Summary of Mortal Engines Essay Example for Free

Summary of Mortal Engines Essay The book begins by introducing the very lovable main charcter who the story is told by, Tom natsworthy, he is a 13 year old boy who works in the historians guild aboard london a large city that has been put on masssive wheels and now roams about what is called the hunting grounds in search of prey. He is what is called a tractionist these are poeple that after a catacylsmic war that completed decimated the planets population and created massive tracks ofunhabitable landscapes, devolped the technology to make thier cities mobile in order to maneuver the terrain. Their is still an ongoing war between the two factions, the tractionists who believe in Darwism and survival of the fittest and the anti-tracionists who believe in cites being stationary. The story follows the dramatic events that take a scholarly boy out of his sheltered setting at a museum and thrusts him into a world of anti-tracionists, air pirates, and reserected humans turned into mechanical monsters. Tom is in strong contrast to the characters around him, including another main character hester, an anti tracionist whos father abonded her and mother who was killed in front of her when she was just five and since then has become a untrusting and cut throat killer, these two unlikely companions are forced to work together to survive when they are both stranded in barren wastelands.These contrasting characters examplify themes that thread through this book, those of mechanical and organic, the ancient and modern, good and evil. despite their releationship with eachother Tom and Hester were raised to have completly diffrent philisophical views of the world but are able to eventually grow to accept one anothers idoelogies through the experinces and hardships they go through together. It was a dark, blustery afernoon in spring, and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-otu bed of the old North Sea. in happier times, London would have never bothered with such feeble prey. The great Traction City had once spent its days huntign far bigger towns than this This quote illustrates the dog eat dog world this book is set in and is an example of a reoccuring theme that is thread throughout the book, the contrast between mechanical and organic. The poeple in the book are graced with advanced technology that we could only dream of, yet they use it in such a primal way. They somehow have reverted to primative ways and use their collussul creations to hunt one another even to the exstent that they refer to cities as if they were living creatures. The tone is both dark and medevil withe the anger of conflict and war permiating this science fiction scenario. An attraction and strength of this book is the invetive settings and originality of the cultures and characters that inhabit the story. It is a vivid and invetive steam punk book that melds science fitcion and the future with so many elements that are familair from the past with deep thought provking ideas. The description of the landscapes interoir and exteroir the detailed inventions and the gripping plot hold the readers attention and leave you anticipating were the story will go next.

Staphylococcus Aureus: Structure and Function

Staphylococcus Aureus: Structure and Function Staphylococcus was first discovered in 1880 by Alexander Ogston. Currently, more than 30 different species of the genus has been identified. The name Staphylococcus was derived from Greek, with the prefix Staphylo referring to bunches of grapes and the suffix coccus referring to granule (16). As the meanings suggest, bacteria from Staphylococcus are circular-shaped and their arrangement resembles bunches of grapes when observed under a microscope. Typically, a Staphylococcus has a diameter of approximately 1ÃŽÂ ¼m (21). The bacterial genus, Staphylococcus, will be isolated and identified in this project. This genus has been chosen to review because of its abundance on the skin of mammals and the pathogenic nature of one of its member, Staphylococcus aureus. Apart from skin infections, Staphylococcus aureus could mutate to form Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which shows resistance to antibiotics. In both cases, these give rise to medical implications. In addition, the distinctive features of Staphylococcus aureus have increased the ease to isolate and identify it from other species in the genus via culturing and biochemical tests. The aim of the project is to isolate Staphylococcus aureus from a bundle of cat hairs and verify its identity via microscopic examination and biochemical tests. No human specimen is used due to the potential pathogenic property of the bacterium. It is intended that a pure culture of pathogenic Staphylococcus aureus is obtained. For the purposes of this project, the importance of Staphylococcus aureus to humans, its classification in terms of morphology and physiological properties, methods of isolation with the use of growth media and the technique of streak plating and identification by biochemical tests would be the four objectives to be addressed. Objective 1: Importance of Staphylococcus aureus to humans The importance of Staphylococcus aureus to humans would be outlined by a review of its cell structure, cell physiology and environmental niches, followed by the medical implications of Staphylococcus as a result of these properties. Cell structure As a member of the Bacteria domain, it is expected that Staphylococcus has bacterial cell structure. In other words, it lacks nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. The structural elements in a cell of Staphylococcus should include a cell membrane, cell wall, ribosome and nucleoid (6). Moreover, being one of the five genera from the family of Staphylococcaceae, Staphylococcus possesses specific cellular properties that are unique to this family. In particular, it is a cocci and gram-positive bacterium and this indicates that its cell wall is essentially composed of a thick layer of peptidoglycan (21). In addition to the above structures, Staphylococcus aureus possesses some special cellular structures that distinguish it from other species in the genus. This includes the possession of surface proteins that help attachment to proteins such as the fibronectin and fibrinogen-binding proteins involved in blood clotting (3). This cellular property may explain the pathogenic nature of Staphylococcus aureus, as infections might be caused by invasion via wounds. On the other hand, it is worthwhile to note that Staphylococcus does not have flagella and spores (16). That is to say, Staphylococcus aureus is non-motile. Cell physiology The cell physiology of Staphylococcus covers temperature, pH and oxygen requirements. Most Staphylococcus can grow at 45Â °C, but it is reasonable to predict that its optimal temperature for metabolism would be close to the body temperature of humans, which is 37Â °C (5). Concerning the optimum pH for metabolism, the enzymes in Staphylococcus work best in slightly alkaline medium, with a pH range of 7.4 to 7.6 (16). As for oxygen requirement, Staphylococcus is facultative anaerobic (21). This implies that Staphylococcus can grow regardless of the presence of oxygen, but the presence of oxygen would be more favorable. In the presence of oxygen, Staphylococcus utilizes glucose to carry out cellular respiration to generate energy for metabolism. Oxygen performs the role of a terminal electron acceptor and it is completely reduced to water (8). When oxygen is lacking or absent, Staphylococcus may undergo fermentation and lactic acid is the usual product (21). In the process, glucose is converted into substrate pyruvate, followed by its binding to the cofactor Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) to produce lactic acid (6). Moving on the ways Staphylococcus metabolize, as light is not readily available on skin surface and mucous membranes, it is proposed that Staphylococcus obtain energy via organic chemical compounds. Hence it is regarded as a chemotroph (21). The facultative anaerobic property of Staphylococcus may lead to a deduction that it utilizes organic carbon as the source of electron when oxygen is present. Though some Staphylococcus may use reduced forms of inorganic nitrates to generate electrons, its preference towards an aerobic atmosphere should define it as an organotroph (21). When comes to carbon source, Staphylococcus is a heterotrophy (12). That is to say, it attains its carbon source by utilization of organic substances such as sucrose for synthesis of metabolites (19). To summarize, Staphylococcus should be one of the members of the microbial group, Chemo-organotrophic heterotrophs. Environmental niches The environmental niches of Staphylococcus can be addressed by its interactions with the environment as to where it is found, the type of relationship it forms with other organisms and its capability of undergoing mutation. Staphylococcus is commonly found on the skin and mucous membranes of animals with stable body temperatures, including humans (15). Typically, the skin temperature of humans is approximately 32Â °C, which is reasonably close to the optimal temperature of 37oC (22). This enhances the growth of this microbe on skin. Moreover, the salty environment along skin surface due to the production of sweat may also account for the abundance of Staphylococcus in humans, since its enzymatic activity is optimal at more alkaline pH (17). Staphylococcus aureus specifically colonizes in nasal cavity, larynx and on the skin surface of humans (2). The colonization of Staphylococcus aureus is principally achieved by fibrinogen-binding proteins adhering to the epithelial cells of the humans and thus this may outline a host-parasitic relationship between Staphylococcus and humans (10). The interactions of Staphylococcus with the environment may also be underlined by mutation, which often occurs with Staphylococcus aureus. An example would be Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant particularly to the antibiotic, Methicillin (21). The mutation is caused by an alteration of the methicillin-resistance gene (mec A) coding for a penicillin-binding protein (4). This results in failure of antibiotics to cure infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus, which will be addressed in the medical implication section. Medical implications of Staphylococcus The features as in the cell structure, cell physiology and environmental niches of Staphylococcus can pose a great diversity of medical implications, which presents the importance of this bacterial genus. Statistics show that Staphylococcus aureus is present in 79% of healthy people (14). Though Staphylococcus may colonize on the skin surface of the host without causing any harms, its ubiquity can still present various medical issues. The MRSA mentioned previously would be one of the problems associated with Staphylococcus. Apart from methicillin, MRSA could show resistance against many other antibiotics such as penicillin and amoxicillin (1). The ineffectiveness of existing antibiotics to cure MRSA infections has resulted in fatality, and it is usually characterized by the incidence of septic shock and pneumonia (11). A rapid increase of MRSA infections has been observed over the decades. The rate of hospitalized MRSA infections was only 2% in 1974 but this figure increases dramatically to approximately 40% in 1997 (13). Consequently, this causes deaths of 19000 in the United States of America annually (11). As Staphylococcus colonies on skin surfaces and mucous membrane, skin infections and diseases associated with mucous membranes could be another medical implication. It is known that Staphylococcus aureus may cause Scalded Skin and Toxic Shock syndromes. Moreover, it may cause urinary tract infections and food poisoning (9). Objective 2: Classification of Staphylococcus The classification of Staphylococcus can be reviewed in terms of its morphology and some of the physiological properties stated above. Morphology The morphology of Staphylococcus can be described as cocci gram positive bacteria arranged in a cluster, which can be readily observed under microscope with the application of gram stain. A purple color would be observed. The reason for its cluster formation may be explained by its capability of undergoing binary fission in multiple planes with daughter cells remains proximal to each other (16). Physiological properties In terms of thermal requirement, Staphylococcus is classified as a mesophile. Regarding pH requirements, it falls into the category of neutrophile. Moreover, being a facultative anaerobe, Staphylococcus is catalase positive and it is generally considered a chemoorganotrophic heterotroph. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus is coagulase positive but not for other species in the genus. The absence of flagella indicates that Staphylococcus is a non-motile bacterium. Objective 3: Methods of Isolation of Staphylococcus The methods of isolation of Staphylococcus would include growing in medium followed by streak plating. Growth media To ensure optimum growth of Staphylococcus colonies, the sample of cat hairs should be enriched in nutrient broth with sodium chloride (NaCl) before plating on a nutrient agar. A nutrient broth normally consists of beef extract and peptone as fuels for growth (21). The temperature of incubation should be 37Â °C and the duration of incubation should be at least a day (20). This ensures that the Staphylococcus isolated can have sufficient time to grow at its optimum temperature. The addition of salt allows for a selective medium for Staphylococcus as it predominantly grows in salty environment. It also increases the pH of the medium to provide for a more alkaline environment to facilitate growth. Alternatively, a growth medium can be done via a Mannitol salt agar (MSA), which consists of 7.5% of NaCl and phenol red as a pH indicator. The medium is then incubated at 37Â °C for two days (14). MSA essentially acts as both a selective and differential medium. NaCl selects for saline-favored Staphylococcus and the pH indicator differentiates between Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Differentiation can be illustrated by the fact that Staphylococcus aureus utilizes mannitol in the agar for metabolism, and the generation of acidic product is indicated by a yellow color. However, this phenomenon does not apply to Staphylococcus epidermidis (21). Streak Plating Following enrichment, Staphylococcus in the medium can be transferred to an agar plate with nutrient broth and salt, by employment of aseptic techniques. At the same time, a transfer to an agar plate with only nutrient broth should be performed as a control set-up. This is to ensure the effectiveness of the selective media because other bacteria could grow on the agar plate if the medium was not set up properly. Afterwards, the plates would be incubated for a week at 37oC for at least a day as in the incubation of sample in the nutrient broth. Plating and incubation should be repeated a few times to make sure that the colonies grown are pure. Objective 4: Identification by biochemical tests The identity of Staphylococcus cannot be confirmed by carrying out the gram reaction alone due to the fact that a great variety of bacteria from other genus may also show gram positive reaction. Therefore, some biochemical tests have to be performed to verify that the bacteria isolated is in the genus of Staphylococcus and it is of the species Staphylococcus aureus. The catalase, Hugh and Leifsons oxidation fermentation and cogulase tests are regarded as the standard tests for identification of Staphylococcus aureus (18). The mechanism of the tests is outlined below. First of all, as Staphylococcus aureus is facultative anaerobic, it is expected that it contains enzymes to break down harmful products generated along the pathways of aerobic respiration. For instances, catalase breaks down superoxide radical hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to oxygen and water, which are less harmful (8). Therefore colorless gas bubbles can be observed when H2O2 is added to a colony of Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, this property allows the Hugh and Leifsons oxidation fermentation test to be performed. The bacterial sample is inoculated in a tube of Hugh Leifsons medium for five days to generate an anaerobic environment (18). As Staphylococcus can undergo fermentation in the absence of oxygen, growth can be observed throughout the tube. At the same time, it is necessary to implement positive and negative controls in order to confirm results. This can be achieved by inoculating bacteria that are known to be fermentative and oxidative respectively in the Hugh Leifsons medium along with the sample of Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, the identification test between Staphylococcus aureus and other bacteria in the genus would be based on its reaction with coagulase. Staphylococcus aureus readily coagulates plasma but not for others species in the genus (21). To ensure accuracy of the test, it is preferable to test on colonies extracted from culture plates that are known to contain coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative Staphylococcus epididymis respectively. The former acts as a positive control, while the latter acts as a negative control. Conclusion In conclusion, Staphylococcus is a bacterial genus that can pose various medical implications and it can be grown, isolated and identified based on its, environmental niches, morphology, physiological and structural characteristics. The aims of isolating Staphylococcus aureus as a pure culture and identifying by morphology and biochemical tests can be addressed by a review of the four objectives as summarized below. Firstly, it is often found on epidermis of animal skins including humans and its ability to metabolize optimally at 37Â °C and at pH of 7.4-7.6 or salty environment makes it a potential pathogen to humans. In particular, the species Staphylococcus aureus can cause a great diversity of diseases and the mutated Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus could be fatal owing to its resistance to most antibiotics. Secondly, it can be classified in terms of morphology and some of the physiological characteristics. Its morphology is gram positive and non-motile cocci bacteria growing in clusters. It is a mesophile, nuetrophile and facultative anaerobe. It is catalase positive and only Staphylococcus aureus is coagulase positive. The energy, electron and carbon sources of Staphylococcus aureus can be described as chemo-organotrophic heterotrophic. Thirdly, regarding growth medium, the sample of cat hair should be enriched in a medium of sodium chloride before incubating on an agar plate of nutrient broth and salt. In both cases, incubation should be at 37oC for a day. The colonies should be streaked plated a few times to remove contaminants so as to ensure culture is pure. This increases the efficiency of isolation of Staphylococcus aureus. Lastly, Staphylococcus aureus can be identified by the catalase, Hugh Leifsons oxidation fermentation and coagulase tests. It is expected that bubbling is observed as a positive result in the catalase test. As for the Hugh Leifsons oxidation fermentation test, growth can be observed throughout the tube. In the coagulase test, clumping of plasma is seen as a positive result and this differentiates Staphylococcus aureus from other species in the genus. These tests establish the identity of Staphylococcus aureus.

Cities :: Sociology, Rising Urban Stars

Most people live in cities, while other live in rural areas. A city life is usually more exhilarating because it got shopping malls, restaurants, schools, transportation, hospitals, and much more. But what is a city? A city is a large area were group of people with similar characteristics live and practice their ordinary daily activities. According to Caves (2005), a city cannot be defined by one definition because it includes many things that give many definitions. Each city has a different way of developing and growing, it takes different steps to become more sustainable, and has the proof, such as Dubai, that shows it is a triumphant city. Many ways are available for the city to evolve. Foroohar (2006) stated that a city could grow when country’s government search for ways to decentralize the work. As an illustration, "Rising Urban Stars" cities such as Las Vegas, Dubai, and Cape Town are offering abundance of flourishing careers in service businesses like banking and entertainment that help the city to evolve (Foroohar, 2006). Another way for the city to expand is developing the technology. According to Foroohar, â€Å"areas with high-tech or "knowledge based" industries like finance--witness the renaissance of New York and London, and the explosion of growth in Shanghai or Hong Kong.† (2006, para.5). Cities with high technology bloom swiftly where the bankers become wealthier, salaries become higher, and the cost of real-estate soared (Foroohar, 2006). A third possible way for a city to develop is through expanding the city’s economy. Foroohar (2006) asserted that budding economies help the cit y to grow fast. For instance, 55 cities in China, 12 cities in Indonesia, and 10 cities in India are of the top 150 swiftly-expanding cities, they expand with the aid of the expanding economy in the city (Foroohar, 2006). Moreover, Arnold (2010) reported that trading and making business with foreigners is crucial for the city’s economy that promotes the city’s growth. Arnold continues by saying that’ â€Å"Legislative issues need to be addressed because they bring down funding costs and increase the absorptive capacity of the economy.’† (Shaher as cited in Arnold, 2010). Furthermore, cities can develop and enlarge through excellent transportation. Foroohar (2006) believes that outstanding transportation appeals people and businesses to the city and that helps the city to grow. In essence, cities follow different routes to expand and develop; however, they all reach the same point.

Database :: essays research papers

What is a Database?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A database is a software program arranged to collect, hold and process information. There are many software packages that help you handle information. However, what makes databases different is that once you enter the information into it, the database will operate the information in ways that allow you to analyze the data. It is designed in such a way as to make it easy to obtain precise pieces of data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Databases are used in many applications, existing in almost the entire world of computer software. Databases are the preferred method of storage for large multiuser applications, where coordination between many users is needed. Even individual users find them convenient, though, and many e-mail programs and personal organizers are based on standard database technology. An employee data base is produced in a business in order to keep their vital information and do their payrolls. They do this in a way that they can have the access to each one of the employee’s information. This database is also used to prepare their federal and state taxes. Another example of a use of a database in business is in retail stores lke meijer, macy’s, etc.. These companies create a database of products with the products’ barcodes so that when a customer comes to the register to check out, with the help of the barcode scanner , the price data of that product is applied to the customers’s invoice. The website of the Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) which is http://www.fafsa.ed.gov is a greal example of use of a form for a database. Anybody who wants to apply for financial aid has to use this website and fill out the forms online.They can access their information and continue to work on their application where they left anytime. There are databases designed to manage the inventory. Most of them are called Inventory Management Control Databases. With these databases managers can track their inventory, they can have the knowledge of what they have on hand, how much more they need to order or when each of the product’s expiration date is due by either entering the products’ names or the products’ control numbers.

schizophrenia :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hypocrites once said â€Å"only from the brain spring our pleasures, our feeling of happiness, and of tearsy†. Pleasure and pain come from the brain; however with schizophrenia some people experience not pleasure and pain, but paranoia, dementia, and can become cationic. Schizophrenia is a serious problem. This report will go over what it is, how to get help, and how it is/was treated.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Throughout history all society’s have had cases of schizophrenia. Some kings, rulers, and emperors, such as King Saul, Nebucanezzer, Henry the IV and King George the III, all had a form of schizophrenia. schizophrenia technically did not exist until 100 years ago. Until then most people thought it was demons in the body. The Ancient Egyptians thought people with mental illness had physical illness. With the Greeks they did not know what to think, so the killed or castrated the â€Å"infected† person. But with madness people have accomplished many things such as prophets and poets. â€Å" How come all men distinguished in philosophy, statesmanship, poetry, or art are melancholics and some of them to such an extent that they are affected from the illness†. History has almost always classified as one type, but actually there are four types.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the four types of schizophrenia are: dementia praecox, hebephrenic. first is catatonia, a movement disorder. the movements may be as little as a twitch some cases are more severe than others. â€Å"people with schizophrenia are often very strange and shocking† next it paranoia, as many people know paranoia is the fear of being followed with schizophrenia this fear is constant day and night. Most paranoid schizophrenic loose sleep and act out violently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another type is hebephenia, hebephenia induces childlike acts, like whining, crying and constant giggling. With all types of schizophrenia there are many mental asylum, so the schizophrenics do not cause harm to others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mental institutes started as caves away from towns, villages, and were used until religion started. After that the started thinking it was evil causing the madness. Holy wells were used in Rome, Greece, and small islands. In ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, they built temples to house the â€Å"mad†. The cost of the temples were to high they used homes as asylums. As David H. Clark said â€Å"Madness has been known to every society that has left records†. In 1839 In England first organized act was past to localize asylums. In mental asylums, new knowledge has been found.

Research Proposal Same Sex Marriage Essay

Same sex marriage has been one of the many recent political â€Å"hot† topics. It is a popular subject in political debate, national newspapers, and media coverage. These debates, articles, and reports are often focusing on rights outlined in constitutional laws, amendments and Bill of Rights as a source of the right of same sex couples to marry. Some states have addressed the issue of such rights in court cases throughout the United States with varying outcomes. This research paper is concerned with the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. It will examine the Fourteenth Amendment and the equal protection clause. It will also examine previous court cases and the outcomes. It will further demonstrate possible economic concerns of legalized same sex marriage. Research Question What issues and possible constitutional infringements surround the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment? References National Tax Journal, Vol. 53, Issue 2, June 2000 Lesbian Couples, National Center for Lesbian Rights, www.ncirights.org Legal Marriage, Court Cases, Partners Task Force for Gay and Lesbian Task Force, http://www.buddybuddy.com/t-line-1-html Policy.com Gay Marriage, Civil Liberties Union, http://www.aclu.org/library/aagaymarriage.html

Fireweed – Trip to Wales!

I am called Bill and I live with my auntie and father in London. My mother is dead and my father always said I was never to be sent away as an evacuee. When my father was called up for active service in the army I was left with my auntie. We wrote numerous letters to my father but he never replied to any of them. My auntie started to moan and groan about not being able to manage me. So, she decided to send me of as an evacuee, even though it was against my father's wishes. Auntie wrote to my father and said that I was being sent to another part of the country as an evacuee (not explaining why she sent me). I didn't even know where I was going, all alone without any money at all, not even a penny for a stamp to write to my father. The station was jam packed with children of all ages. Everyone had a bag, enclosed was a change of clothes and a label attached with an address written in capital letters to make it stand out. Two trains passed before, ours finally arrived. I was stuck in a carriage with mostly girls in uniform. Opposite me sat a great fat woman dressed all in blue, hairy tweed. As the journey progressed we passed station after station, nobody knew where we where going. Until finally the train stopped and everyone disembarked. Darkness was falling and after waiting half an hour another train came and our carriage was joined on the back. By now it was pitch black. Eventually we reached our destination, which turned out to be Wales. Once of loaded everyone was counted and put with a billeting officer who would find us billets in which to stay. One by one each child was chosen and I was last to go. The man took me up a pathway and by this stage I was feeling a tiny bit unwanted, neglected, and rather orphaned. He spoke in welsh to the people and after some persuasion they took me in. I stepped inside into a big farm kitchen where a great log fire was blazing like a forest rapidly burning down. The heat was inconceivable. Served on the tabletop there was bread, cheese and also a cold roast chicken. My stomach felt empty I was famished and the sight of food made the rumbling noises even worse. They asked my age and I replied fifteen. At last I was offered something to eat and then shown to my bedroom. The couple I was staying with were called Mr and Mrs Williams living with them were two shepherds, David and Evan. They hardly spoke a word of English just enough to cope with telling me things. In this welsh valley there were two chapels, no church and no cottages only rows of terraced houses. It was rather poor at that. I spent a lot of time on my bed reading an aged copy of the woman's weekly, which Mrs Williams stored under the staircase. When the billeting officer came round to see how I was getting on with the Williams, they seemed quite content with me. Feeling rather bored, I finally plucked up the courage and asked if there was a school nearby which I could attend. In the village there was only a primary school that was for juvenile children, but Mrs Williams suggested the grammar school on the other side of the mountains. The only trouble was how would I get there? The only option would be to get the bus. Yet again a problem arose. The bus fair! I had no money. So out came pen and paper to write a letter to my auntie telling her about the grammar school and asking if she could write to father and ask him to send me money for the bus fare. I also asked for my father's address. I posted the letter in the post office at the back of the village shop I waited for a reply but no letter came. An unusual thing happened one day, Mrs Williams approached me saying that she needed to check my hair for lice. Naturally enough I refused argued and ran out of the house until I came to a dip. I decided to jump but slipped and fell into heavy disinfectant that burnt my mouth and nose. I swallowed several mouthfuls. David and Evan who had been trying to catch me were in stitches of laughter. I was so angry I felt like a raging bull. When I gathered myself together I began to shake all over this made David and Evan very concerned. They took me back to the house and as I stood by the fire they stripped my wet clothes that were laden with disinfectant of me. Afterwards I went to bed. The following morning to my delight Mrs Jones informed me that there was post for me. My heart pounded like the footsteps of an elephant. In actual fact I received two letters! The first opened was from my auntie. Enclosed was my father's address, a book of stamps and she hoped I would write to him often. The other letter, number two was from my father. He missed me a lot. My father had sent me three whole pounds! This was the biggest amount of money I had ever been given in my life. This overwhelmed me. My first thoughts were to calculate how many bus fares would this pay for. Then I got to thinking about Auntie and home and decided that I would use the money for my train fare back to London. Leaving Mr and Mrs Williams, David, Evan and the terraced houses behind I left for the station. The timetable showed only one train per day at the village. The man at the ticket desk stared at me as though he were looking right through me. When I saw him, I was frightened that he would recognise me so I put plan B into action. I walked to the crossroads. ‘Owestry =15 miles'. I looked down at my worn shoes; there was a station at Owestry. I bought a pair of boots so I could walk to Owestry as I had a funny feeling my old shoes wouldn't make it. I set off not having the foggiest how long it would take me to walk there. I bought a brown bap from a bakery van, which I met outside the village. When I arrived in Owestry it was late afternoon. I found the station and waited for the train to leave. It left and hour and a half late. Once I reached London I caught the bus home. Suddenly it took a wrong turn! Then I was told that the street no longer stood. I got of the bus as quick as my legs could carry me. I walked to my auntie's house and everything was grand until a warden stopped me asking where I was going. I was totally bewildered they wouldn't even let me my own home. Nobody was there to look after me. My auntie was not there any more. I was going to stay put I decided at least until my father came home. I was determined about this.