Computed Tomography (CT scan) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Computed Tomography (CT scan) - Research Paper Example The last two decades have seen popularity in terms of the increase of usage and new technological implications that can enhance this machine to produce even more detailed imaging solutions in the future. That being said, the potential side effects of this imaging that have been known to cause cancer or kidney problems in most cases, make a strong case against the development and use of such a technology. This paper will elaborate on the technology and its usage with a study on the potential side effects of this kind of imaging. It will also shed light on is wide spread application in today’s medical world and means through which the harmful implications from the use of radiation technology of CT scanning can be minimized. The word tomography is derived from the Greek language where ‘tomo’ means ‘slice’ and ‘graphien’ means ‘write’ (Medical News Today, 2013). The technology basically involves the creation of 3-D imaging with the help of many 2-D images taken of the body, referring to the ‘slicing’ of images. First introduced in the 1970s, the technology has come a long way as far as the mechanism and clinical usage patterns of this technology are concerned. Starting off with the technology itself, computing tomography or Ct scanning conventionally makes use of an x-ray tube and sensory detectors that rotate behind the circular surface of the scanning head. Several functional options enable doctors to focus on a specialized scan that may be used to evaluate a specific body part for example blood vessels, nerves or bones. As the rotation takes place several mages are captured and collected as sonograms. These multiple sonograms are then made into information that can be interpreted. Sonograms combine through tomographic reconstruction to produce a series of cross sectional images. There are various types of mathematical and geometric techniques that can be used for this conversion, like linear algebra, filtered back

Outlined the advantages and disadvantages of drinking bottled water Essay

Outlined the advantages and disadvantages of drinking bottled water - Essay Example In this assay, I will outline the advantages and disadvantages of drinking bottle water. Bottled water has several advantages which have won the consumer confidence since introduction. To start with, there is a lot of convenience in the use of bottled water (Lopez 2012, p 160). This is because, it is easily get bottled water from most retail centres, and therefore, there is no need to worry about the availability of drinking water as long as there is a retail centre nearby. In addition, the packaging itself makes bottled water easy to access and drink since there is no need to have additional requirement when using a small PET bottle for example, a cup as would be in the case of drinking tap water. On the other hand, bottled water is most preferred compared to the soft drinks, which are the close competitors. This is because, ‘they are calorie free, generally sodium free or low in sodium and quench one’s thirst better than the soft drinks’ (Brown 2014, P. 25). In fact, Lopez (2013), noted that ‘bottled water is relatively healthier than sugared soft drinks’. This explains why most people in the recent days would spend more to buy bottled water instead of a soft drink which initially was greatly accepted. In addition to the low calorific value of bottled drinking water, the packaging prevents environmental pollutants from getting into contact with drinking water. According to Queiroz et al. (2012), concerns about outbreak of water borne diseases and environmental pollution have necessitated bottling of drinking water. Actually, it is normal to hear cases where wastewaters have contaminated the sources of tap water. In addition, the different gases and liquid waste emitted from the industries somehow find way in to the rivers and dams that are the main sources of tap water. This in turn has made people to lose trust in tapped water and elevate the need for bottled water in the modern families. Lastly, with bottled water, there is

Reality In The Movie Mulholland Drive Film Studies Essay

Reality In The Movie Mulholland Drive Film Studies Essay In order to write this paper, I have looked for several definitions of reality, and I rapidly got confused among all the meanings, the perceptions and the concepts around it. However, for the purpose of my analysis of David Lynchs movie Mulholland Drive, I picked the following one: The first part can be seen as a dream that has some ingredients of the typical Hollywood movie with suspense, drama and musicals: this dream is an attempt of the protagonist (Betty/Naomi Watts) to delete from her memory, or to delete from her reality, what happened to her in her Real Hollywood experience in order to become an actress (how Diane/Naomi Watts wishes her life could have been). The second part is dark, almost desperate, and can be seen as an expression of the sublime through which the spectator falls into the Real part of the movie. In this second chapter, Diane remembers all her failures through the character of her ex-lover (Camilla), falls into depression and paranoia that will lead her to commit suicide. Going back to Lacan, the first part of the movie refers to the Imaginary register and is characterized by a abundance of enigmatic events and mysterious signs (a man with a monstrous face behind Winkies restaurant, body of a dead woman lying on her bed, a small blue box, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) that are here to maintain a certain suspense in the story but they also show us abnormalities and deficiencies. These signs can be seen as sublime objects that underline the lack of Real. And when, at the end of the first part, Betty and Rita manage to open the mysterious blue box, the spectator thinks he is close to discover the truth about the whole story, but there is only there is emptiness. However, this emptiness is meaningful: it brings us to the Real, which breaks with the first part of the movie. Therefore, the second part of the movie starts and several things becomes clearer. The monster behind Winkies restaurant is a premonitory sign of Rita/Camilla murderer (command by Betty/Diane in the same restaurant), the dead body lying in the bed is the one of Diana after she committed suicide (when Betty saw the body in the first part in the apartment, it was an anticipation of her own death), etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ An interesting scene that announces this rupture between the Imaginary and the Real in Mulholland Drive is the one that takes place in the cabaret Silencio: this scene announces the end of the first part and the imminent end of Bettys dream in a very brutal way. The magician in the cabaret warns us that everything is illusion and the song interpretation (playback) by Rebekah del Rio comes like a reminder to reality. The song, Llorando treats about an unhappy love story (Diane and Camilla?). Before the end of the song, Rebekah del Rio falls and faints, that can be seen as the death of Camilla. Betty and Rita cry while listening to that song, like they knew that the dream was about to end. Rita cries like she sensed that she was about to be Camilla again, and go back to the kingdom of the dead where Diane sent her. Betty shakes and cries like she sensed she was about to be Diane again, a woman distorted by pain trying to forget she made kill the woman she loved, before committing suici de. On the topic of the perception of reality, philosopher, John Searle asserted that: The thesis that there is a reality independent of our representations identifies not how things are in fact, but rather identifies a space of possibilities External realism articulates a space of possibilities for a very large number of statements. Into just such a space, a dual scenario film like Mulholland Drive can emerge. Both parts of Mulholland Drive make use of key aspects of fundamental ontology people, places, events, and reinterprets their external reality through the lens of Dianes subjective reality. While youre watching Mulholland Drive, both of its parallel narratives seem equally plausible, but its only after stepping back from them at the completion of the film that you realise that they are in fact two subjective statements on external reality paradoxically related, and indicative of the ability that we all have to place broad interpretations on real life events. Mulholland Drive effectively provides both a commentary on the nature of subjective reality as its depicted on film, and as we experience it in real life. Mulholland drive is also about interpretation of the Real. Nietzsche wrote that there are no facts, only interpretations. With a Hollywood background, Lynch first exposes us to the fake, the doubt, the part of belief and mirages and then awakes the conscience of his characters and his spectators. Nietzsche also thought that there was no absolute distinction between dreaming and waking consciousness. This is applied to Mulholland Drive on different levels. First, it forces the spectator to challenge himself intellectually and see the movie several times if he is willing to think about it and understands its mysteries. Second, that we can conceive most of the film as a dreamed interpretation of a reality that is only revealed the last half an hour. Third, the movie as a whole is an interpretation of the dream/reality and finally if we try to analyze, psychoanalytically, the dream itself not only as a reconstructed fantasy of the Real but also as the expression of an impulsive world.

Melancholy :: Creative Writing Essays

Melancholy The autumn sun beat down still and hot as Trey peered over the whitewashed fence. Widow Harris' garden was just on the other side. It was a very sad looking garden. There were weeds everywhere. He scanned past the zucchini squash, the only thing doing well in the whole garden, and over the cantaloupe vine. Yes! The watermelon was still there! Trey could see it through the scraggly leaves of its vine. If he was fast, he could grab it and be gone before Mrs. Harris even knew he was there. Plagued with misgivings, but determined to go on, Trey climbed over the fence into the garden. His friends whispered that the old lady was really a witch and would turn you into a cricket and feed you to her cat if she caught you sneaking around. He pushed the thought from his mind. Trey pulled at the watermelon, but the vine clung too tight. He shifted his grip and pulled harder. Suddenly, the entire vine pulled out of the ground and Trey fell back, landing on his seat. While he was struggling with the tenacious fruit, the front door screeched open. "Hey! Out of my garden!" Mrs. Harris hobbled out onto her front porch. Trey scrambled frantically over the fence holding the melon by its vine. He dropped down to the sidewalk only to find his cousin, Miles, coming up the street. If Miles found out what he was doing, it'd ruin everything. Miles had an extremely over zealous conscience. Trey tried to run, but the watermelon was still on the other side of the fence. He yanked the vine and the melon flew over the fence. Just then, the melon snapped off its vine. Instead of sailing neatly into Trey's waiting arms it smashed against the sidewalk and burst open with a dull thump. He hurriedly gathered up as many of the slick red pieces as he could hold and ran clutching them tightly, soaking the front of his shirt. Miles couldn't believe Trey was stealing a watermelon! He pounded after his twin in age as fast as he could, but Trey, lank and swift on his feet, easily outdistanced him. Miles stopped, his hands on his knees and breathing hard. He was no match in speed to Trey. As his breathing slowed, he took a moment to think. Miles grinned. The logical place for his cousin to head was the old apple orchard, where they had a hideout. Melancholy :: Creative Writing Essays Melancholy The autumn sun beat down still and hot as Trey peered over the whitewashed fence. Widow Harris' garden was just on the other side. It was a very sad looking garden. There were weeds everywhere. He scanned past the zucchini squash, the only thing doing well in the whole garden, and over the cantaloupe vine. Yes! The watermelon was still there! Trey could see it through the scraggly leaves of its vine. If he was fast, he could grab it and be gone before Mrs. Harris even knew he was there. Plagued with misgivings, but determined to go on, Trey climbed over the fence into the garden. His friends whispered that the old lady was really a witch and would turn you into a cricket and feed you to her cat if she caught you sneaking around. He pushed the thought from his mind. Trey pulled at the watermelon, but the vine clung too tight. He shifted his grip and pulled harder. Suddenly, the entire vine pulled out of the ground and Trey fell back, landing on his seat. While he was struggling with the tenacious fruit, the front door screeched open. "Hey! Out of my garden!" Mrs. Harris hobbled out onto her front porch. Trey scrambled frantically over the fence holding the melon by its vine. He dropped down to the sidewalk only to find his cousin, Miles, coming up the street. If Miles found out what he was doing, it'd ruin everything. Miles had an extremely over zealous conscience. Trey tried to run, but the watermelon was still on the other side of the fence. He yanked the vine and the melon flew over the fence. Just then, the melon snapped off its vine. Instead of sailing neatly into Trey's waiting arms it smashed against the sidewalk and burst open with a dull thump. He hurriedly gathered up as many of the slick red pieces as he could hold and ran clutching them tightly, soaking the front of his shirt. Miles couldn't believe Trey was stealing a watermelon! He pounded after his twin in age as fast as he could, but Trey, lank and swift on his feet, easily outdistanced him. Miles stopped, his hands on his knees and breathing hard. He was no match in speed to Trey. As his breathing slowed, he took a moment to think. Miles grinned. The logical place for his cousin to head was the old apple orchard, where they had a hideout.

Labor and American Football

The development of labor relations in American football has been marked by two periods in its century of existence.   During its beginning labor organizations were weakened by the fractured nature of the football league itself.   Various upstart leagues consistently threatened and weakened the original league, the National Football League (NFL) and at times put in danger the growth of the sport in the America. Yet, since the league consolidated in the second half of the century we have seen a new period in labor relations come to the forefront.   And while it was once held that players would probably never unionize, the player strikes in 1982 and 1987 and their results have proven past analysts predictions to be wrong.   The football of the 1980s and 90s was fraught with player/manager blowouts and the increasingly assertive nature of player’s organizations or player’s unions as they are now referred to came to the forefront. A Brief History of Football The big money problems facing the American football league today find its roots in the development of the sport and its growth in popularity as a notable aspect of American culture.   The incredible money making potential of professional football developed on principles of â€Å"rugby football ´Ã‚ ´ being played at universities in Eastern Canada and the United States. Professional American football can be said to have its starting point when William â€Å"Pudge ´Ã‚ ´ Heffelfinger was paid $500 by a club in Pittsburgh to play for them in a game.[1]   Towards the twentieth century the game would begin to accumulate loyal spectators across the country, though college football was the most popular form of spectator football.   Along with football’s growing popularity would come entrepreneurs eager to cash-in on the sport’s growth. The most significant signal of the sports growth was the forming of the National Football League (NFL) in 1920.   The NFL’s first official name was the American Professional Football Association and it was made up of five professional teams who’s main goal in uniting was to stop the stealing of team members from within their ranks.[2]   The cost of franchise was $25 and the teams met whenever it was determined that they could make money.[3]   In 1921 the group formally changed its name to the National Football league. It wasn’t long before the league was outshining college football and attendance at games went up radically.   Small-town teams got swallowed up by big-city teams and football and annual championships began in 1933.   The 1930s were extremely important in the development of the league. Gould and Staudohar state that, â€Å"Significant rules changes were introduced, most notably legalizing the forward pass from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Goal posts were put on the goal lines. And the league was divided into two divisions, leading to a championship playoff under regularized conditions at the end of the season.†[4] By the 1950s professional football was beating out college teams in the fight for spectators.   In addition, a new element had been added to the sport, television.   Television participation and attendance levels at games were constantly on the rise.   Fans turned on the tube and poured into stadiums to catch a glimpse of rising football stars such as Bobby Layne and Johnny Unitas.   In 1955 NBC paid $100,000, a 40 percent increase over the previous year, to televise the title game.[5] Since then football’s growth has been unstoppable and largely predominated by the NFL.   Currently the league is made up of thirty-two teams, which are divided into two conferences and then four sub-divisions.   At the nd of each year the league holds a twelve team tournament that eliminates the teams down to two teams which will play in the league’s most anticipated game of the year, the Super Bowl. Currently the NFL is â€Å"one of the most popular sports leagues in the United States, and has the highest per-game attendance of any domestic professional sports league in the world, drawing over 67,000 spectators per game for its most recently completed season in 2006.†[6] The Era of League Splits The rise of professional football and the revenues that came along with it would be accompanied by numerous attempts of upstart leagues to wrestle viewership from NFL games.   The first attempts were made under the auspice of a parallel group of teams titled the American Football Leagues (AFL).   Before 1941 there were three such attempts made by the AFL to upstage the NFL, none of which were successful. The last of these attempts was particularly unsuccessful and Gould and Staudohar claim that, â€Å"The new league was woefully undercapitalized and almost from its first games exhibited dire financial trouble. Missed payrolls became routine. Not surprisingly, the league folded early in its second season.†[7]   The most successful of these leagues was the All-American Football Conference which appeared at the close of the Second World War, when there was an influx of interest in spectator sports.   The league lasted for four years and at its close three of its teams joined the NFL and were moderately successful within that league. Continued growth in televised games and stadium attendance would result in the most significant attempts by alternate leagues to break in on the action in the mid-60s and later in the 80s.   Lamar Hunt created another version of the AFL, after his attempt to purchase an NFL franchise to bring to Texas backfired.   Hunt set out on an aggressive campaign to win spectator interest by introducing gimmicks such as â€Å"wider-open passing offenses, players' names on their jerseys, and an official clock visible to fans so that they knew the time remaining in a period (the NFL kept time by a game referee's watch, and only periodically announced the actual time).†[8] But it was the bidding war for players that almost brought the whole of American football on its knees.   Fortunately, and as a result of the expansion and costly players, the leagues merged in 1966.   By 1970 the teams from both leagues had formed to make up the NFL’s American Football Conference.   The AFL-NFL championship game became the Super Bowl.   The only other league to be created after that was the United States Football League that, despite heavy financing, important players and a television contract, went under within three years due to low revenues. Meanwhile the NFL, along with the Super Bowl and Monday Night Football became an important aspect of American life.   It was thought that a new era of co-operation between labor and football was on the rise but there were more problems to come. Part 2   The Era of the Player/Management Split For most of football’s beginning years the idea that sports professionals would form into unions was inconceivable to many.   Today it is clear that Unions are highly important to professional football and baseball players alike.   The forming of unions in so many walks of American life and their increasing power in society brought football players to the same conclusion millions of other working Americans came to: unions strengthened a worker’s rights and provided a buffer against the rampant financial interests of owners, whether they be factories or baseball franchises. Currently NFL players are members of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).   The main duty of this organization is to help construct the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which sets the minimum contract for NFL players.   The association also helps to negotiate individual player contracts.   The association has been up and working since 1993 and has been integral in the player’s negotiations with team management.   It is also important to note that since its creation there has not been a full-out strike since the 1987 season, â€Å"which is much longer than Major League Baseball, the NBA or the NHL.†[9] With such a track record it is safe to say that unions are here to stay although it did not always look as though that would be the case.   Despite the positive outlook, after the NFL’s consolidation, some analysts predicted that there would be growing trouble between the franchises and their players.   Their predictions largely proved to be correct.   Gould and Staudohar claim that â€Å"This view was myopic†, and that in fact, â€Å"The mid- 1970s saw the emergence of arm's-length bargaining and the resulting collective bargaining agreements in the major sports.   []   Despite progress toward resolving some long-standing disputes, the true character of player/ management splits was just being revealed.†[10] Before the seventies there had been little leeway made in player negotiations on issues such as pension funds and insurance coverage.   The first league wide strike would occur in 1968 and would be formed on these very issues.   As the situation reached never-before-seen levels of intensity, the players refused to show up for pre-season practices.   Managers responded with a lockout.   Eventually the players came back to the field after having gained almost nothing.   Yet this strike would set the stage for those to come in 1974, 1982 and 1987. For the last forty years changes in areas such as free agency rules and salary levels have largely been fought using anti-trust law.   Some analysts claim that, in fact, there are more anti-trust issues within professional sports cases than in many other industries.[11]   Scremin claims that, â€Å"As a result of antitrust litigation, professional sport leagues and teams had to abandon or at least modify rules and policies governing their businesses. This is a trend with no signs of slowing down.†[12]   Yet, despite headway made in various cases involving anti-trust measures, the 1977 and 1982 NFL collective bargaining agreements are â€Å"two of the least effective agreements in professional sports on the issue of player mobility.†[13] It was during the 1982 strike that players gained the greatest ground in their battle with owners.   After a 57 day strike and a nine game season the Players Association won big concessions including a considerable raise in pay and the right to copies of individual contracts.[14]   Yet, issues such as free agency, pensions and severance pay remained on the bargaining table. The 1987 strike was a continuation of the demands of 1982 but this time around the player’s union was badly organized and many were reluctant to go on strike in the first place.[15]   The end result was that the players lost their check off privelege, in addition to be replaced by aspiring NFL players for a time.   Staudohar claims that, â€Å"By striking when so many players preferred not to, the union may have harmed itself.†[16] The strike of 1987 would be the beginning of a bitter relationship between the NFL Players Association and the NFL Commission.   The end result was that playing went on for six years without a labor deal and with considerable distrust between Gene Upshaw, head of the Players Association and Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner for the NFL.[17] By 1993 both sides were ready to talk and the end result was the granting of unrestricted free-agency rights for the players and a salary cap for the owners.   Fisher claims that, â€Å"The trade gave each side a key concession it had sought for years, but also tied them together at the hip. Veteran players finally could take full charge of their careers and maximize their incomes, but only within the overall limits set by the salary cap, which in turn reflects league revenues.†[18] Since then the contract has been re-signed with ease four times since 1993.   Currently the CBA covers areas such as the minimum salary for the league, the salary cap, the annual collegiate draft, and free agency rules.[19]   In May of 2006 the CBA was negotiated again with a salary cap of 94.5 million, 56.5% of football revenue to the players association and free agency for the players.   The talks were complicated by the talks around revenue-sharing policies of the owners.[20] Conclusion Labor relations within American football was largely put on hold for the first half of the century.   Struggles between the NFL and various aspiring football leagues such as the AFL took precedence over the creation of player’s unions.   It wasn’t until the second half of the century that the NFL would have to come face to face with player demands backed by an ever-strong NFLPA.   While the union suffered a set back in the 1987 strike by 1993 it had negotiated an essential issue for its players, free-agency.   Throughout the past forty years player’s unions have consistently fought against anti-trust measures and have to a great extent come out on top.   We can only wait to see what the future holds for them. Works Cited â€Å"Collective Bargaining Agreement Between the NFL Management Council and the NFL Player’s Association.†Ã‚   March 8. 2006,   nflpa.org Fisher, Eric.   â€Å"MLB Can Learn from the NFL: The Game Would Benefit If Owners/players Emulated Their Football Counterparts.†Ã‚   Insight on the News   January 7. 2002,   32-34. Forbes, Gordon.   â€Å"82 strike changed salary dealings forever.†Ã‚   USA Today   August 6. 2001,   http://www.usatoday.com/sports/comment/forbes/2001-06-08-forbes.htm Gould, William, B and Staudohar, Paul, D.   Labor Relations in Professional Sports.   Dover: Auburn House,   1986. â€Å"NFL sets paid attendance record.†Ã‚   NFL News   April 13. 2007,   http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9908132 Scremin, Glaucio.   â€Å"Impact of Antitrust Laws on American Professional Team Sports.† United States Sports Academy: The Sports Journal   2005, http://www.thesportjournal.org/2005Journal/Vol8-No1/SCJ_04_antitrust.asp Staudohar, Paul, D.   â€Å"The Football Strike of 1987: A Question of Free Agency.†Ã‚   Monthly Labor Review   111 (1988):   26-35. Weisman, Larry.   â€Å"NFL labor talks stall, free agency postponed again.†Ã‚   USA TODAY   May 3.   2006,  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2006-03-05-labor-talks_x.htm [1] Gould, William, B and Staudohar, Paul, D.   Labor Relations in Professional Sports.   Dover: Auburn House,   1986: 88. [2] Gould and Staudohar, 89 [3] Gould and Staudohar, 89 [4] 91 [5] Gould and Staudohar, 92 [6] â€Å"NFL sets paid attendance record.†Ã‚   NFL News   April 13. 2007,   http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9908132 [7] Gould and Staudohar, 93 [8] Gould and Staudohar, 94. [9] â€Å"NFL sets paid attendance record.†Ã‚   NFL News   April 13. 2007,   http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9908132 [10] Gould and Staudahar, 2. [11] Scremin, Glaucio.   â€Å"Impact of Antitrust Laws on American Professional Team Sports.† United States Sports Academy: The Sports Journal   2005 [12] Scremin. [13] Gould and Staudohar, 109. [14] Forbes, Gordon.   â€Å"82 strike changed salary dealings forever.†Ã‚   USA Today   Aug 6. 2001,   http://www.usatoday.com/sports/comment/forbes/2001-06-08-forbes.htm [15] Staudohar, Paul, D.   â€Å"The Football Strike of 1987: A Question of Free Agency.†Ã‚   Monthly Labor Review   111 (1988): 26 [16] Staudohar, 26 [17] Fisher, Eric.   â€Å"MLB Can Learn from the NFL: The Game Would Benefit If Owners/players Emulated Their Football Counterparts.†Ã‚   Insight on the News   Jan 7. 2002: 33 [18] Fisher, 34 [19] â€Å"Collective Bargaining Agreement Between the NFL Management Council and the NFL Player’s Association.†Ã‚   March 8. 2006,   nflpa.org [20] Weisman, Larry.   â€Å"NFL labor talks stall, free agency postponed again.†Ã‚   USA TODAY   May 3.   2006,  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/20 06-03-05-labor-talks_x.htm

Work Experience

For this essay, my task is to produce an essay explaining what my work experience week was like. Even though I can't put every detail down, I will write about the most important parts of my week that will remain as good, and some also embarrassing memories. When I heard about work experience my first thoughts about it were, ‘what if Im not good enough. ‘ and ‘I wonder where I'll be put. ‘ To say the least, I was very nervous. We had forms to fill in about work experience. I had to tick off what I would prefer to do, so I chose to work in retail and fashion. So I was likely to work in a clothes shop, ironically that's where I got put. I was now officially working in Burtons. I wanted to work in retail because I was generally interested in fashion, as at the time I wanted to become a fashion designer. I soon realised working in retail had nothing to do with the fashion itself, it did however, have a lot to do with business. At first I was a bit worried because I thought only men worked there, so to calm my nerves, me and a few of my friends decided to go and have a little look in there and see what it's like. Luckily, I did see a couple of women in there so I realised that I wouldn't be the only one. Besides, working with young lads weren't going to be a bad thing was it? As the time got closer, I had to start thinking about travel and what I'd wear there. These small problems were soon easily solved. I decided that I would get the bus there, but because I was placed at the Burtons in Bracknell, I would have to leave about an hour before starting time, as buses took about 40-50 minutes at rush hour. What I was going to wear soon became no object as I went shopping the weekend before. New clothes- every girl's passion. So I was pretty much set; I had my clothes, my way of getting there, and everything I needed was organised. Monday finally came, as I sat on the bus at 8. 0am, the nerves soon reappeared. For the next 40 minutes, I sat there thinking about what it would be like, but soon acknowledged that the majority of my year was in the same position as I was. I also recognised that it wouldn't be as bad as I thought. So when the bus stopped I walked positively towards the shop, the funny thing was, I was slightly early, so I had to stand outside, I felt a bit out of place at that point, and im sure I looked quite stupid. It didn't matter too much to me though; I just concentrated on making a good impression. So I stood waiting patiently for the grey, shutter to slowly open. About ten minutes later, they eventually did. And the shop was up and ready for the day ahead. I stood up straight, and confidently walked towards the front desk where the employees were all gathered. I introduced myself and got fully acquainted with all the staff present. The manager, Andrea, gave me a brief introduction on what goes on at the store, and just small bits of necessary information id need to know to get me throughout the week like where my locker was based. She then sent me and another employee- Michael, down to the staff area to do my health and safety assessment, just to see what I knew about the process †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ but before I went to do the assessment Michael took me outside to see where I would have to go if a fire occurred. This didn't take long. After that I proceeded to do the assessment. It wasn't very interesting, in fact, I actually almost fell asleep! Putting that aside, it was quite an eventful morning. Throughout that day, I just got to know a bit more about the staff; I also asked a few questions about the shop as well, one that I asked was if they had cameras in the store itself, and Richard, another employee, said to me â€Å"Would you like people watching you whilst you're working all day? I don't think I'll ever forget that, in reply to his question, I said no. So Burtons didn't have security cameras? This led me onto thinking whether anyone stole from the shop. Surely they didn't otherwise they would put cameras in, but I found out a bit later on that people do steal. This isn't good for their inventory either. So throughout the week I'd hear one employee after another saying that they found a tag and coat hanger on the floor, this annoyed Andrea a lot. Another thing that annoyed Andrea was when a group of my friends all decided to come in and greet me on my first day. I knew that this wasn't very professional so I told them that they would have to leave. After that small incident, Andrea explained that I was to act like I was a real employee to Burton and my friends were not aloud to come in and distract me like they did. I understood that and carried on with what I was doing. My time at Burtons was fairly boring, with the work that is. I had to go around the shop making sure everything was in its rightful place; another thing I had to do was sort the delivery totes. I had to unwrap the products, tag them, cube them and then go and find where they were meant to go. It made the time go by, and I preferred doing this to walking around the shop organising the clothing. One thing I learnt from this was that in retail, the people don't call the boxes ‘boxes'. They call them ‘totes' I don't know why this is but it' just what they used. So that was what delivery was. This is all I tended to do during work experience. Id have a laugh with the other staff members, it helped because their ages ranged from 16 to 20. So I found it easy to get along with them. This helped me feel more comfortable there. Towards the end of the week, a couple of the staff decided to play a little joke on me, so when I got back off my 15 minute break, Richard told me to go downstairs to see Andrea. So I discontinued what I was going to get on with, and pondered down to see her. She and another employee gave me a task. This was to walk over to Topshop, and ask the manager for a ‘long weight' me being unaware of this joke, agreed to it and went to do what they had asked. I wasn't really thinking about what they had asked for, I was thinking more about not making any mistakes. So when I arrived, I went to the front desk and asked for the ‘long weight'. The lady at the till looked at me puzzled for a second, and then called for assistance. the manager came out and told me it was a joke, and that there was no such thing as a long weight, well apart from the long wait I had received from the ‘long weight'. Once I had understood what had happened, me and my extremely red face exited the store and remained back to Burtons. Only to come back to be laughed at more, I was not amused! I just continued back to my work and didn't say much after that. So that was my embarrassing moment; I guess it could have been worse, but I still didn't appreciate being humiliated in front of a shop full of strangers. But despite that incident, I found the week to be a big wake up call in all honesty. I never thought that working in a shop could ever be so tiring! I was on my feet for seven and a half hours. As I had an hour for lunch and two fifteen minute breaks. The thing was, when the shop had very few customers, that was the most tiring part, because there was nothing there to keep me occupied. For all five days, there was at least an hour where this occurred. I dreaded it! In conclusion, I found the week very productive, I learnt a lot more than I expected to, met new people, got an insight about what real work is, and my real accomplishment†¦ getting to work on time everyday. I was very proud of myself for this, and it still amazes me to this day. I would defiantly advise for the work experience programme to continue as it worked wonders for me, and to thank me for the work I did, Andrea gave me a box of maltesars for the hard work and dedication I put in there. She also said that I had a place there to work if I wanted it. I didn't take up the offer as I don't feel that's the best place for me.