to stay out of the way, revealing the back of her neck. The skin there was covered in tattoos. The top one was a serpentine line: the promise mark, given when guardians graduated from academies like St. Vladimir's and agreed to serve. Below that were the molnija marks awarded each time a guardian killed a Strigoi. They were shaped like the lightning bolts they took their name from. I couldn't gauge exact numbers, but let's just say it was a wonder my mom had any neck left to tattoo. She'd wielded a lot of death in her time. When she reached the spot she wanted, she turned toward me and adopted an attack stance. Half expecting her to jump me then and there, I quickly mirrored it. â€Å"What are we doing?† I asked. â€Å"Basic offensive and defensive parrying. Use the red lines.† â€Å"That's all?† I asked. She leapt toward me. I dodgedjust barelyand tripped over my own feet in the process. Hastily, I righted myself. â€Å"Well,† she said in a voice that almost sounded sarcastic. â€Å"As you seem so keen on reminding me, I haven't seen you in five years. I have no idea what you can do.† She moved on me again, and again I just barely kept within the lines in escaping her. That quickly became the pattern. She never really gave me the chance to go on the offensive. Or maybe I just didn't have the skills to take the offensive. I spent all my time defending myselfphysically, at least. Grudgingly, I had to acknowledge to myself that she was good. Really good. But I certainly wasn't going to tell her that. â€Å"So, what?† I asked. â€Å"This is your way of making up for maternal negligence?† â€Å"This is my way of making you get rid of that chip on your shoulder. You've had nothing but attitude for me since I arrived. You want to fight?† Her fist shot out and connected with my arm. â€Å"Then we'll fight. Point.† â€Å"Point,† I conceded, backing up to my side. â€Å"I don't want to fight. I've just been trying to talk to you.† â€Å"Mouthing off to me in class isn't what I'd really call talking. Point.† I grunted from the hit. When I'd first begun training with Dimitri, I'd complained that it wasn't fair for me to fight someone a foot taller than me. He'd pointed out that I'd fight plenty of Strigoi taller than me and that the old adage was true: size doesn't matter. Sometimes I thought he was giving me false hope, but judging from my mom's performance here, I was starting to believe him. I'd never actually fought anyone smaller than me. As one of the few girls in the novice classes, I accepted that I was almost always going to be shorter and slimmer than my opponents. But my mother was smaller still and clearly had nothing but muscle packed into her petite body. â€Å"I have a unique style of communication, that's all,† I said. â€Å"You have a petty teenage delusion that you've somehow been wronged for the last seventeen years.† Her foot hit my thigh. â€Å"Point. When in reality, you've been treated no differently than any other dhampir. Better, actually. I could have sent you off to live with my cousins. You want to be a blood whore? Is that what you wanted?† The term â€Å"blood whore† always made me flinch. It was a term often applied to the single dhampir mothers who decided to raise their children instead of becoming guardians. These women often had short-term affairs with Moroi men and were looked down on for iteven though there wasn't really anything else they could have done, since Moroi men usually ended up marrying Moroi women. The â€Å"blood whore† term came from the fact that some dhampir women let men drink blood from them during sex. In our world, only humans gave blood. A dhampir doing it was dirty and kinkyespecially during sex. I suspected only a few dhampir women actually did this, but unfairly, the term tended to get applied to all of them. I had given blood to Lissa when we had run away, and although it had been a necessary act, the stigma still stayed with me. â€Å"No. Of course I don't want to be a blood whore.† My breathing was becoming heavy. â€Å"And they're not all like that. There're only a few that actually are.† â€Å"They bring that reputation on themselves,† she growled. I dodged her strike. â€Å"They should be doing their duty as guardians, not continuing to fool around and have flings with Moroi.† â€Å"They're raising their children,† I grunted. I wanted to yell but couldn't waste the oxygen. â€Å"Something you'd know nothing about. Besides, aren't you the same as they are? I don't see a ring on your finger. Wasn't my dad just a fling for you?† Her face turned hard, which is saying something when you're already beating up your daughter. â€Å"That,† she said tightly, â€Å"is something you know nothing about. Point.† I winced at the blow but was happy to see I'd struck a nerve. I had no clue who my dad was. The only bit of information I had was that he was Turkish. I might have my mom's curvy figure and pretty facethough I could smugly say mine was much prettier than hers nowadaysbut the rest of my coloring was from him. Lightly tanned skin with dark hair and eyes. â€Å"How'd it happen?† I asked. â€Å"Were you on some assignment in Turkey? Meet him at a local bazaar? Or was it even cheaper than that? Did you go all Darwin and select the guy most likely to pass on warrior genes to your offspring? I mean, I know you only had me because it was your duty, so I suppose you had to make sure you could give the guardians the best specimen you could.† â€Å"Rosemarie,† she warned through gritted teeth, â€Å"for once in your life, shut up.† â€Å"Why? Am I tarnishing your precious reputation? It's just like you told me: you aren't any different from any other dhampir either. You just screwed him and† There's a reason they say, â€Å"Pride goeth before a fall.† I was so caught up in my own cocky triumph that I stopped paying attention to my feet. I was too close to the red line. Going outside of it was another point for her, so I scrambled to stay within and dodge her at the same time. Unfortunately, only one of those could work. Her fist came flying at me, fast and hardand, perhaps most importantly, a bit higher than the permissable according to rules of this kind of exercise. It smacked me in the face with the power of a small truck, and I flew backward, hitting the hard gym floor back-first and head-second. And I was out of the lines. Damn it. Pain cracked through the back of my head, and my vision went blurry and sparkly. Within seconds, my mother was leaning over me. â€Å"Rose? Rose? Are you okay?† Her voice sounded hoarse and frantic. The world swam. At some point after that, other people came, and I somehow wound up in the Academy's med clinic. There, someone shone a light in my eyes and started asking me incredibly idiotic questions. â€Å"What's your name?† â€Å"What?† I asked, squinting at the light. â€Å"Your name.† I recognized Dr. Olendzki peering over me. â€Å"You know my name.† â€Å"I want you to tell me.† â€Å"Rose. Rose Hathaway.† â€Å"Do you know your birthday?† â€Å"Of course I do. Why are you asking me such stupid things? Did you lose my records?† Dr. Olendzki gave an exasperated sigh and walked off, taking the annoying light with her. â€Å"I think she's fine,† I heard her tell someone. â€Å"I want to keep her here for the school day, just to make sure she doesn't have a concussion. I certainly don't want her anywhere near her guardian classes.† I spent the day moving in and out of sleep because Dr. Olendzki kept waking me up to do her tests. She also gave me an ice pack and told me to keep it close to my face. When the Academy's classes let out, she deemed me well enough to leave. â€Å"I swear, Rose, I think you should have a frequent patient's card.† There was a small smile on her face. â€Å"Short of those with chronic problems like allergies and asthma, I don't think there's any other student I've seen here so often in such a short period of time.† â€Å"Thanks,† I said, not really sure I wanted the honor. â€Å"So, no concussion?† She shook her head. â€Å"No. You're going to have some pain, though. I'll give you something for that before you go.† Her smile faded, and suddenly she looked nervous. â€Å"To be honest, Rose, I think most of the damage happened to, well, your face.† I shot up from the bed. â€Å"What do you mean ‘most of the damage happened to my face'?† She gestured to the mirror above the sink on the far side of the room. I ran over to it and looked at my reflection. â€Å"Son of a bitch!† Purplish red splotches covered the upper portion of the left side of my face, particularly near the eye. Desperately, I turned around to face her. â€Å"This is going to go away soon, right? If I keep the ice on it?† She shook her head again. â€Å"The ice can help†¦but I'm afraid you're going to have a wicked black eye. It'll probably be at its worst tomorrow but should clear up in a week or so. You'll be back to normal before long.† I left the clinic in a daze that had nothing to do with my head injury. Clear up in a week or so? How could Dr. Olendzki speak so lightly about this? Didn't she realize what was happening? I was going to look like a mutant for Christmas and most of the ski trip. I had a black eye. A freaking black eye. And my mother had given it to me.