Social Intelligence of People Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Intelligence of People - Assignment Example Albrecht scale of behavioral concepts can help identify areas of human interaction that need to be addressed for improved social skills. I have achieved a score of 91 on Albrecht’s self-assessment quiz which has revealed my nourishing and toxic behavioral traits. Five aspects of each are discussed as below. Five of my most nourishing traits are: communicating openly and honestly; acknowledging and affirming others; expressing respect for others’ ideas; and sympathize with others; and keeping confidences. These have helped me to build a constructive social relationship with lots of genuine friends and well-wishers. These attributes have also given me credibility amongst friends and acquaintances, facilitating improved performance in academia as well as personal development as an individual. Respecting others’ ideas has helped me to develop critical thinking and providing me with the ability to look for new opportunities even in adverse circumstances. My five toxic behaviors include: monopolizing conversation; sometimes snappy and moody having low tolerance; interrupting others and not listening patiently to others; bragging, and manipulating others for my own goals. These traits have created some enemies and have blocked my progress in the work arena. They have also created distrust amongst some of my acquaintances and obstructed my progress in studies as well as frustrated my efforts for strengthening my relationships others. These traits have led to reduced trust and respect amongst my friends and peer group. I would like to have more communication skills as they are important tools for resolving conflicts. It is an important mechanism of expressing and explaining facts that could create problems for oneself and others. A person, who makes effort to develop better ways of communicating with other people, is able to strengthen his/her personal and  professional relationship and facilitate a better understanding that paves way for a productive outcome.  Moreover, the vast scope of communication, in terms of behavioral pattern, language used and non-verbal means of contact are important aspects which are extremely relevant in the social interaction.  

National Brands vs. Private Labels Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

National Brands vs. Private Labels - Term Paper Example Private brands, however, have a great economic value for both the retailer and the customer. They do create customer loyalty that eventually contributes to referrals and effective word of mouth to other customers and thus higher sales for the retailer. In addition, private labels give retailers sole ownership of the product. The retailer will come up with innovative ideas related to pricing and quantity and thus suiting the preferences of the customer (Horowitz, 2000). The main disadvantage of nation-manufacturer brand emanates from the high cost that may discourage some consumers and limit profitability while low unit profit margin that may compromise quality to consumers and motivation among retailers is the major disadvantage of private-label brands. It is quite difficult to determine whether the own-labeled brands are equal in pricing and quantity to national labeled brands. Hence, the customers may be exploited without their knowledge. Unlike the store brands, national brands spend exorbitant amounts of resources in advertising across a wider region and the burden of the cost falls on the customer because of the expenses incurred (Aaker, 1991; Horowitz,

Soil stabilization with lime in road construction

Soil stabilization with lime in road construction Soil Stabilization with lime Lime is another fundamental soil material that has been widely used as soil stabilizer for road pavement construction. Limestone is a soil material that discovered from sedimentary rock combining of high levels of calcium and magnesium carbonate composition as other small amounts of minerals. This is the extraction of underground mines and quarries all around the world. Therefore, the lime can be very cheap, it can be found everywhere in many countries. There is no transportation between long distances and it normally used to create a capping layer of road pavement from appropriate in- situ soils. In some road pavements, lime is considered to be a subbase layers that appeared the first part of a two part construction process using ordinary Portland cement and ground blast furnace cement. In general, the plasticity of soil material can be decreased by treating the performance of fine-grained soils. Once, the characteristic or physical property been changed, an improvement of workability needs to be made and also the volume of the material needs to be reduced. in addition, the strength of lime is basically depended on many elements such as curing time, curing temperature, water content and percentage of lime content. Types of lime. There are many types of lime have been introduced as soil stabilizer for road pavement. However, several types of lime have been commonly used there are dolomitic lime, calcitic quicklime, dolomitic quicklime and hydrated high-calcium lime respectively. The high calcium hydrated lime is used more often, this is because the hydrated lime is much less caustic than quicklime, the high calcium hydrated lime is a dry powder that made by a chemical reaction of quicklime with water to ensure natural affinity of the quicklime for moisture content. Easy to form the hydrated lime that is suspended or mud, often the process of pumping a variety of positions within the industrial plant. The alkaline as a result, having a pH of 12.4. Most hydrated limes have a combination of 75 percent cao and 25 percent H2O.Hydrated lime is used in a variety of industrial applications including water treatment, as an anti-stripping agent in asphalt, and in soil stabilization. Some hydrated limes are sold into the food grade market as well. Advantage The advantage of using lime as a soil stabilizer is basically concerned with many reasons such as reduced construction or operational cost during process of the project especically, reduce water use energy consumption and a reduction of Co2 emissions as well as saving time of operational processes. Stabilization with Lime-Fly Ash (LF) and Lime-Cement-Fly Ash (LCF). There is little for coarse-grained soils in soil stabilisation that can be achieved by the use of a combinations of LF or LCF. Lime -Fly Ash is also known as Coal ash which is a part of mineral residual from the burning of crushed coal. It is a combination of aluminum and silicon compounds. Once mixed with water anf lime, the mixture of soil can be created a strengthened cementitious mass accomplished of containing high compressive strengths. A combination of lime and fly-ash can also be used comomly as a soil stabiliser for stabilizering grainy materials when the lime can react with the fly-ash produced a agent. The combination of LF or LCF as a soil stabilisation is suitable for road base and sub-base materials. In gerneal,the appearance of Lime-Fly Ash or Lime-Cement-Fly Ash both them looks almost the same to the appearance of cement. When Fly Ash appear as circular particles that looks like a ball bearing while cement appears angular that looks like a crushed rock more. In addtion, Fly Ash contains strengthened cementitious quality so it can be used to replace the cement in a cement mix. Fly Ash can easily replace the cement in the concrete mixes that is good for saving costs during a soil stailisation process. There is another problem that needs to be considered once Fly-Ash as a soil stabiliser. The compressive strength of concrete mix with Fly-ash is approximately the same to the compressive strength of concrete without Fly-ash. There may be a slight decrease in compressive strength in the first, and then there is a slight increase after the first two weeks. Types of fly ash There are two different types of Fly-ash have been introducted to soil stabilisation or construction industry, type C and type F respectively. Type C Fly-ash is come from the combustion of lignite or subbituminous coal and the type C Fly-ash is also called as â€Å"high lime ash†this is because a high percentage of lime is contained in type C Fly-ash. The type C Fly-ash is a pozzolanic substance, when it is self-reactive with water . Type F Fly-Ash is produced from the combustion of anthracite or bituminous coal and sometimes it is known as â€Å"low lime† ash.It is required the addition of lime to make a reaction to produce a pozzolanic substance. TYPE F Provide sulfate resistance of cement equal to or better than Type V cement. Effectively controls heat gain during concrete curing. TYPE C When type C fly-Ash adds into the concrete mixes, it will contains a early strengths this is becuuse it contains its own amount of lime. Under this circumstance, it requires pozzolanic reaction to be started reacting eailer. Advantage; There are many advantages of using Fly-ash that concerned with the manufacturing of concrete pipe which contains a greater density of the concrete.the peremebility of a construction project can be improved by using a more dense concrete mix and reduce the probability of infiltration. Finaly, the workability of the project can also be improved by using Fly-ash material. A fly ash concrete mix will generally gain strength more slowly at early ages. After about seven days, the rate of strength gain of fly ash concrete exceeds that of conventional concrete, enabling equivalent strength at 28 days. This higher rate of strength gain continues over time enabling fly ash concrete to produce higher ultimate strength than can be achieved with conventional concrete. Stabilization with Bitumen Soil Stabilization with Bitumen which is an aggregate contains bitumen. It has a big difference in appearance when it compared to cement and lime soil stabilisation. The mechanism of bitumen is basically concerned with fine-grained soil that is a sealing or waterproofing phenomenon. The bitumen is coated by soil particles that can reduce the strengths of Soil by slowing down the penetration of water. In some construction project, the bitumen for soil stabilisation is widely used for bitumen bound pavement that is normally less than any other purpose of using. Normally, the bitumen for soil stabilisation will contain approximately about 4-8% of the soil without any water content. TYPES OF BITUMEN. Sand bitumen: a mixture of sand and asphalt, of which the sand particles cemented together, provide a more stable material. Bitumen with aggregate: asphalt mixture gradation and a good gravel or artificial aggregates, after compaction, provides a highly stable sub-base or water quality based on the quality of course. Bitumen with lime: a mixture of lime, soil and bitumen after a soil compaction, the compacted soil mixture may has characteristics of the bitumen treated materials that will contains a high PI value. In general, there are several types of bitumen used for soil stabilization. The type of bitumen which is to be used that based or depended on the different type of soil need to be used as a stabilizer, the processing for a road pavement construction and operational or weather conditions. Frost areas, tar as a binder, should be kept away because of its high temperature sensitivity. The asphalts substance can be slightly influenced by a change in temperature. According to a specific soil experiment, a good result can be perfectly achieved by the soil mixed quickly with liquid asphalt which is the stickiest one. One of the higher qualities for soil mixture that used for a central plant, the sticky grade asphalt cement should be used. There are many soil bituminous stabilization needs to be operated in a place where the bitumen material can be used directly for the soil and soil compaction can also easily be done during construction process. Emulsion is highly recommended to use in a soil stabilization construction, because of energy limitation and reduction of pollution control efforts. For a road pavement project, the engineer needs to decide what kind of the type of bitumen would be used that is based on operational or weather conditions and the cost of the project as well as the different types of equipment in the construction. There are several types of bitumen are introduced as below that would be used for the soil gradation indicated: Open-graded aggregate Rapid- and medium-curing liquid asphalts RC-250, RC-800, and MC-3000. Medium-setting asphalt emulsion MS-2 and CMS-2. Well-graded aggregate with little or no material passing the No. 200 sieve Rapid and medium-curing liquid asphalts RC-250, RC-800, MC-250, and MC-800. Slow-curing liquid asphalts SC-250 and SC-800. Medium-setting and slow-setting asphalt emulsions MS-2, CMS-2, SS-1, and CSS-1. Aggregate with a considerable percentage of fine aggregate and material passing the No. 200 sieve Medium-curing liquid asphalt MC-250 and MC-800. Slow-curing liquid asphalts SC-250 and SC-800. Slow-setting asphalt emulsions SS-1, SS-01h, CSS-1, and CSS-lh. For many road pavement design, the engineer use the bituminous stabilization which is the application of liquid to construct surface of an unbound aggregate road. There are SC-70, SC-250, MC-70, and MC-250 are respectively applied to the slow and medium curing liquid bitumen. Gradations for soil stabilization There are several soil gradations which is highly recommended to used for sub-grade base or sub-basematerial as show below in two tables Recommended gradations for bituminous stabilized sub-grade materials Recommended gradations for bituminous-stabilized base and sub-base materials MIX DESIGN In many soil stabilizations with a sub-grade material, there is one equation that needs to be applied for identifying the groundwork quantity of falloff asphalt. The equation as shown below: p = ((0.02(a) + 0.07(b) + 0.15(c) + 0.20(d))/(100 S)) X 100 Where, p = percent cutback asphalt by weight of dry aggregate a = percent of mineral aggregate retained on No. 50 sieve b = percent of mineral aggregate passing No. 50 sieve and retained on No. 100 sieve c = percent of mineral aggregate passing No. 100 and retained on No. 200 sieve d = percent of mineral aggregate passing No. 200 S = percent solvent The initial number of emulsified asphalt Once soil stabilization with sub-grade materials need to be involved in a road construction. The initial quantity of emulsified asphalt also needs to use for the sub-grade materials that can be determined by a table as shown below: Emulsified asphalt requirements For the final design stage the content of emulsified asphalt that need to be chosen based on the experimental results of the Marshal Stability testing. The test is used to determine the Marshall stability of bituminous mixture. There is a minimum requirement of Marshall Stability which required for sub-grade is 500 pounds. Once, the recommended quantities of bituminous materials need be added, if appearance of increased Marshall Stability is not shown for the soil particles, the soil gradation would be identified with more details or another type of bituminous materials need to be applied as a soil stabilizer. STABILIZATION WITH LIME-CEMENT AND LIME-BITUMEN In a road pavement construction project, the advantage of using combination stabilizers is that one of the stabilizers does not perform its effectiveness properly, the other one is able to compensate when treating a specified characteristics of a given soil. For example, lime has been used frequently with stabilizers such as asphalt or Portland cement in order to provide base courses for clay areas. Since plastic clays is not totally compatible with asphalt or Portland cement and the lime cannot corporate into the soil to make it friable, therefore, asphalt and the cement can be effectively mixed. Stabilization practice might be more expensive than conventional single stabilizer methods, but it could be still reasonably priced at places where base aggregate costs are high. There are many different types of cement as a soil stabilizer. But in this case study, two combinations of cement particle are concerned with lime-cement and lime-asphalt respectively. LIME-CEMENT Lime can be used as an initial additive with Portland cement or the primary stabilizer. The main effects lime gives is to reduce the plasticity of the soil. The main approach is to add enough lime I order to reduce the plasticity index to satisfactory levels. LIME-ASPHALT Lime can be used as an initial additive with asphalt or the primary stabilizer. The main effects lime gives is to act as an anti- stripping agent. In the layer capacity, the lime acts to neutralize acidic chemicals in the soil or aggregate which tends to interfere with bonding of the asphalt. 1-2 percent lime is basically needed for this objective. LIME TREATMENT OF EXPANSIVE SOILS. In a road pavement, the surface of an expansive soil is defined as those exceeding three percent expansion in the exhibition. The expansion of soils is concerned with a road pavement construction, when water is influenced in clay minerals. The plasticity characteristics of a soil particle can be used as an indicant for the swell potential of a soil which is shown as below: Swell potential of soils A treatment with lime would be introduced to determine the well potential of a soil. The lime can be used to reduce swell. For an expansive soil, A more or less degree of expansive soil may be present activities of the clay minerals. Once, the lime needs to be added that requires a minimum amount of the lime, it can reduce swell to acceptable limits. There is an experimental process for conducing swell test which can be found in ASTM D 1883. The depth of lime should be incorporated into the soil, in general, the equipment used by the construction of a limited. In general, A maximum required depth need to be calculated with 2 to 3 feet that can be treated directly without removal of the soil.

THE BLACK DEATH Essay -- essays research papers

The Bubonic Plague, more commonly referred to as the "Black Death," ravaged Europe between the years 1347 and 1350. During this short period, 25 million people, one third of Europe's population at the time, were killed. Thousands of people died each week and dead bodies littered the streets. Once a family member had contracted the disease, the entire household was doomed to die. Parents abandoned their children, and parent-less children roamed the streets in search for food. Victims, delirious with pain, often lost their sanity. Life was in total chaos. The Plague was a disaster without a parallel, causing dramatic changes in medieval Europe. Coming out of the East, the Black Death reached the shores of Italy in the spring of 1348 unleashing a rampage of death across Europe unprecedented in recorded history. By the time the epidemic played itself out three years later, anywhere between 25% and 50% of Europe's population had fallen victim to the pestilence. Primarily fleas and rats transmitted the Black Death. The stomachs of the fleas were infected with bacteria known as Y. Pestis. The bacteria would block the "throat" of an infected flea so that no blood could reach its stomach, and it grew ravenous since it was starving to death. It would attempt to suck up blood from its victim, only to disgorge it back into its prey's bloodstreams. The blood it injected back, however, was now mixed with Y. Pestis. Infected fleas infected rats in this fashion, and t...

Manifest Destiny and Foreign Policy Essay

The term â€Å"Manifest Destiny,† which American writer John L. O’Sullivan first used in the New York Democratic Review in 1845. , describes what most 19th-Century Americans believed was their God-given mission to expand westward, occupy a continental nation, and extend U. S. constitutional government to unenlightened peoples. The idea was the driving force behind the rapid expansion of America into the West from the East, and it was heavily promoted in newspapers, posters, and through other mediums. While the Manifest Destiny was not itself an official government policy, it had a critical impact on the foreign policy of the U. S. and encouraged Westward colonization, territorial acquisition, and American thought during the 19th century. Westward expansion A. K. A. â€Å"Manifest destiny† led to America’s rapid acquisition of the old Mexican Southwest and the Oregon Territory that marked the fulfillment of President James K. Polk’s expansionistic campaign promises. Polk ran on only one platform — westward expansion. He wanted to officially claim the southern part of Oregon Territory; annex the American Southwest from Mexico; and annex Texas. Thus, Polk’s desire for land would eventually cause a great deal of suffering for many Mexicans, Native Americans and United States citizens. Following the earlier Texas War of Independence from Mexico, tensions between the two largest independent nations on the North American continent grew as Texas eventually became a U. S. state. Disputes over the border lines sparked military confrontation, helped by the fact that President Polk eagerly sought a war in order to seize large tracts of land from Mexico. The war took place mainly on Mexican soil. Partially because of disorganization and instability in the Mexican government, the war resulted in and American victory. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the war, made the southern boundary of Texas the Rio Grande, gave California and New Mexico to the United States, and gave $15 million to Mexico in compensation. Furthermore, the Manifest Destiny affected the foreign policy of the U. S. through Polk appointing John Slidell of Louisiana as minister to Mexico, and instructing him to offer up 30 million dollars to settle the disputed claims and purchase California and New Mexico—the territory between Texas and California. Like Polk many Americans during the 1840s-1850s were motivated by the spirit of the Manifest Destiny. Specifically, â€Å"Oregon Fever† seized thousands of western Americans hit hard by the economic depression (known as the Panic of 1837)—triggered largely by an over-speculation in federal lands. Missouri was the starting point of the 2,000 mile Overland Trail, traveled by Jedediah Smith, Jim Bridger, and other mountain men. Commonly referred to as the â€Å"Oregon Trail,† the route ran along the Missouri and Platte Rivers, across the Great Plains, and through the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains. By, Americans moving that far west in Oregon only further supports that the Manifest Destiny impacted American thought and Westward colonization. Lastly, President James Polk used the cry of â€Å"Manifest Destiny† during his 1844 election, calling for the annexation of â€Å"All of Oregon†, and â€Å"Fifty Four Forty or Fight†, both popular rallying cries supporting annexation. James K. Polk’s used the Presidential bully pulpit and the cry of â€Å"Manifest Destiny† at different times, first with the British in attempts to gain Oregon and a couple years later to force Mexico to settle in 1848 and compromise, selling California and New Mexico to the United States to help end the war between the US and Mexico. Through the Manifest Destiny, Americans were motivated to seek economic and land opportunities especially in California. For example, the Gold Rush attracted an abundance of Americans to strike it rich. James Marshall found gold while working for John Sutter at his ranch in northern California on January 24, 1848. He had been hired to build a mill for Sutter. This place would enter American lore as ‘Sutter’s Mill’. Word quickly spread through California, the rest of America and eventually the world and people flocked to California to make their fortune. In fact, according to some estimates, the population increased by 86,000 people in two years. Most of these treasure seekers left for California in 1849, hence our name for them: 49ers. Next, the first lucky arrivals were able to find nuggets of gold in the streambeds. These people made quick fortunes. It was a unique time in history where individuals with literally nothing to their name could become extremely wealthy. The gold was free for whoever was lucky enough to find it. It is no surprise that gold fever hit so heavily. Yet the majority of those who made the journey out West were not so lucky. The individuals who became the richest were in fact not these early miners but were instead entrepreneurs who created businesses to support all of the prospectors. However, the Gold Rush reinforced the idea of Manifest Destiny. America was destined to span from Atlantic to Pacific, and the accidental discovery of Gold made California an even more essential part of the picture. Furthermore, the U. S. started an act called the Homestead Act. The Homestead Act stated that any White American that is over the age of 21 could move to the West side of the U. S. and own 160 acres of un-owned land if they wanted to. It also stated that a White American could get 160 acres of un-owned land and build a house on it then after 5-years it could be your land. The Homestead Act helped the western expansion in which was fueled by Manifest Destiny through the concept of how it’s the people’s â€Å"God Given Right† to own land. The Manifest Destiny also brought a strong feeling of Nationalism amongst the peoples. Nationalism was the key point in the west ward expansionism. Without this feeling of â€Å"unity† in our country we never would have made it. The spirit of â€Å"Manifest Destiny† pervaded the United States during the Age of Reform—the decades prior to the Civil War. John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the influential United States Magazine and Democratic Review, gave the expansionist movement its name in 1845, when he wrote that it is â€Å"the fulfillment of our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions. Manifest Destiny was stimulated by nationalism and an idealistic vision of human perfectibility. It was America’s duty to extend liberty and democratic institutions across the continent. Underlying this divine American mission was a feeling of cultural and even racial superiority. All in all the overall concept of the Manifest Destiny, impacted the United States’ foreign policy through territorial acquisition and influenced American thought in which led to an abundance of Americans to move west because of economic, agricultural, and nationalistic beliefs.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 2

Damon had to wait some hours for another opportunity to feed – there were too many girls in deep sleep – and he was furious. The hunger that the manipulative creature had roused in him was real, even if it hadn't succeeded in making him its puppet. He needed blood; and he needed itsoon . Only then would he think over the implications of Caroline's strange mirror-guest: that trulydemonic demon lover who had handed her over to Damon to be killed, even while pretending to make a deal with her. NineA.M . saw him driving down the main street of the town, past an antique store, eateries, a shop for greeting cards. Wait. There it was. A new store that sold sunglasses. He parked and got out of the car with an elegance of motion born of centuries of careless movement that wasted not an erg of energy. Once again, Damon flashed the instantaneous smile, and then he turned it off, admiring himself in the dark glass of the window. Yes, no matter how you look at it, I am gorgeous, he thought absently. The door had a bell that made a tinkling sound as he entered. Inside was a plump and very pretty girl with brown hair tied back and large blue eyes. She had seen Damon and she was smiling shyly. â€Å"Hi.† And though he hadn't asked, she added, in a voice that quavered, â€Å"I'm Page.† Damon gave her a long, unhurried look that ended in a smile, slow and brilliant and complicit. â€Å"Hello, Page,† he said, drawing it out. Page swallowed. â€Å"Can I help you?† â€Å"Oh, yes,† Damon said, holding her with his eyes, â€Å"I think so.† He turned serious. â€Å"Did you know,† he said, â€Å"that you really belong as a chatelaine in a castle in the Middle Ages?† Page went white, then blushed furiously – and looked all the better for it. â€Å"I – I always wished that I'd been born back then. But how could you know that?† Damon just smiled. Elena looked at Stefan with wide eyes that were the dark blue of lapis lazuli with a scattering of gold. He'd just told her that she was going to have Visitors! In all the seven days of her life, since she had returned from the afterlife, she had never – ever – had a Visitor. First thing, right away, was to find out what a Visitor was. Fifteen minutes after entering the sunglasses shop, Damon was walking down the sidewalk, wearing a brand-new pair of Ray-Bans and whistling. Page was taking a little nap on the floor. Later, her boss would threaten to make her pay for the Ray-Bans herself. But right now she felt warm and deliriously happy – and she had a memory of ecstasy that she would never entirely forget. Damon window-shopped, although not exactly the way a human would. A sweet old woman behind the counter of the greeting cards shop†¦no. A guy at the electronics shop†¦no. But†¦something drew him back to the electronics shop. Such clever devices they were inventing these days. He had a strong urge to acquire a palm-sized video camera. Damon was used to following his urges and was not picky about donors in an emergency. Blood was blood, whatever vessel it came in. A few minutes after he'd been shown how to work the little toy, he was walking down the sidewalk with it in his pocket. He was enjoying just walking, although his fangs were aching again. Strange, he should be sated – but then, he'd had almost nothing yesterday. That must be why he still felt hungry; that and the Power he'd used on the damnable parasite in Caroline's room. But meanwhile he took pleasure in the way his muscles were working together smoothly and without effort, like a well-oiled machine, making every movement a delight. He stretched once, for the pure animal enjoyment of it, and then stopped again to examine himself in the window of the antiques store. Slightly more disheveled, but otherwise as beautiful as ever. And he'd been right; the Ray-Bans looked wicked on him. The antiques store was owned, he knew, by a widow with a very pretty, very young niece. It was dim and air-conditioned inside. â€Å"Do you know,† he asked the niece when she came to wait on him, â€Å"that you strike me as someone who would like to see a lot of foreign countries?† Some time after Stefan explained to Elena that Visitors were her friends, hergood friends, he wanted her to get dressed. Elena didn't understand why. It was hot. She had given in to wearing a Night Gown (for at least most of the night), but the daytime was even warmer, and she didn't have a Day Gown. Besides, the clothes he was offering her – a pair of his jeans rolled up at the hems and a polo shirt that would be much too big – were†¦wrong somehow. When she touched the shirt she got pictures of hundreds of women in small rooms, all using sewing machines in bad light, all working frantically. â€Å"From a sweat shop?† Stefan said, startled, when she showed him the picture in her mind.†These?† He dropped the clothes on the floor of the closet hastily. â€Å"What about this one?† Stefan handed her a different shirt. Elena studied it soberly, held it to her cheek. No sweating, frantically sewing women. â€Å"Okay?† Stefan said. But Elena had frozen. She went to the window and peered out. â€Å"What's wrong?† This time, she sent him only one picture. He recognized it immediately. Damon. Stefan felt a tightening in his chest. His older brother had been making Stefan's existence as miserable as possible for nearly half a millennium. Every time that Stefan had managed to get away from him, Damon had tracked him down, looking for†¦what? Revenge? Some final satisfaction? They had killed each other at the same instant, back in Renaissance Italy. Their fencing swords had pierced each other's hearts almost simultaneously, in a duel over a vampire girl. Things had only gone downhill from there. But he's saved your life a few times, too, Stefan thought, suddenly discomfited. And you promised you'd watch out for each other, take care of each other†¦. Stefan looked sharply at Elena.She was the one who'd made both of them take the same oath – when she was dying. Elena looked back with eyes that were limpid, deep blue pools of innocence. In any case, he had to deal with Damon, who was now parking his Ferrari beside Stefan's Porsche in front of the boardinghouse. â€Å"Stay in here and – and keep away from the window.Please ,† Stefan hastily told Elena. He dashed out of the room, shut the door, and almost ran down the steps. He found Damon standing by the Ferrari, examining the dilapidated boardinghouse's exterior – first with sunglasses on, then with them off. Damon's expression said that it didn't make a great deal of difference whichever way you looked at it. But that wasn't Stefan's first concern. It was Damon's aura and the variety of different scents lingering on him – which no human nose would ever be able to detect, much less untangle. â€Å"What have you beendoing ?† Stefan said, too shocked for even a perfunctory greeting. Damon gave him a 250-watt smile. â€Å"Antiquing,† he said, and sighed. â€Å"Oh, and I did some shopping.† He fingered a new leather belt, touched the pocket with the video camera, and pushed back his Ray-Bans. â€Å"Would you believe it, this little dust speck of a town has some pretty decent shopping. I like shopping.† â€Å"You like stealing, you mean. And that doesn't account for half of what I can smell on you. Are you dying or have you just gone crazy?† Sometimes, when a vampire had been poisoned or had succumbed to one of the few mysterious curses or illnesses that afflict their kind, they would feed feverishly, uncontrollably, on whatever – whomever – was at hand. â€Å"Just hungry,† Damon replied urbanely, still surveying the boardinghouse. â€Å"And what happened to basic civility, by the way? I drive all the way out here and do I get a  ¡Ã‚ ®Hello, Damon,' or  ¡Ã‚ ®Nice to see you, Damon'? No. Instead I hear  ¡Ã‚ ®What have you been doing, Damon?'† He gave the imitation a whining, mocking twist. â€Å"I wonder what Signore Marino would think of that, little brother?† â€Å"Signore Marino,† Stefan said through his teeth, wondering how Damon was able to get under his skin every time – today with a reference to their old tutor of etiquette and dancing – â€Å"has been dust for hundreds of years by now – as we should be, too. Which has nothing to do with this conversation, brother . I asked you what you were doing, and you know what I meant by it – you must have bled half the girls in town.† â€Å"Girls and women,† Damon reproved, holding up a finger facetiously. â€Å"We must be politically correct, after all. And maybe you should be taking a closer look at your own diet. If you drank more, you might begin to fill out. Who knows?† â€Å"If I drank more – ?† There were a number of ways to finish this sentence, but no good ones. â€Å"What a pity,† he said instead to the short, slim, and compact Damon, â€Å"thatyou'll never grow another millimeter taller however long you live. And now, why don't you tell me what you're doing here, after leaving so many messes in town for me to clean up – if I know you.† â€Å"I'm here because I want my leather jacket back,† Damon said flatly. â€Å"Why not just steal anoth – ?† Stefan broke off as he suddenly found himself flying briefly backward and then pinned against the groaning boards of the boardinghouse wall, with Damon right in his face. â€Å"I didn't steal these things,boy . I paid for them – in my own coin. Dreams, fantasies, and pleasure from beyond this world.† Damon said the last words with emphasis, since he knew they would infuriate Stefan the most. Stefanwas infuriated – and in a dilemma. He knew Damon was curious about Elena. That was bad enough. But right now he could also see a strange gleam in Damon's eyes. As if the pupils had, for a moment, reflected a flame. And whatever Damon had been doing today was abnormal. Stefan didn't know what was going on, but he knew just how Damon was going to finish this off. â€Å"But a real vampire shouldn't pay,† Damon was saying in his most taunting tones. â€Å"After all, we're so wicked that we ought to be dust. Isn't that right, little brother?† He held up the hand with the finger on which he wore the lapis lazuli ring that kept him from crumbling to dust in the golden afternoon sunlight. And then, as Stefan made a movement, Damon used that hand to pin Stefan's wrist to the wall. Stefan feinted to the left and then lunged right to break Damon's hold on him. But Damon was fast as a snake – no, faster. Much faster than usual. Fast and strong with all the energy of the life force he'd absorbed. â€Å"Damon, you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Stefan was so angry that he briefly lost his hold on rational thought and tried to swipe Damon's legs out from under him. â€Å"Yes, it's me, Damon,† Damon said with jubilant venom. â€Å"And I don't pay if I don't feel like it; I just take. Itake what I want, and I give nothing in return.† Stefan stared into those heated black-on-black eyes and again saw the tiny flicker of flame. He tried to think. Damon was always quick to attack, to take offense. Butnot like this . Stefan had known him long enough to know something was off; something was wrong. Damon seemed almost feverish. Stefan sent a small surge of Power toward his brother, like a radar sweep, trying to put his finger on what was different. â€Å"Yes, I see you've got the idea, but you'll never get anywhere that way,† Damon said wryly, and then suddenly Stefan's insides, his entire body was on fire, was in agony, as Damon lashed out with a violent whip of his own Power. And now, however bad the pain was, Stefan had to be coldly rational; he had to keepthinking , not just reacting. He made a small movement, twisting his neck to the side, looking toward the door of the boardinghouse. If only Elena would stay inside†¦ But it was hard to think with Damon still whiplashing him. He was breathing fast and hard. â€Å"That's right,† Damon said. â€Å"We vampirestake – a lesson you need to learn.† â€Å"Damon, we're supposed to take care of each other – we promised – â€Å" â€Å"Yes, and I'm going to take care ofyou right now.† And Damon bled him. It was even more painful than the lashings of Power, and Stefan held himself carefully still for it, refusing to put up a struggle. The razor-sharp teeth shouldn't have hurt as they plunged into his carotid, but Damon was holding him at an angle – now by his hair – deliberately so that they did. Then came the real pain. The agony of having blood drawn out against your will, against your resistance. That was a torture that humans compared with having their souls ripped out from their living bodies. They would do anything to avoid it. All Stefan knew was that it was one of the greatestphysical anguishes that he had ever had to endure, and that at last tears formed in his eyes and rolled down his temples and down into his wavy dark hair. Worse, for a vampire, was the humiliation of having another vampire treat you like a human, treat you likemeat . Stefan's heart was pounding in his ears as he writhed under the double carving knives of Damon's canines, trying to bear the mortification of being used this way. At least – thank God – Elena had listened to him and stayed in his room. He was beginning to wonder if Damon had truly gone insane and meant to kill him when – at last – with a shove that sent him off balance, Damon released him. Stefan tripped and fell, rolled, and looked up, only to find Damon standing over him again. He pressed his fingers to the torn flesh on his neck. â€Å"And now,† Damon said coldly, â€Å"you will go up and get me my jacket.† Stefan got up slowly. He knew Damon must be savoring this: Stefan's humiliation, Stefan's neat clothes wrinkled and covered with torn blades of grass and mud from Mrs. Flowers' scraggly flower bed. He did his best to brush them off with one hand, the other still pressed to his neck. â€Å"You're quiet,† Damon remarked, standing by his Ferrari, running his tongue over his lips and gums, his eyes narrow with pleasure. â€Å"No snappy back talk? Not even a word? I think this is a lesson I should teach you more often.† Stefan was having trouble making his legs move. Well, that went about as well as could be expected, he thought as he turned back toward the boardinghouse. Then he stopped. Elena was leaning out of the unshuttered window in his room, holding Damon's jacket. Her expression was very sober, suggesting she'd seen everything. It was a shock for Stefan, but he suspected it was an even greater shock for Damon. And then Elena whirled the jacket around once and threw it so that it made a direct landing at Damon's feet, wrapping around them. To Stefan's astonishment, Damon went pale. He picked up the jacket as if he didn't really want to touch it. His eyes were on Elena the whole time. He got in his car. â€Å"Good-bye, Damon. I can't say it's been a pleasure – â€Å" Without a word, looking for all the world like a naughty child who'd been whipped, Damon turned on the ignition. â€Å"Just leave me alone,† he said expressionlessly in a low voice. He drove off in a cloud of dust and gravel. Elena's eyes were not serene when Stefan shut the door to his room behind him. They were shining with a light that nearly stopped him in the doorway. Hehurtyou. â€Å"He hurts everyone. He doesn't seem to be able to help it. But there was something weird about him today. I don't know what. Right now, I don't care. But look at you, making sentences!† He's†¦Elena paused, and for the first time since she'd first opened her eyes back in the glade where she had been resurrected, there was a frown-wrinkle on her forehead. She couldn't make a picture. She didn't know the right words.Something inside him. Growing inside him. Like†¦cold fire, dark light, she said finally.But hidden. Fire that burns from the inside out. Stefan tried to match this up with anything he'd heard of and came up blank. He was still humiliated that Elena had seen what had happened. â€Å"AllI know that's inside him is my blood. Along with that of half the girls in town.† Elena shut her eyes and shook her head slowly. Then, as if deciding not to go any further down that path, she patted the bed beside her. Come,she ordered confidently, looking up. The gold in her eyes seemed especially lustrous.Let me†¦unhurt†¦the pain. When Stefan didn't come immediately, she held out her arms. Stefan knew he shouldn't go to them, but hewas hurt – especially in his pride. He went to her and bent down to kiss her hair.