EliteClean International Logistics Strategies Essay

EliteClean International Logistics Strategies - Essay Example These techniques are used to detect areas of non-value adding processes otherwise defined as waste so that the necessary steps can be taken to eliminate them. One of these techniques is value stream mapping. Value stream mapping According to Mangier (2003) value stream mapping is a technique of creating a â€Å"one-page picture† of all the processes that take place in a company. This is the process from the time a customer places an order for a product until the customer has received the product at their location. The aim of value stream mapping is to illustrate the flow of material and information across and throughout all the processes that add value from the stage of production to shipment to the customer. Value stream maps documents both value-adding and non-value-adding processes from production to shipment. In creating the value stream map business and manufacturing waste can be easily identified and thus becomes the basis on which improvements can be made to the company ’s operations. Mangier (2003) indicates that there are four steps involved in value stream mapping. They are i. Defining the product or product family; ii. Creating the â€Å"current state† value stream mapping (CSV); iii. ...   The dishwasher line is manufactured in South Korea; the laundry product line in China; and the range cookers in Thailand. The value stream map for EliteClean is shown below. Figure 1 – Current State Value Stream Map In Figure 1 above a number of activities leading to the production of items are duplicated. There are several persons carrying out procurement activities. Instead of the head office obtaining information on materials required for production, the factories are allowed to do their own procurement. This procurement is carried out by the factory manager in the case of laundry and the chief production engineer who may delegate it to a production manager at the other factories. There are several trucks of raw material going to the three different factories. Some of these trucks carry similar items which are purchased separately by the three different factories. Elite Clean has employed a push-based supply chain strategy. The factories which are located in South Korea , China and Thailand produce items without any knowledge of demand and ship them to the regional distribution centers (RDCs). These distribution centers are located in Birmingham in the UK, Jordan in the Middle East and Chicago in the USA. There is a capacity problem at the RDCs due to the fact that there are too many inventory items in stores. There is some concern that some of these items may become obsolete. There is a cost involved in holding inventory. Additionally, when the storage facilities are too packed there will be a problem moving out inventory on a first-in-first-out basis. Items are not transported to the distribution centers based on demand.

How did the Rolling Stones influence the music Article

How did the Rolling Stones influence the music - Article Example ere on their way to conquer the rock and roll world, at the same time, bands and artists like â€Å"The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Bryan Adams, Led Zeppelin† (Rej &Wyman, 2006) were establishing their names in various other genres of the music world. However, none of them contributed to the extent to which rolling stones did to music. No body dared to, and if dared then was not able to surpass rolling stones when they were on their peaks. With the release of their first album, they were on the top. With every song, the message that they gave was clear enough that â€Å"we are here to stay and to rule forever† (Rej &Wyman, 2006). The influence of Rolling Stones was so strong that all the upcoming bands and artists and had no choice but follow their footsteps. This influence was evident in the style and music of â€Å"Aerosmith, Guns & Roses, My Chemical Romance, Foo fighters, Flamin Groovies† (Rej &Wyman, 2006), and various others. Even if you open up a dictionary and search for the word â€Å"rock and roll band,† the dictionary would show you a picture of Rolling stones dancing and hopping on a stage. One can even conclude that it was rolling stones who a new life and a new definition to rock music. Moreover, it was with after various news of drug usage of rolling stones that many rock bands and artists involved themselves into heroin addiction because they thought that this is some formula for success since the rock and roll gurus are doing it. In addition, there world was restricted only to rock and roll music however they also left considerable influences on genres like blues, R&B and hip h op. It is also difficult to deny the influence of rolling stone son other bands because of the fact that since 1960’s they have been the most happening band from the United Kingdom. Moreover, no other band of that time has been able to make so many fans, sell as much albums, or perform worldwide so frequently (Wyman & Havers, 2003). Therefore, quite understandably, their influence

Lean On Me Essay Example for Free

Lean On Me Essay Sometimes it can be difficult to know for certain when you have been victimized and it can be even more difficult to understand why, who, and exactly how you have been victimized. Obviously in cases of bullying, or violence, or rape, the victimization is very obvious, but a film like Lean On Me causes the viewer to question whether or not victims can sometimes go unnoticed. One example that is subtle, but present in the film, is the idea that all of the kids in East Side High School are victims of a larger social and political world that they probably could not fathom even if they had a chance to view it in its entirety. The social class-systems and economic distribution in America, the idea of free markets and of haves and have nots is at the bottom of their difficult and crime-infested existence. The great irony of the movie is, of course, that only by getting an education can the kids at the high school escape their dismal lives and earn something better, but the very decadence and violence of the schools has created an atmosphere where learning is impossible. Everyone, including myself, has probably experienced at least one obstacle, if not many more, to receiving their right to an education. In my own case, I have been victimized not only by school bullies, but by negligent or outright hostile teachers. In one case, I remember having been given a C- on an assignment in Math where the teacher had incorrectly marked many of my answers. The assignment deserved a B but when I asked for the teacher to take another look at the assignment, I was told to accept the grade I had been given, period. That is a kind of victimization which is very slight compared to the vents portrayed in the movie Lean on Me,but it is an example of how sometimes victimization can go unnoticed. People that I have known have experienced much more extreme victimization, whether it be a female friend who is in an abusive relationship, or a close friend of mine whose own family continuously criticizes him while relying on him to run errands and help with financial obligations. Victimization seems to follow a pattern where one person or group of persons takes advantage of someone whom they perceive to be weaker, or of lesser consequence than themselves. If you are a victim, that probably means that the person or group who is victimizing you has decided that you are of lesser power and importance than they are themselves. While it is a common belief that victims are the innocent party, it is entirely possible for somebody to be a victim while at the same time victimizing others. One good illustration from Lean on Me is the school drug-dealers whoa re making victims out of the people they deal drugs to, but they are also victims themselves of the same social injustices and social inequalities that plague the others. Because you are most likely to be noticed first as a perpetrator of crime than as a victim in most cases, this kind of victimization goes unnoticed. Many forms of victimization rest on the fact that the victims are usually not regarded at large as being valuable or desirable. In many cases they also view themselves this way: as of little or no importance. The best remedy I can think of for victimization is self-empowerment. That doesnt mean violence, but it does mean that because victimization implies that one is viewed as being weaker or of lesser value the natural response to remedy victimization would be the demonstration that either or both of these assumptions are false. In the case that I related about my own math grade, the proper response would have been to seek out whatever official protocol the school offered to challenge an illigitimate grade and maybe through this means I could have had the grade changed, which, in turn would have demonstrated to the teacher that I was not of lesser consequence than the teacher themself. In the case of Lean On Me, of course, the sense of self-empowerment came through learning adn self-discipline, which is the very best method to address victimization and prevent future victimization.

The Important Parts Of Giving A Speech

The Important Parts Of Giving A Speech Firstly, the most important part of presenting a speech that cannot be done wrongly is the preparation for the speech which the speaker is about to deliver. There are a few mistakes made by the speaker that obviously shows that he is not prepared for his speech. One of the most obvious mistakes done by him was he did not rehearse his slides before his presentation. He even forgot the title of the speech he is delivering and had to refer back to the slides to see what his title was. As part of his preparation, he should rehearse his slides at least 7 times before he starts presenting his speech. He should stand in front of the mirror and practice presenting his speech so he can analyze what his presentation is lacking. With that tried, he could improve his speech delivery. Based on the text book written by Stephen E. Lucas, he quoted that a powerful speech could have genuine impact on the listeners and as a speaker he should have an ethical responsibility to consider that impact and t o make sure he is fully prepared so as he do not convey misleading information to the audience (Lucas, 2008). Misleading information could have cause tragic result to the audience as they trust the speaker for what they say. No matter what the topic is, the speaker should do extensive research to avoid any misleading or inappropriate information. Besides that, the title of the speech was too broad as well. This shows that he did not narrow down the topic. This part of his preparation is vital, as his topic should not be too broad and should be more focused before delivering to the audience. Otherwise, audience will not pay attention to what he is saying. Another mistake by the speaker was that his goals are not ethically sound. Based on the textbook, a speakers goal should be strong on its ground (Lucas, 2008). In his book, Stephen E. Lucas also mentioned that a responsible public speaker cant escape the ethical soundness of their goals. The speaker should also prepare cue cards so that he can refer and also to remind him about his points when he is delivering his speech. Cue cards should contain the key words which reminds the speakers of their points and explanations. No audiences want to see their speaker stutter on stage, because this shows the lack of confidence and lack of preparations for the speech. Thus, the preparation before a speech is a vital process in giving a speech. Secondly, another important part on presenting a speech is that cannot be done wrongly is the delivery to the audiences. The speaker made a few mistakes on the delivery aspects of his speech. To start off, he pauses frequently when delivering his ideas or thoughts due to the lack of preparations. Therefore, there are many awkward silences in the middle of his speech. Moreover, the speaker always filled the silence with the sound erm ah and so on and this is actually a very crucial mistake for a speaker. A speaker should not do that while delivering a speech because it will give the audience a negative perception or thoughts on that particular speakers intelligence. A good speaker should pauses his speech at the right time which means he should pauses in the end of his thoughts or ideas but not in the middle of it because it will confuse the audience. Secondly, the speakers voice is not clear and he likes to babble when he delivering the speech. These will actually make it difficult f or the audiences to listen to his points. As a result, the audience may not able to get full and precise information from the speaker. Therefore, voice clarity is actually an important factor in order to have an ideal speech delivery. Therefore, the speaker should speak and pronounce the word by word clearly to the audience regardless whether it is slow or fast.(Lucas, 2008) Besides that, another mistake the speaker made is that he did not use transitional devices or connectors in his speech. As a result, this could make the speech delivered ineffective because normally, connectors or transitional devices are used to signal the beginning and the end of the ideas, thoughts and sentence. In addition, the speaker also has problems with his body gestures when he is delivering his speech. To begin with, his body gesture throughout the speech delivery seems to be unnatural. As a result, the audience will feel that the speaker is not well-prepared or confident enough in delivering his spee ch. As we all know, body gestures normally appears naturally because it helps to clarify and reinforce the speakers idea. On the other hand, the speaker has a problem with his eye contact. He seems to not have eye contact with his audiences mainly because he is always looking back at the slides because he is not sure whether which point he should deliver next. Therefore, he loses his eye contact with his audience so he failed to analyze the audiences reactions and feelings while he was delivering his speech. He should prepare well and focus more on his eye contact with the audience because it is crucial to know what the feelings and reactions of the audience are while he is delivering his speech and identify his mistakes if he feels that audience is not comfortable with his speech delivery. Other than that, he is also having problems with his body movement when he gave the speech. From the video, we can see some of the body movement he likes to do. For instance, he likes to put his hand inside his pocket, lean forward, and shift his weight from one foot to another. This actually shows that he was nervous during the speech delivery. Moreover, there is also a disadvantage when a speaker leans forward because when a person leans forward, his head will look down to the floor so it will affect his voice projection. As a result, the voice is not projected straight to the audience instead the voice is projected to the floor. He should instead stand straight up while delivering the speech as to project his sound towards the audiences.( Lucas, 2008) To conclude, the delivery of a speech is a very important criteria. If done wrongly, it could cause mislay and inaccuracy of information. Thirdly, another important part of presenting a speech that cannot be done wrongly is the visual aids used. The mistakes that were made by the speaker while using visual aids can be categorized into two different categories, which is under the preparation of visual aids, and the presentation of visual aids. The first mistake that the speaker made from the category of preparations of visual aids is that the points in PowerPoint slides is not well organized and is complicated. Visual aids should be simple, clear, and straight to the point. Besides that, the points should be narrowed down and limit to a manageable amount of information. The basic rule is to include in your visual aid on only what you need to make your point. The second mistake is that the visual aids are too small for the audiences to see. There is no point for a visual aid if no one can see it. So bear in mind the size of the room in which you will be speaking and make sure your aid is big enough to be seen easily by e veryone. The third mistake is the use of unsuitable fonts. Not all fonts are suitable for visual aids. The speaker should avoid decorative fonts. He should try to use a limited number of fonts. Some variety of fonts in a visual aid is appealing, but can be distracting. (Lucas, 2008) Using two types of fonts as per heading and per content is sufficient for a visual aid as suggested by experts. The second category, presentation of visual aids, under which the speaker made a mistake, is that he actually talks to his visual aid instead of the audience. The speaker should talk to the audience and not to the visual aid. When explaining the visual aid, it is easy to break eye contact with audience and speak to the aid. Of course, the listeners are looking at the aid, and will need to glance at it time after time as the speaker talk. He may lose his audience if u keeps his eyes on his visual aids during the speech. By having eye contact with the audiences he may benefit from the feedbacks b y the audience on the visual aid he is using. Another mistake the speaker made is that the explanation is insufficient, not clear and not concise. Everyone knows visual aids do not explain it selves; the speaker needs to explain his visual aid to the audience. But sadly, all he does is reading from it. It is a fundamental knowledge of giving a speech that explaining the points on a visual aid is a must. The speaker should explain in detail what he included in the visual aid as it is vital information on his speech and it is important for the audience to understand it as it is the whole point of using a visual aid. The speaker should remember that a visual aid is useful only if the explanations come with it. (Lucas, 2008) Therefore, to fully utilize the visual aid, the speaker should avoid making these fundamental mistakes as it will cost him the audiences attention. Last but not least, another important aspect of giving a speech that cannot be done wrongly is the method of usage of the PowerPoint slides. The mistakes that the speaker made when he was using the PowerPoint slides can be divided into two categories, which is the format of the slides, and the delivery of the speech with the slides. The format of the PowerPoint slides consists of color, text, fonts, images, space, and animation of the slides. The first mistake the speaker made in the format of the slides is including too much texts in she slides. He should not include too much text in a single slide; including too much text will cause the font size to decrease, thus causing difficulty in reading for the audiences. He should instead limit himself to a few lines per slide and make it brief. The second mistake the speaker made is that he failed to give enough spaces for the contents in the slides due to the overload of texts per slide. This causes the slide to lack visual balance and co uld be hard for the audiences to read. According to textbook by Lucas, one must make sure that ones slide is provided with adequate amount of visual balance no matter what kind of element was included in a slide.( Lucas, 2008) Subsequently, the speaker also made a number of mistakes in delivering his speech using the PowerPoint slides. As we know, to deliver a speech using the slides needs good timing and careful planning. It will be disastrous if the slides went wrong during the presentation. The first mistake the speaker made in the delivery of the speech with the slides is that he could not find the slide he was looking for during the presentation. This means that he did not recheck his slides after doing them and may have left out some vital information. What he should do is to always double-check his slides for mistakes or in this case, left-out information. (Lucas, 2008) The second mistake that the speaker made is that he did not prepare and rehearse with his slides. This can be seen during which he had trouble linking his hand notes with his slides. The speaker abandoned the notes and read from the PowerPoint slides instead. He should have rehearse with his slides before presenting because using PowerPoint in presentation needs good timing and careful planning. Another mistake the speaker made is that he did not check the room and equipments provided before the speech. Judging by the fact that he did not use a projector to project is slide could mean two scenarios; either the room does not have a projector or the fact that his computers port is not compatible with the projector port. One way or the other, he should have checked the room and equipments and make necessary preparations or adjustment before deciding on doing a PowerPoint presentation. (Lucas, 2008) Thus, the mistakes that the speaker made in using the PowerPoint slides is very fundamental and should be avoided at all cost because it will gravely affect the outcome of the presentation. In conclusion, these four aspects, preparations, delivery, visual aids, and methods of using PowerPoint slides are of utmost importance and shouldnt be taken lightly by the speaker if he wants to give a good speech. Delivering a good speech is not a natural talent but a talent nurtured by the speaker themselves. Everyone can be a good speaker; all you need is sufficient preparation, proper delivery, easy to understand PowerPoint and also attractive visual aids. We believe that if all of these aspects were properly done then the speech delivered by the speaker will be convincing and attracting to the audiences. Good preparations for the speech will help the speaker so that he wont be nervous when he is delivering his speech and also to prevent him from forgetting his point. When delivering the speech the speaker should improve on his body gesture so that they dont look dull and unnatural to the audience. This is very important to prevent the audiences from losing attention to the spea ker. Attractive visual aids will further enhance the speakers point and help the audience to understand the speech better. Lastly the PowerPoint slides used to help the audience to understand the speech better should not have too many words so that it will not confuse the audience. It should be kept simple. With all that above done in by the speaker, the speech delivered by the speaker will be interesting and the messages will be conveyed successfully.

Huckleberry Finn and The Modern Classroom :: essays papers

Huckleberry Finn and The Modern Classroom Mark Twain’s story The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, is a racist, immoral book that should not be taught in American High Schools. As a children’s story, Finn is an exciting tale of a boy and a runaway slave riding a raft to freedom. As a book to be taught to 16-year-old English students, it is a novel that incorporates serious racist issues conveniently hidden among it’s many scattered plots. From the beginning we are warned â€Å"persons attempting to find a plot will be shot,†(Notice) suggesting that, as analyzing novels is a central theme in English classrooms, Finn may not be the best choice. The protagonist, Huckleberry Finn, is a 14-year-old white boy growing up in Missouri, who lives his life running away from his problems, lying to everyone, stealing, and using everyone he comes across. He fakes his own death very convincingly, and all with the cool, level-headedness not akin to young boys. â€Å"Well, next I took an old sack and put a lot of big rocks in it, -all I could drag,-and I started it from the pig and dragged it to the door and through the woods down to the river and dumped it in, and down it sunk, out of sight. You could easy see that something had been dragged over the ground. I did wish Tom Sawyer was there, I knowed he would take an interest in this kind of business, and throw in the fancy touches. Nobody could spread himself like Tom Sawyer in such a thing as that.†(Ch. 7) This character isn’t probably what the youth of America needs to be learning about. His ability to remorselessly lie to people to get what he wants, is a frightening characteristic, which isn’t one that should be taught to impressionable students. He has taken the pretense of his own death and, in his mine, placed it in the category of the imaginary robbers and thieves games he used to play with Tom Sawyer. Huck’s companion on his trip down the river is Jim, an uneducated adult, black slave who has run away hoping to make it to a free state. The way that Huck treats Jim at times, lying to him or belittling him is racist and wrong.

Al-Jabartis and His Chronicle of the French Occupation 1798 Essay

The Chronicle of the French Occupation, 1798 – Napoleon in Egypt, was written by the Egyptian born scholar and jurist, Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (c. 1753-c.1825) between 1798 and 1801, framing the French occupation of Egypt. Both the Middle East and Europe, during the late 17th century were in a state of redefinition. Although the chronicle had covered only the brief period during first seven months of 36, it serves as a crucial accounting. Clearly illustrated is a paradigmatic shift between a modern culture and an antiquated system with a chronicle of events that swings between something that is merely observational to something written by an emotionally charged spectator. Although the work has been widely accepted, there is still some speculation as to degrees of censorship and possible omissions through various translations. The French occupation is a confrontation between exported modernity and an old regime: the French revolutionaries and their dominance over the Ottoman social order that is markedly different in contrast; and, al-Jabarti reports on how it transfers cross-culturally. Levels of contestation, open and/or secretive acceptances give way to losses and gains driven by high emotion – even for this writer. He â€Å"describes very carefully every step in the negotiation of the organization of society, from administration to inheritance, from property to charity or from justice to deliberation.† Al-Jabarti’s accounts were written with a criticism and tone that lacked very little neutrality. Clearly described is the questioning of Napoleon’s sincerity. They did not believe that a Christian could be a redeemer for Islam and distrusted him immensely. The disdain for Napoleon’s attempts to gain the trust and favor of the Is... ...Texas, n.d.. http://www.laits.utexas.edu/ cairo/teachers/napoleon.pdf. Livingston, John W., and Al-Jabarti. "The Rise of Shaykh al-Balad 'Ali Bey al-Kabir: A Study in the Accuracy of the Chronicle of Al-Jabarti." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. No. 2 (1970): 283-294. http://www.jstor.org/stable/613005 (accessed November 30, 2013). Moreh, Shmuel. "Reputed Autographs of 'Abd al-Rahman al Jabarti and Related Problems." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. No. 3 (1965): 524-540. http://www.jstor.org/stable/612097 (accessed December 1, 2013). Thompson, Jason. "Napoleon in Egypt: Al-Jabarti's Chronicle of the French Occupation, 1798."Journal of World History. No. 1 (1995): 144-147. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/20078629 (accessed November 28, 2013). Tignor, Robert L. Introduction. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2010.

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 3

Later that day Caroline was sitting with Matt Honeycutt, Meredith Sulez, and Bonnie McCullough, all listening to Stefan on Bonnie's mobile phone. â€Å"Late afternoon would be better,† Stefan told Bonnie. â€Å"She takes a little nap after lunch – and anyway, it'll be cooler in a couple hours. I told Elena you'd be coming by, and she's excited to see you. But remember two things. First, it's only been seven days since she came back, and she's not quite†¦herself yet. I think she'll get over her – symptoms – in just a few days, but meanwhile don't be surprised by anything. And second, don'tsay anything about what you see here. Not to anyone.† â€Å"Stefan Salvatore!† Bonnie was scandalized and offended. â€Å"After all we've been through together, you think we'd blab?† â€Å"Not blab,† Stefan's voice came back over the mobile, gently. But Bonnie was going on. â€Å"We've stuck together through rogue vampires and the town's ghost, and werewolves, and Old Ones, and secret crypts, and serial killings and – and – Damon – and have we ever told people about them?† Bonnie said. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Stefan said. â€Å"I just meant that Elena won't be safe if any of you tells even one person. It would be all over the newspapers right away:GIRL RETURNS TO LIFE . Andthen what do we do?† â€Å"I understand about that,† Meredith said briefly, leaning in so that Stefan could see her. â€Å"You don't need to worry. Every one of us will vow not to tellanyone .† Her dark eyes flicked momentarily toward Caroline and then away again. â€Å"Ihave to ask you† – Stefan was making use of all his Renaissance training in politeness and chivalry, particularly considering that three of the four people watching him on the phone were female – â€Å"do you really have any way to enforce a vow?† â€Å"Oh, I think so,† Meredith said pleasantly, this time looking Caroline directly in the eyes. Caroline flushed, her bronzed cheeks and throat turning scarlet. â€Å"Let us work it out, and in the afternoon, we'll come over.† Bonnie, who was holding the phone, said, â€Å"Anybody have anything else to say?† Matt had remained silent during most of the conversation. Now he shook his head, making his shock of fair hair fly. Then, as if he couldn't hold it back, he blurted, â€Å"Can we talk to Elena? Just to say hi? I mean – it's been a wholeweek .† His tanned skin burned with a sunset glow almost as brightly as Caroline's had. â€Å"I think you'd better just come over. You'll see why when you get here.† Stefan hung up. They were at Meredith's house, sitting around an old patio table in the backyard. â€Å"Well, we can at least take them some food,† Bonnie suggested, rocketing up from her seat. â€Å"God knows what Mrs. Flowers makes for them to eat – orif she does.† She made waving motions to the others as if to raise them from their chairs by levitation. Matt started to obey, but Meredith remained seated. She said quietly, â€Å"We just made a promise to Stefan. There's the matter of the vow first. And the consequences.† â€Å"I know you're thinking about me,† Caroline said. â€Å"Why don't you just say so?† â€Å"All right,† Meredith said, â€Å"I'm thinking about you. Why are you suddenly interested in Elena again? How can we be sure that you won't go spreading the news of this all around Fell's Church?† â€Å"Why would I want to?† â€Å"Attention. You'd love to be at the center of a crowd, giving them every juicy detail.† â€Å"Or revenge,† Bonnie added, suddenly sitting down again. â€Å"Or jealousy. Or boredom. Or – â€Å" â€Å"Okay,† Matt interrupted. â€Å"I think that's enough with the reasons.† â€Å"Just one more thing,† Meredith said quietly. â€Å"Why do youcare so much about seeing her, Caroline? The two of you haven't gotten along in almost a year, ever since Stefan came to Fell's Church. We let you in on the call to Stefan, but after what he said – â€Å" â€Å"If you really need a reason why I should care, after everything that happened a week ago, well†¦well, I would think you'd understand without being told!† Caroline fixed shining cat-green eyes on Meredith. Meredith looked back with her best no-expression expression. â€Å"All right!† Caroline said. â€Å"She killed him for me. Or had him called to Judgment, or whatever. That vampire, Klaus. And after being kidnapped and – and – and – used – like a toy – whenever Klaus wanted blood – or – † Her face twisted and her breathing hitched. Bonnie felt sympathy, but she also was wary. Her intuition was aching, warning her. And she noticed that although Caroline spoke about Klaus, the vampire, she was strangely silent about her other kidnapper, Tyler Smallwood, the werewolf. Maybe because Tyler had been her boyfriend until he and Klaus had held her hostage. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Meredith said in a quiet voice thatdid sound sorry. â€Å"So you want to thank Elena.† â€Å"Yes. I want to thank her.† Caroline was breathing hard. â€Å"And I want to make sure that she's okay.† â€Å"Okay. But this oath covers quite a bit of time,† Meredith continued calmly. â€Å"You may change your mind tomorrow, next week, a month from now†¦we haven't even thought about consequences.† â€Å"Look, we can'tthreaten Caroline,† Matt said. â€Å"Not physically.† â€Å"Or get other people to threaten her,† Bonnie said wistfully. â€Å"No, we can't,† Meredith said. â€Å"But for the short term – you're a sorority pledge this coming fall, aren't you, Caroline? I can always tell your prospective sorority sisters that you broke your solemn vow about somebody who is helpless to hurt you – who I'm sure doesn'twant to hurt you. Somehow I don't think they'd care for you much after that.† Caroline's face flushed deeply again. â€Å"You wouldn't. You wouldn't go interfering with my college – â€Å" Meredith cut her off with two words. â€Å"Try me.† Caroline seemed to wilt. â€Å"I never said I wouldn't take the vow, and I never said I wouldn't keep it. Just try me, why don't you? I – I've learned a few things this summer.† I should hope so.The words, although nobody said them aloud, seemed to hover over all of them. Caroline's hobby for the entire last year had been trying to find ways to hurt Stefan and Elena. Bonnie shifted position. There was something – shadowed – behind what Caroline was saying. She didn't know how she knew; it was the sixth sense that she'd been born with. But maybe it just had to do with how much Caroline had changed, with what she had learned, Bonnie told herself. Look how many times she'd asked Bonnie in the last week about Elena. Was she really all right? Could Caroline send flowers? Could Elena have visitors yet? Whenwould she be all right? Caroline really had been a nuisance, although Bonnie didn't have the heart to tell her that. Everyone else was waiting just as anxiously to see how Elena was†¦after returning from the afterlife. Meredith, who always had a pen and paper, was scribbling some words. Now she said, â€Å"How about this?† and they all leaned forward to look at the pad. I swear not to tellanyone about any supernatural events relating to Stefan or Elena, unless given specific permission to do so by Stefan or Elena. I will also help in the punishment of anyone who breaks this vow, in a way to be determined by the rest of the group. This vow is made in perpetuity, with my blood as my witness. Matt was nodding his head. â€Å" ¡Ã‚ ®In perpetuity' – perfect,† he said. â€Å"It sounds just like what an attorney would write.† What followed was not particularly attorney-like. Each of the individuals around the table took the piece of paper, read it aloud, and then solemnly signed it. Then they each pricked a finger with a safety pin that Meredith had in her purse and added a drop of blood beside their signatures, with Bonnie shutting her eyes as she pricked herself. â€Å"Now it's really binding,† she said grimly, as one who knows. â€Å"I wouldn't try to break this.† â€Å"I've had enough of blood for a long time,† Matt said, squeezing his finger and looking at it gloomily. That was when it happened. Meredith's contract was sitting in the center of the table so all could admire it when, from a tall oak where the backyard met the forest, a crow came swooping down. It landed on the table with a raw-throated scream, causing Bonnie to scream, too. The crow cocked an eye at the four humans, who were hastily pulling back their chairs to get out of its way. Then it cocked its head the other way. It was the biggest crow any of them had ever seen, and the sun stroked iridescent rainbows from its plumage. The crow seemed, for all the world, to be examining the contract. And then it did something so quickly that it made Bonnie dart behind Meredith, stumbling over her chair. It opened its wings, leaned forward, and pecked violently at the paper, seeming to aim at two specific spots. And then it was gone, first fluttering, and then soaring off until it was a tiny black speck in the sun. â€Å"It's ruined all our work,† Bonnie cried, still safely behind Meredith. â€Å"I don't think so,† said Matt, who was closer to the table. When they dared to move forward and look at the paper, Bonnie felt as if someone had thrown a blanket of ice around her back. Her heart began to pound. Impossible as it seemed, the violent pecking was all red, as if the crow had retched up blood to color it. And the red marks, surprisingly delicate, looked exactly like an ornate letter: D And under that: Elena is mine.