Schools of Thought Essay Example for Free

Schools of Thought Essay THERE WERE THREE MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES THAT EXISTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES; LEGALISM, DAOISM, AND CONFUCIANISM. EACH PHILOSOPHY HAD DIFFERENT WAYS OF THINKING/BELIEFS THAT INFLUENCED THEIR FOLLOWERS’ WAYS OF LIFE. ALTHOUGH THESE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT MAY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES, WOULD THEY SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY? ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT WOULD NOT FLOURISH IN TODAY’S WORLD IS LEGALISM, FOUNDED BY HAN FEIZI. LEGALIST IDEAS WERE BUILT AROUND THE BELIEF THAT ONLY STRICT LAWS ENFORCED BY A POWERFUL RULER WOULD ENSURE ORDER IN SOCIETY, AND THAT â€Å"THE  RULER ALONE POSSESSES POWER†. IT IS EVIDENT AS TO WHY THESE PRINCIPLES WOULD NOT WORK IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT BECAUSE A DEMOCRACY IS A GOVERNMENT BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE, AND NO SINGLE BEING HAS TOTAL CONTROL. HAN FEIZI ALSO BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE ACT OUT OF THEIR OWN SELF-INTEREST (ONE FOR ALL) AND NOT TO GOOD EXAMPLES (ALL FOR ONE). ALTHOUGH IN TODAY’S SOCIETY WE LIKE TO STICK TO THE MORALS THAT YOU PUT THE GROUP OVER THE INDIVIDUAL, MANY PEOPLE WILL STILL ACT OUT OF GREED AND PUT THEMSELVES FIRST. BUT OUR COUNTRY WOULD NEVER PROSPER IF EVERYONE ALWAYS ACTED OUT OF JUST PURELY SELF-INTEREST AND BE GREEDY ALL THE TIME. THE LEGALIST IDEOLOGIES CONCERNING SELF-INTEREST COMPLETELY CONTRADICTS THE CONFUCIANS’, WHICH IS THE ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT THAT COULD SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IN TODAY’S SOCIETY. CONFUCIUS, THE FOUNDER OF THE CONFUCIAN SCHOOL OF THOUGHT, BASED MOST OF HIS IDEAS ON HOW TO REINSTATE PEACE AND â€Å"ENSURE HARMONY† IN A TIME FILLED WITH WAR AND FIGHTING. THE PRINCIPLES HE CONSTRUCTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES COULD ALSO SUCCEED IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT TODAY. CONFUCIUS HAD THE IDEA THAT A SUPERIOR PERSON IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WELL BEING OF THE INFERIOR PERSON. THIS WOULD SUCCEED IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT BECAUSE IT’S JUST LIKE HAVING A PRESIDENT. THEY DON’T HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE, BUT GUARANTEES US WELFARE AS CITIZENS. CONFUCIUS ALSO HAD MANY THOUGHTS ON RELATIONSHIPS  AND MAINLY THAT THE SUPERIOR PERSON SUCH AS A FATHER SHOULD SET AN EXAMPLE FOR THE INFERIOR ONE SUCH AS A SON. THIS IDEA WOULD ALSO SUCCEED TODAY. OUR COUNTRY WILL ONLY BENEFIT IF PROPER ETIQUETTES AND WAYS WERE INTRODUCED TO OTHERS FOR THEM TO FOLLOW AS WELL. LASTLY, CONFUCIUS PLACED A HEAVY EMPHASIS ON LEARNING WHICH WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL IN ANY  SOCIETY DURING ANY TIME. THE LAST SCHOOL OF THOUGH IS DAOISM, AND IT WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO THRIVE IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. DAOISM IS SIMILAR TO CONFUCIANISM BECAUSE IT TOO SEARCHED FOR WAYS TO ENSURE PEACE IN SOCIETY, BUT THIS PHILOSOPHY TOOK A DIFFERENT ROUTE IN DOING SO. THE FOUNDER OF DAOISM, LAO ZI PUT MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE LINK BETWEEN PEOPLE AND NATURE, AND BELIEVED THE BEST WAY TO LIVE WAS THE NATURAL WAY. JUST BASED OFF THE BACKBONE PRINCIPLES OF THIS PHILOSOPHY, IT IS APPARENT THAT IT WOULD NOT BE SUCCESSFUL TODAY. IN OUR WORLD TODAY, EVERYTHING IS BASED ON USING OUR NEW TECHNOLOGIES TO THE FULLEST, AND USING THEM TO MODERNIZE OUR STANDARDS OF LIVING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. ALTHOUGH DAOISTS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR INVENTIONS SUCH AS THE MAGNETIC COMPASS ADVANCES IN  SCIENCE AND ASTRONOMY, THEY STILL USED THEM IN HARMONY WITH NATURE, WHICH IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE DO TODAY. OUR SOCIETY IS ALL ABOUT MAKING ADVANCES IN OUR TECHNOLOGIES, WITHOUT GIVING A THOUGH TO HOW MUCH IT IS HURTING OUR ENVIRONMENT BECAUSE WE PUT SUCH LITTLE EMPHASIS ON NATURE. THE MAIN REASON THAT DAOISM WOULD NOT BLEND WITH A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT IS BECAUSE DAOISM WAS ALSO A GROUNDED BY THE IDEA THAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE RUN BY FEW  LAWS AND LITTLE TO NO RULE. IF OUR GOVERNMENT WERE LIKE THAT, SO MANY CRIMES AND WRONG DOINGS WOULD TAKE PLACE THAT THE COUNTRY WOULD FALL APART IN A MATTER OF DAYS. OVERALL, THE THREE SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT ARE NOT BEST SUITED TO SUCCEED IN TODAY’S SOCIETY IN A DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT MAINLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT THEY THEIR PRINCIPLES WERE SHAPED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TIMES. THE ONLY REASON CONFUCIANISM IS THE ONLY SCHOOL OF THOUGH THAT COULD PROSPER TODAY IS BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY ONE WHO’S IDEOLOGIES SOMEWHAT RESEMBLE SOME OF OUR MORALITIES AND GOVERNMENT POLICIES WE ABIDE BY TODAY.

Origins of Visual Expression in Art

Origins of Visual Expression in Art In this dissertation, I will research the origins of visual expression, firstly asking why was it made, and who was it made for? I will then be looking for the earliest examples of where visual expression was found and then be moving onto how western art was developed and controlled though the early centuries in Europe. Then focusing on how one artist (Marcel Duchamp) chanced how institutions and art galleries could value art and lead the way for the future artists. Finally, this will bring me onto look at the emergence of the YBAS (Young British Artists) and the dynamics of their surroundings which would evidently lead to their success in the international art world, helped by the modern systems of mass media, written medias and public opinion. In this, I will investigate the relationship between visual and modern day language mediums thought discourse, with an added envious on my own personal experience though the viewing of the art works in the exhibition at Liverpool Tate Bad art for bad people? by Dino and Jake Chapman (13th December 2006 â€Å" 4th March 2007), also including another artist who was the forerunner of the YBA movement and who would later become the YBA pin up, Damien Hurst. I will look how Damien Hurst used the systems of the media, being, news papers, Magazine columns, visual media and mass audiences, to make his own unique stamp in the art world. I will look how the YBAS became into the international limelight during the late 1980s and 1990s, helped with the guidance and backing of the advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, and his effect on the mass audience of the British public and aboard, making the YBA movement a success in the worldwide art scene. Marcel Duchamp To study how Marcel Duchamps artistic practices gave such controversy though-out the art world, arising the nature of art itself and what we view, and value as art. I will study the work The Fountain? (1917) and how it can be singled out as the bench mark for future contemporary art practice of today, firstly looking upon the history of Marcel Duchamps life up to the point of his work The fountains? creation and existence in 1917. (3A) Marcel Duchamps Fountain 1917? www.google.com/fountain.gif/cwru.edu Marcel Duchamp was born into world, in 1913, the French writer Charles Peguy Remarked, The world has changed less since the time of Jesus Christ than it has in the last thirty years.? (18) He was speaking of all the conditions of western capitalist society: its ideas, its sense of history, its beliefs, modes of production, and its art. Born on the 28th July 1887 in Blainville, near Rouen in France, He was the brother of Raymond Duchamp-Villon, the sculptor, and of Suzanne Duchamp, the poetess and also half- brother of Jacques Villon. He began to paint in 1908 and at the age of 22 Duchamp was a member of The golden circle? a painters circle, which included Metzinger, Leger, and Picabia, He was painting in the style of Cubism and futurism, which is shown his work nude descending a staircase,? painted in 1912. (19) In 1913 Duchamp exhibited this work in the New York Armoury show, in which it was the much more ridiculed work at the show. In 1912 when he painted Nude descending a staircase? Duchamp said, that painting is washed up?. (20) In abandoning painting, he said, I want something where the eye counts for nothing.? At this point the Duchampian revolution consists of the notion of the ready-made?. (20) This term describes common objects with or without modification that were relocated in museums and galleries. The term objet trouve? first was first recorded in a letter to his sister Susanne Duchamp in 1913. (21) The earliest readymade of Duchamps was the Bicycle wheel of 1913. This consisted of a bicycle wheel fixed onto a wooden stool. These readymades ojects were mass produced objects with common uses such as snow shovels and bottle racks which Duchamp would then sign. He would give the objects names that were totally irrelevant for their practical use. In 1915, Duchamp went to the USA for the first time. (22) The USA now better developed than Europe in technology, communications and now had the tallest building in the world. Soon, Duchamp settled and became the centre of a group of painters round the Stieglitz? gallery in which the group adopted the anti-art? attitude as with Zurich Dadaism. (23) In 1917, Duchamp sent his mass- produced urinal, (readymade) called fountain? to New York, (where the first show for the society of independent artist was held. Simply called independent show?, (24) signed with the name R.Mutt?, it was nothing but a common urinal. The work that was signed with a false name and exhibited on its back became centre to an unrealistic approach and was pulled out of the exhibition. The theory behind the readymade explained in an article, anonymous but believed to be by Duchamp himself in defence to his alter-ego, Mr Mutt, In the May 1917 issue of the avent- garde magazine The Blind Man?, run by Duchamp and his two friends, printed this text. Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made the fountain or not has no importance. He chose it. He took an ordinary article of life, and placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view-created a new thought for that object. There are three important points here: First that the choice of the object is itself creative act. Secondly, that by cancelling the useful? function of an object it becomes art. Thirdly, that the presentation and addition of the object have given it a new thought?, a new meaning? (25). Duchamps readymade also asserted the principle that, art is defined by the artist. The idea of art is made in the artists mind as a concept for their personal perspective of how their world is interpreted. This is true for every person, as everyone can think of ways an object means more than its physical form. This is also true of objects that have sentimental value. In any place the owner has the object in owe of what it represents regard of its space. As objects of no meaning are only then represented by the space the object inhabits. Marcel Duchamp gave the world a diverse outlook on the way art and the object could be perceived and portrayed in society, therefore leaving the door of the art world and its individuals open to create and develop concepts and ideas of art, which left the old institutions and practices to be questioned and revaluated. From abstract expression to the YBAS, Marcel Duchamps Fountain can be seen as a turning point in the ideas of where art can take the artists and the viewer. This can be seen none more so than the young graduate group of British artists of the late 1980s to take the international art world by storm, they were later to be known as the YBAS. Duchamps single act of artistic expression changed the way we could view art but to explain this he had to enforce it with words. Discourse and written language had more importance now rather than just the documentation of visual art and its history. Written language now became a factor in which works of art were viewed, and with the evolution of the tabloids and the mass media would become intertwined feeding off each other for publicity, good or bad.

Tasks And Skills Of A Quantity Surveyor Construction Essay

Tasks And Skills Of A Quantity Surveyor Construction Essay The construction industry is global and extends across all real estate and infrastructure markets. As the construction projects grow in complexity and size, it is immediately clear that many quantity surveyors have diversified into providing project and building management services. Quantity surveyor (QS) is the recognized cost managers of construction as well as accountant of the building profession. The term Quantity Surveyor derives from the role taken in quantifying the various items of labour, material and plant that it takes to construct a given project. Quantity surveyor is the specialist in the financial and contractual aspects of construction projects. QS is involved at all stages of the project and is usually appointed by the architect or engineer who has designed the construction. The QSs traditional independent role on the team comprising client, architect, engineer, QS and contractor has given him a reputation and appreciation for fairness. This, combined with his expert ise in drafting and interpretation of contract documents, enables him to settle issues, avoid disputes and ensure the effective progress of a project. MAJOR TASKS OF A QUANTITY SURVEYOR Allocating work to subcontractors The QS has to interact with the site employees and employees from subcontracting organisations. The QS distribute the works to subcontractor firm. Valuing completed work and arranging payments is also one of the tasks of the QS. Once the works done, QS has to approve payments made to suppliers, employees and subcontractors. Managing costs on site and dealing with cost reconciliation A quantity surveyor is able to manage costs on a wide variety of new building projects and structures such as residential developments, sports stadiums, shopping complexes, roads and bridges, schools, hospitals, offices and factories. The QS controls cost before, during and after construction. Costs are managed from the feasibility stage of a project and continued to do so right through to tendering and construction. When a building project is complete, QS may be involved in preparing tax depreciation schedules, estimating replacement costs for insurance purposes and, if necessary, mediation and arbitration. analysing outcomes and writing detailed progress reports; Advising on the cost The QS provides cost advice for a project at inception, during construction and for any unplanned changes that occur. The QS also provides estimation during the initial stages of the process of construction procurement for the project initiators such as developers. The QS has to advise from time to time on cost management, or value management. The QS plays important role during the design phase. The QS throughout the design and construction process is required to advise the client on any cost implications that may arise. Such advice will be necessary irrespective of the procurement method used for contractor selection or tendering purposes. However, the advice will be especially crucial during the projectà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s inception. During this time major decisions are taken affecting the size of the project and the quality of the works, if only in outline form. The cost advice given must therefore be as reliable as possible, so that clients can proceed with the gre atest amount of confidence. In addition, the QS provides post-occupancy advice, facilities management services and life cycle costing advice. Preparing tender and contract documents A bill of quantities (BOQ) is a document detailing the materials, parts, and labour required to construct, maintain, or repair a structure or device. Preparation of bills of quantity for work in progress and the final accounts is also done by QS. The technique of measuring quantities from drawings, sketches and specifications prepared by architects and engineers, in order to prepare tender/contract documents, is known in the industry as taking off. The quantities of work taken off typically are used to prepare bills of quantities, which usually are prepared in accordance with a published standard method of measurement (SMM) as agreed to by the QS profession and representatives of the construction industry. Many larger QS firms have their own in-house methods of measurement and most bills of quantities prepared today are in an abbreviated format from the one required by the SMM. Emphasizing contracts management The QS also emphasizes contracts management. Trained to draft, interpret and administer complex contracts, QS who operates in the broader field of project management often adopt other titles such as Contracts manager or Construction surveyor. A number of QS work in procurement in the oil gas industry, process and power industries, and civil engineering. Their preferred title, in countries where the QS profession is less known, is Contracts engineer. The QS analyses tenders, prepare and analyze cost data and perform contract administration including evaluate interim payments to contractors, charge variations and claims and settle contract accounts. The role of a contractors QS will extend further than the day to day running of building projects and will cover such other areas as sub-contract formation, forecasting of costs and values of the project, cash flow forecasts and the collation of the operation and maintenance manuals of the project (OM manuals). The skills required by a Quantity Surveyor Being a good Quantity Surveyor, there are numerous skills required in preparing and ensuring good quality of documents for construction projects. As a professional Quantity Surveyor, knowledge in Mathematics, Information Technology(IT), Economic, Human Resource, Science, Business, Global Politics, Global General Knowledge, Geography and etc are crucial. Information technology continues to develop at an exponential rate. Virtually everyone involved in the construction industry now has extensive access to this technology. A qualified QS should be computer literate, that is, familiar with the common uses or applications of computers. Good IT and numeracy skills, together with the ability to analyse the content of complicated documents are important to be a Quantity Surveyor. The QS is able to learn sophisticated design and costing IT packages when the QS uses the computer effectively. In addition, the QS should be proficient in Mathematics. This is a bonus point when the QS is managing the cost of the construction. A well-trained QS understands both of construction techniques and technology. The QS also needs knowledge of construction law, health and safety issues, building methods and time scales, and the costs of materials. Detailed knowledge of past and current building and construction technology, business and legal matters is essential for the QS. Besides, a sound knowledge of building construction is also vital for the QS. These knowledges are required to ensure that the project is undergone smoothly. Moreover, good communications skill is necessary to express your opinions verbally as well as on paper. The ability to write clear and precise reports and to relate complex information simply to a diverse range of people are also done by the QS. Hence, the language skills are one of the skills required b a successful QS. The QS are advisable to master English. Majority of the contracts are written in English. The QS is unable to understand the contracts well due to poor language skills. Other languages such as local language in respective area are also advisable for a QS to smoothen QSà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s work during communicating with the clients. The QS is always involved in a construction team, which included architects, civil engineers, mechanical electrical engineers, quantity surveyor and etc. Good negotiating skills are important, as is initiative to make decisions. The QS has to negotiate with a wide variety of people, which means that the QS would have to listen to the opinions of others as well as giving your own point of view. Therefore, the QS must works well in a team which may require the QS to motivate and lead people on site. As a quantity surveyor, a logical and methodical person is needed in problem solving. With logical thinking, the QS uses reasoning consistently to come to a conclusion which is seem sensible. The attitude of the QS must be optimistic all the time once the project begins. The QS shows the willingness of doing jobs throughout the whole process. Passion and dedication should place in the heart of the QS in order to achieve high quality of works. Creative and innovative during solving the obstacles are crucial to the QS. Accuracy when preparing the bills of quantities is vital for the QS. A little difference in calculations will affect the whole presentation of works. Thus, the QS is always careful with the calculations to avoid any careless mistakes. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the existence of Quantity Surveyor is getting more important in the construction field. Quantity Surveyor is involved in a construction project from inception to completion and even demolition in some instances. Besides acts as the financial overseer of a particular project, QS translate the plans into detailed costs. Quantity Surveyor helps to minimize the time scales, the costs of a project and enhance value for money, while still achieving the required standards and quality. A professional Quantity Surveyor is equipped with the strong language, technical and communication skills. Strong base in Mathematics and English helps in speeding up the work as well as reducing the time scale. The QS must be flexible to any kind of work conditions such as site and office.

Plot Overview of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller :: Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller Essays

Plot Overview of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller As a flute melody plays, Willy Loman returns to his home in Brooklyn one night, exhausted from a failed sales trip. His wife, Linda, tries to persuade him to ask his boss, Howard Wagner, to let him work in New York so that he won't have to travel. Willy says that he will talk to Howard the next day. Willy complains that Biff, his older son who has come back home to visit, has yet to make something of himself. Linda scolds Willy for being so critical, and Willy goes to the kitchen for a snack. As Willy talks to himself in the kitchen, Biff and his younger brother, Happy, who is also visiting, reminisce about their adolescence and discuss their father's babbling, which often includes criticism of Biff's failure to live up to Willy's expectations. As Biff and Happy, dissatisfied with their lives, fantasize about buying a ranch out West, Willy becomes immersed in a daydream. He praises his sons, now younger, who are washing his car. The young Biff, a high school football star, and the young Happy appear. They interact affectionately with their father, who has just returned from a business trip. Willy confides in Biff and Happy that he is going to open his own business one day, bigger than that owned by his neighbor, Charley. Charley's son, Bernard, enters looking for Biff, who must study for math class in order to avoid failing. Willy points out to his sons that although Bernard is smart, he is not "well liked," which will hurt him in the long run. A younger Linda enters, and the boys leave to do some chores. Willy boasts of a phenomenally successful sales trip, but Linda coaxes him into revealing that his trip was actually only meagerly successful. Willy complains that he soon won't be able to make all of the payments on their appliances and car. He complains that people don't like him and that he's not good at his job. As Linda consoles him, he hears the laughter of his mistress. He approaches The Woman, who is still laughing, and engages in another reminiscent daydream. Willy and The Woman flirt, and she thanks him for giving him stockings. The Woman disappears, and Willy fades back into his prior daydream, in the kitchen. Linda, now mending stockings, reassures him. He scolds her mending and orders her to throw the stockings out.

Essay --

5 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENT SPECIFICATIONS This chapter discusses the software requirement specification about the project followed the functional and non-functional requirement of the â€Å"INTERACTIVE SKETCHED BASED IMAGE SEARCH†. 5.1 Purpose When a sketch is input by a human there will clearly be a degree of accuracy to which the point of reference and scale of the shapes will remembered, and so errors with comparison to the target image or images will be present. The edges of objects and neighborhood within the image define shapes; extraction of these shapes can be used for image similarity. This supports indexing leads to imaginative memory usage since the indexes are always smaller than images themselves. Indexing speeds up the search process lengthily which is very important in the image search application. 5.2 Scope The input plan of this project is the improvement of a system to allow the searching of database of images using the visual data stored within the images. Here the aim is to develop a system which allows query upon the image content of the images, with the user providing a sketch of the image or images that they desire to retrieve. The key aim is the development of a speedy and correct algorithm for the extraction and comparison of the visual data from images. Some important point takes in consideration while development they are as follows: †¢ Identification of the restriction of current content based images retrieval systems so that these areas can be improved upon. †¢ Research into the field of content based image retrieval and rapid algorithm development. †¢ Design and accomplishment of a system to perform content based image retrieval using sketched input. †¢ Expansion of an algorithm for the extraction and sim... ... for that. In Unit testing, is the first level of testing and is performed prior to integration testing. All error handling paths should be tested. Drivers and/or stubs need to be developed to test incomplete software. 7.2.2 Integration Testing In integration testing the individual tested units are grouped as one and the interface between them is tested. There are mainly three approaches to do integration testing, Top-down approach, Bottom-up approach Big bang approach Integration testing is a software testing methodology used to test individual software components or units of code to verify interaction between various software components. Main program used as a test driver and stubs are substitutes for components directly subordinate to it. Subordinate stubs are replaced one at a time with real components (following the depth-first or breadth-first approach).

Interstate Hydraulic Manufacturing Co. Essay

Interstate Hydraulic Manufacturing Co. is an established, family-owned manufacturer of hydraulic devices used in automobile suspensions and forklift trucks. From the factory in Muncie, Indiana, products are shipped to customers worldwide. All data processing is performed by a minicomputer, which handles payroll, billing, accounts receivable, inventory, and cost accounting. Workers clock on and off the job using time clocks, and they report job progress by filling out a forms packet that accompanies each job lot. Data from the time cards and forms packets is keyed into the computer by data entry operators in the manufacturing division, who use terminals. Ben Lambert is in charge of customer service, handling complaints, conducting plant tours, and providing information to the plant manager on product performance. One day Lambert is sitting at his desk, handling the backlog of correspondence he has accumulated. He picks up his office recorder and dictates the following letter: Ms. Ellie Nostrom Purchasing Director McCullin Enterprises Thank you very much for being so understanding last week when you called to inquire about your order. As I explained, we have a large number of jobs in process at any one time, and many more waiting in line. It is simply impossible to locate where one is without spending considerable time looking through our records. I’m sure you can understand. I later learned that your order was held up due to lack of materials. We have been having difficulty obtaining the nylon bushing that attaches the actuating arm to the housing. We have had only one supplier that could meet our high quality standards, and we have recently learned that its factory has been on strike for almost half a year. We finally located another supplier in California and placed an order with it. But when the bushings arrived, the receiving report was misfiled, and we didn’l know that they were here. The receiving report, which is normally sent to our accounting department, was sent to purchasing by mistake. After your call, I talked with the supervisor of receiving, and he said he remembered seeing the shipment. We finally located it in inventory and have issued a production order. The job is presently in process and should be completed either by the end of next week or early the following week. Again, thank you for calling attention to your order. Our customers are our most valuable asset, and we appreciate your business. You have our pledge that we will continue to be responsive to your needs and supply you with the same high level of service that has been our trademark. Please do not hesitate to call on me at any time.

Personal Response to Family of Little Feet Essay

The beginning of the story starts out sounding like a fairytale about a family with little feet and then transforms into a story that is being told about a little girl and two of her friends that are given three pairs of high heeled shoes to play with, â€Å"†¦. magic high heels†. The girls each try on and swap between them the three pairs of shoes and then begin walking about the neighborhood with the shoes on and the speaker notes the different reactions that they receive from the different people they pass while wearing the shoes. The speaker states â€Å"Down to the corner where the men can’t take their eyes off us. We must be Christmas†. They pass a shop keeper that asks them if their mother knows they have shoes like that, and he tells them they are too young to be wearing them. Then the girls pass the laundromat where six female cousins just ignore them as they walk by in the high heels, and one of the girls named Lucy states that the cousins are always jealous. Lastly they pass a tavern where one of the girls, Rachel yells out to the bum that is standing out front, â€Å"Do you like these shoes?† The bum answers â€Å"yes† to Rachel and he asks her name in which she replies â€Å"Rachel†. The bum tells Rachel how pretty she is and that her shoes are beautiful. He proceeds to tell Rachel â€Å"Rachel, you are prettier than a yellow taxi cab. You know that†? The other little girl Lucy, seemingly knowing better, doesn’t like this encounter with the bum and tells her friend that â€Å"we got to go†. The bum then offers Rachel a dollar for a kiss which she seems to be considering until her friend Lucy grabs her by the hand and begins to run from the bum, all the while he is still yelling something that the girls aren’t close enough to hear any longer. This obviously scared, at the very least Lucy because the next paragraph begins â€Å"We are tired of being beautiful†. Lucy hid the shoes and then one day her mother was cleaning and threw them away but â€Å"no one complains†. By the way no one complains when the shoes are thrown away shows that the girls have had their first real encounter with the mature world awaiting them, and they are not yet ready to enter it at their young ages.