Pushing ones Fortunes Career Theory for Healthcare Leaders

Pushing ones Fortunes Career Theory for Healthcare Leaders Since the modern world is practically based on the career theory, the new system of governing various branches of cultural and business life has also crept into the sphere of sports and health. This makes the theory of career development extremely important in the sphere of health care and health control as well.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Pushing one’s Fortunes: Career Theory for Healthcare Leaders specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Pursuing the modern topic, the given essay deals with the issue of the career development theories in the sphere of health care. As Goonan (2009) says, â€Å"In this unprecedented environment for health care, a startling trend has emerged to highlight a potential path forward for many health care organizations† (2). The variety of the existing theories suggests a nig choice, yet there are only a few that deserve further consideration. Since the world of work is constantly changing, the approaches that are emerging with every single change that occurs are diverse and cannot be referred to a single theory in particular, embracing a wide range of notions and issues. The term of the career development employs quite a number of issues. The idea of the career development has been defined as â€Å"The process of assessing, aligning and balancing organizational and individual needs, capabilities, opportunities and challenges through multiple approaches and methods. It emphasizes the person as an individual who performs, configures and adapts various work roles. Its major intervention is self-assessment and developmental processes that affect individual and organizational abilities to generate optimal matches of people and jobs.† (Jackson 2000, 18) The numerous theories – as a matter of fact, there are seven of them already (Swanson 6), and it is highly expectable that the new ideas are going to be presented soon. One of the career th eories that has been suggested by Brown (2002) explains the career pace from the point of view of the values of people. Called a values-based theory, it clarifies the situation from the point of view of the psychology of an individual: â€Å"Values are central to Brown’s theory, and as a result locate him in this chapter as a theory of content† (39), Patton (2006) marks.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More She also admits that â€Å"Thus, while it emphasizes the importance of a particular trait, values, it also acknowledges the concept of development and the broader context in which individuals exist† (39). This allows suggesting that the theories currently existing are focused on the human’s psychology rather than on the economical side of the question. Patton also emphasizes that the values need to be defined once and for all to crea te the outline for the future career scheme: â€Å"As values are formed they become crystallized in the mind of the individual and prioritized, and the extent to which this occurs relates to cognitive clarity† (40). The other theory, created by Super, is defined as life-span and life-space approach, which can be explained as the approach that involves the idea of career as something that can be interpreted as the lifelong process. Self-improvement that a man undergoes as he passes a certain stage in his development is supposed to grow continuous and endless, since there is not end to perfection. Super also considers the internal and external factors that influence the development of self-concept in a particular man or woman. Both theories have been considered the most reasonable ones and are supposed to be unwound in the nearest future into profound basis for the psychology of employment and career growth. The both theories emphasize the importance of the self-determination a nd the man being aimed at a certain goal. The strategies that the theories presuppose to take can be considered as the plan for a person to take a look at his or her inner world before making the necessary steps towards the career improvement. Basically, the key components for the career theory are not numerous. They involve the following items: self-concept, strategies and tasks, career maturity, life-stage model and the role of counselor. The latter is supposed to be the top which a man must be striving for in case he or she wants to organize their job in the best and most profitable way.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Pushing one’s Fortunes: Career Theory for Healthcare Leaders specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, it can be suggested that this list requires a subtle changing, since the world of work and employment is constantly changing, and there is no stop to the suggestions and ideas that are continuously emerging as the possible improvements. As the three pillars that the modern theories and suggestions are based on, the points that Brown suggested in his value theory seem to be the most promising ideas to develop and to build the career development schemes on. â€Å"An intentional strategic initiative†, as Chakiris (2002, 4) defined it, it needs close consideration. Brown (2002) distinguishes fourteen elements, or values, that the theory of work organization and career improvement are supposed to base on. Again, the notions that he grounds his theories on are the treats of character, that is, he appeals to the personal qualities rather than the improvement of the professional skills. In fact, that is the point that Brown puts almost at the bottom of the scheme of the career growth. A paradox as it is, this still works right for the people who are trying to get a promotion. After all, according to Guerriero (1998), â€Å"defining your strongest skills setâ €  (31) must be one of the prior concerns of employees. The ideas of the theory of values that Brown exercises are the following. First, he mentions the category of achievement. Indeed, it is very important to mark the stages that one has already passed on the way to perfection. The second concern of the author is the case of belonging. In the situation when the work seems rather wearing than inspiring, one should ask himself whether this job is the one that he or she belongs to.Advertising Looking for research paper on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The concern for environment calls to check whether the atmosphere of the working place is safe enough for the train of thoughts to be productive and bring the results of various tasks and solutions for the work problems and tasks. Then, an important element is the concern for the others. However strange it might sound, the idea of helping the others is almost extinct in the modern world of employment, the rivalry blossoming and flourishing, though. Thus, the concept of concern for the others is one more means to stay a decent person and keep the necessary self-esteem. The so-called generic self-awareness, as well as overall career management skill development (Binding 2005, 26) comes to the forth in this respect. At this point one can draw the line between the internal and external careers (Arthur 1989, 467) as the growth of the professionalism which might not be reflected in the career growth, and the promotion, that is not always the signal of the highly developed working skills. Creativity, spirituality and privacy are the elements so closely interconnected that they cannot be separated. Indeed, it is absolutely impossible to work in the field where there is no room for imagination and new capturing projects. Meanwhile, the thought of the creative suggestions that one might give make the person feel responsible for the ideas that he is planning to put into practice. Independence and interdependence are connected in the same tight way. However paradoxical that might sound, these elements are linked close to each other. Working independently and using their own intelligence, each of the workers is a link of the big chain that encompasses the enterprise. Whenever there is one link missing, the whole work is brought down, and there is no way it can be restored. Humility and objective analysis are extremely necessary when working on an important project that needs attention and meticulous treatment. According to the three counseling principles worked out by Kidd (2006, 52), the most desirable objective for most employees is their own profit; the theories themselves called â€Å"person-centered†, they clarify the point in the most obvious way, and it shows that people have to work on this treat of theirs. With all these fourteen principles incorporated, one is sure to obtain the long-awaited success in work and will be soon promoted to the sphere he or she has always wanted to work in. However, it seems that this analysis, though perfectly performed, still lacks something that is absolutely necessary to take into consideration nowadays, with the modern tendency to strive for a better result and for a better job position. This something should not concern the private traits of character of the given person only, but also the tactics and strategy of the line of conduct in the workplace. In the reality, numerous conflicts are unavoidable. Thus, it is reasonable that an employee should also bear in mind the scheme of how to react to the aggressive treatment from a colleague or, which is more unpleasant, from a boss. The means to avoid the open conflict and to iron out the difficulties that might burst into another clash of opinions is the skill that is of extreme need for the modern employee, wherever he might work. It must be also born in mind that the suggestions for the workers to improve their state of business and to get a better grip on their jobs can be applicable not to all of the people, mostly according to the type of the temperament that they possess. As a rule, all the strategies that have been developed so far consider the job promotion for those people who have the makings of becoming a leader, but not for those who simply are wishing to change the environment. Actually, the number of the so-called sanguine people is much lesser than the number of people with the choleric type of character. In spite of the fact that character is something that cannot be changed at all, as the psychological researches claim, most of the pieces of advice that have been developed for the people to reach the top of their career can be applied to the people of sanguine character only. In fact, there are no reasons that explain such unfair situation. So it seems that there must also be the theories of success for the people with different types of character, as the guideline for them to succeed on their way to the top of their career. In addition, it would also be a good idea to include some more points in the existing theories of success. Thus, it seems reasonable that the abovementioned points that cover Brown’s ideas of values should be arranged as a scale, and that they should also include some ideas of how to cope with the difficulties of communication that one can encounter while working in the office. Indeed, sometimes conflicts can spring out of nowhere and result in serious problem. And it goes without saying that the conflicts with the boss should be also foreseen in these instruction s, as one of the most stressful working situations where people need good advice. To sum up, although the basis for the theories of employment have been worked out long before, there are still some adjustments needed to apply, taking into account the pace of the progress and the numerous innovations that have been brought to the people by the new era. The development of the career theories goes fats, and people have to make use of it. In case they do, there is the hope that the level of unemployment will reduce sufficiently. Reference List Arthur, M. B. et al. (1989). Handbook of Career Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Print. Binding, C., Field, S. (2005). Career Management: An Approach for Medical  Schools, Royal Colleges and Trusts. London: The Stationery Office. Brown, Duane (2002). Career Choice and Development. New York, NY: Wiley and Sons. Print. Chakiris, B. J. (2002). Basics of Career Systems Development. Alexandra, VA: American Society for Training and Devel opment. Print. Goonan, K. J. (2009) Journey to Excellence: How Baldridge Health Care  Leaders Succeeded. St. Louis, MO: American Society for Quality. Print. Guerriero, J. M., Allen R. G. (1998). Key Questions in Career Counseling:  Techniques to Deliver Effective Career Counseling Services. New York,   NY: Routledge. Jackson, T. (2000) Career Development. London: CIPD Publishing. Print. Kidd, J. M. (2006).Understanding Career Counseling: Theory, Research and  Practice. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publishing. Patton, W., McMahon, M. (2006). Career Development and Systems Theory. Boston, MA: Sense Publishers. Print. Swanson, J. L., Fouad, N. A. (2009). Career Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks , CA : SAGE.

Long-Range Planning in the Present World Environment Assignment

Long-Range Planning in the Present World Environment - Assignment Example Terror attacks, war, and nuclear dilemmas facing the world were additional topics requiring brainstorming at the event. Former U.S. President Clinton maintained that climate change is the only crisis "that has the power to end the march of civilization as we know it." Otherwise, "There is no reason for pessimism," declared Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell (Environment News Service 2006). A Dutch managing director claimed that 'long-range planning is nowadays seen as an academic exercise' given that the times are uncertain and the environment turbulent. We have heard that the polar ice cap was depleted by a staggering fourteen percent between the years 2004 and 2005. Now if another Ice Age was to commence in six to seven years and we were sure that this would happen, companies could do away with long-range planning. Since there is no definite date for the end of the world, however, companies must do what they have always done - plan and forecast. Yes, there are forces beyond the control of people of the world. Besides, threats of violence around the globe have not been put to an end. We have already witnessed the effects of war and terror on the economic state of the world. Still, uncertainty has always been the present state of the world. ... Companies of all sizes continue to operate everywhere on earth. Life is going on without any surety as to what would happen in five to ten years' time. Natural disasters do occur and both small and large companies do lose a lot of money. Firms die and new ones are born. CEO's retire and younger ones take their place. Nevertheless, companies must continue to make long term plans about running their businesses as productively as possible, taking into account the external factors that could disturb the process in between. No company can survive with its focus on a big scale disaster. Therefore, businessmen would go on making budgets and deciding how to increase their sales over the coming years. Short and long term planning combined is the lifeblood of all firms and would be carried on for as long as the earth endures. Furthermore, today's business environment is fast changing because of innovations in technology. Companies must be taking into account all factors that spell change whils t planning; these factors not only include technology but also forces that the world does not fully understand at this point in time. As Gordon C. Robbins (1995) puts it, "A good deal of organizational planning . . . is like a ritual rain dance. It has no effect on the weather that follows. . . . Much of the advice related to planning is directed at improving the dancing, not the weather." Long-Range Planning Business planning has two aspects: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative planning is number crunching based on market reports, for example. Qualitative plans, on the other hand, consist of descriptions and explanations. A long-range business plan includes both qualitative and quantitative aspects. It is the qualitative aspect that

Developing a Nursing Intervention to Encourage Healthy Eating Habits Research Proposal

Developing a Nursing Intervention to Encourage Healthy Eating Habits among Teenagers - Research Proposal Example This is a clear indication that consumption of an extensive variety of food especially during adolescence is more likely than not to set up preferences of food that will continue even in adulthood. Changes in food preferences during adulthood are quite difficult to change and therefore it would be much easier to cultivate healthy eating habits. Consumption of a healthy diet is the foundation of better growth and development for adolescents. Healthy eating allows adolescents to attain their educational potential following better brain development. Eating habits during childhood and adolescent often have an impact on the health of such an individual during adulthood. For example, adolescents who munch through outsized quantities of energy giving foods are more likely than not to become obese or even overweight. According to Booth et al. (2001), obese adolescents are more likely to obese even during their adulthood an as a result, they may suffer from illnesses related to obesity such a s heart disease as well as diabetes. Discussion Many healthy eating interventions have mainly focused on changes in nutrition intake. Nevertheless, a focused on food patterns, enjoyment of eating, food eating as well as the experience of food are according to Tapper, et al (2003) more likely to develop a positive nursing intervention to encourage healthy eating habits among teenagers that is long lasting. In their study on adolescent healthy eating Worsley and Skryzpiec (2004) make an attempt to define the term healthy eating to mean consumption of an extensive variety of vegetables, fresh fruit, dairy and animal products, wholegrain cereal foods, and also legumes. In an effort to develop a positive nursing intervention to encourage healthy eating habits among teenagers that is long lasting, the causes of concern about adolescent t eating must be identified. These causes of concern may vary from one adolescent to another, they include meal skipping, poor food preference and selectio n, excessive energy consumption, and fussy eating. The term food selection is used to connote the amount and type of food that individuals usually eat. The reliance on a limited variety of foods is therefore what is referred to as poor food selection. This usually involves selection of foods that contains huge amounts of sugar, salt, and fats. Other studies depict poor food selection as conception of foods which have low content of wholegrain foods, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. There have been concerns about meal skipping amongst adolescents. According to a study conducted by Pollitt and Mathews (1998), skipping meals such as breakfast or even lunch may result to cognitive as well as mood deficits. The tendency to prefer particular food over the other is also another big concern that results to poor eating habits in adolescents. Adolescents may learn to like new and healthy eating habits from repeated exposure to such food and practices especially through parental and peer encou ragement. By watching their parents and peers eating and enjoying healthy food, they can easily quite the bad eating habits and assume the healthy practice very easily (Palla, 2008). Among the adolescents, using coercive tactics as well as banning some foods may prove to

Accounting as the Important Function of Every Business Organisation Essay

Accounting as the Important Function of Every Business Organisation (Halfords company) - Essay Example Accounting’s main or primary purpose is to identify the activities of the business organisation, recording and measuring the transactions of the business and communicating the financial information to all the interested persons like the shareholders, investors, creditors, management, employees, government etc. The financial information generated from accounting in form of financial statements helps managerial decision making and other important investment decisions. Accounting is an important function of every business organisation. Accounting has various purposes and objectives. Among the various purposes, the main purpose of accounting is to record the transaction of the business enterprise in a systematic manner and to provide information about the financial position of the business enterprise to all its stakeholders. Accounting’s main or primary purpose is to identify the activities of the business organisation, recording and measuring the transactions of the busine ss and communicating the financial information to all the interested persons like the shareholders, investors, creditors, management, employees, government etc. The financial information generated from accounting in form of financial statements helps managerial decision making and other important investment decisions.... Figure 1: Performa of a purchase account in a ledger (Source: National Institute of Open Schooling, n.d, p.125) Thus the ledger is the collection of accounts maintained by the company. The ledger provides balance of the particular account on a particular date like the amount of sales on a particular date can be found from the sales account. Apart from these main books the company can also maintain sales day book and purchase day book to record its credit sales and credit purchase respectively. 2 (b) Every business organisation usually had a number of business transactions. Similarly Halfords would also have a number of transactions during a particular accounting period. The most common transactions that the company would certainly have during an accounting period are as follows:- Cash sales: Cash sales denote selling goods and services on cash. This means that the amount of goods sold or services rendered is immediately received by the company. This transaction is recorded by debitin g the cash or bank account and crediting the sales account. Cash purchase: Cash purchase signifies purchasing goods or services on cash. In cash purchase the amount for the goods purchased or services availed has to be paid immediately. This particular transaction is recorded in the books of accounts by crediting the cash or bank account and debiting the purchase account. Credit sales: Credit sales denote that the goods or services have been sold on credit. In credit sales the amount of goods sold or services rendered are not paid immediately but after a certain period of time (which is known as credit period). This particular transaction is recorded by debiting the debtor’s account (the person to whom the goods are sold) and crediting the

Summary and Analysis of The Merchants Tale Essays -- Canterbury Tales

Summary and Analysis of The Merchant's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Merchant's Tale: The merchant claims that he knows nothing of long-suffering wives. Rather, if his wife were to marry the devil, she would overmatch even him. The Merchant claims that there is a great difference between Griselde's exceptional obedience and his wife's more common cruelty. The Merchant has been married two months and has loathed every minute of it. The Host asks the Merchant to tell a tale of his horrid wife. Analysis The prologues that link the various Canterbury Tales shift effortlessly from ponderous drama to light comedy. The lamentable tale of Griselde gives way to the Host's complaint about his shrewish wife. This prologue further illustrates how each of the characters informs the tale he tells. The travelers largely tell tales that conform to their personal experiences or attitudes, such as the Merchant, whose awful marriage is the occasion for his tale about a difficult wife. In most cases the influence of the narrator on his tale is apparent, but the authorial touch lightly felt. The Merchant's Tale, for example, gains little from the prologue's information that the Merchant is disenchanted with his own marriage. Only a few of these tales exist largely as extensions of the characters who tell them; the Wife of Bath's Tale is the most prominent of these stories. The Merchant's Tale: The Merchant tells a tale of a prosperous knight from Lombardy who had not yet taken a wife. But when this knight, January, had turned sixty, whether out of devotion or dotage, he decided to finally be married. He searched for prospects, now convinced that the married life was a paradise on earth. Yet his brother, Placebo, cited... ...y. January's repeated insistence that their intercourse includes a rationalization that a man and wife are one person, and no man would harm himself with a knife, an unpleasant phallic image. January uses May only as a sexual object; he hammers away upon her, bringing her only pain and boredom. The Merchant's Tale also stretches the conventions of fabliau through the climax of the tale in which Pluto and Proserpina intrude upon the sexual intrigues among January, May and John. Proserpina and Pluto discuss the virtues of men and women in marriage, coming to the conclusion that few men are commendable, but absolutely no women are worthy. Their intervention in the situation gives divine sanction to the condemnation of women, purposely giving January his sight so that he can condemn his wife (although in a mordant twist, January can literally not believe his eyes).

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 3

Chapter 3 HOSED FOR THE HOLIDAYS Tuesday night. Christmas was still four days away, and yet there was Santa Claus cruising right down the main street of town in his big red pickup truck: waving to the kids, weaving in his lane, belching into his beard, more than a little drunk. â€Å"Ho, ho, ho,† said Dale Pearson, evil developer and Caribou Lodge Santa for the sixth consecutive year. â€Å"Ho, ho, ho,† he said, suppressing the urge to add and a bottle of rum, his demeanor more akin to that of Blackbeard than Saint Nicholas. Parents pointed, children waved and frisked. By now, all of Pine Cove was abuzz with expat Christmas cheer. Every hotel room was full, and there wasn't a parking space to be found down on Cypress Street, where shoppers pumped their chestnuts into an open fire of credit-card swipe-and-spend denial. It smelled of cinnamon and pine, peppermint and joy. This was not the coarse commercialism of a Los Angeles or San Francisco Christmas. This was the refined, sincere commercialism of small-town New England, where a century ago Norman Rockwell had invented Christmas. This was real. But Dale didn't get it. â€Å"Merry, happy – oh, eat me, you little vermin,† Dale grinched from behind his tinted windows. Actually, the whole Christmas appeal of their village was a bit of a mystery to the residents of Pine Cove. It wasn't exactly a winter wonderland; the median temperature in the winter was sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and only a couple of really old guys could remember it ever having snowed. Neither was it a tropical-beach getaway. The ocean there was bitterly cold, with an average visibility of eighteen inches, and a huge elephant seal rookery at the shore. Through the winter thousands of the rotund pinnipeds lay strewn across Pine Cove beaches like great barking turds, and although not dangerous in themselves, they were the dietary mainstay of the great white shark, which had evolved over 120 million years into the perfect excuse for never entering water over one's ankles. So if it wasn't the weather or the water, what in the hell was it? Perhaps it was the pine trees themselves. Christmas trees. â€Å"My trees, goddammit,† Dale grumbled to himself. Pine Cove lay in the last natural Monterey-pine forest in the world. Because they grow as much as twenty feet a year, Monterey pines are the very trees cultivated for Christmas trees. The good news was you could go to almost any undeveloped lot in town and cut yourself a very respectable Christmas tree. The bad news was that it was a crime to do so unless you obtained a permit and planted five trees to replace it. The Monterey pines were a protected species, as any local builder could tell you, because whenever they cut down a few trees to build a home, they had to plant a forest to replace them. A station wagon with a Christmas tree lashed to the roof backed out in front of Dale's pickup. â€Å"Get that piece of shit off my street,† Dale scrooged. â€Å"And Merry Christmas to all you scumbags,† he added, in keeping with the season. Dale Pearson, quite unwillingly, had become the Johnny Appleseed of the Christmas tree, having planted tens of thousands of seedlings to replace the thousands that he had chain-sawed to build rows of tract mansions across Pine Cove's hills. But while the law stated that the replacement trees had to be planted within the municipality of Pine Cove, it didn't say that they had to go in anywhere near where they had actually been cut down, so Dale planted all of his trees around the cemetery at the old Santa Rosa Chapel. He'd bought the land, ten acres, years ago, in hope of subdividing it and building luxury homes, but some hippie meddlers from the California Historical Society stepped in and had the old two-room chapel declared a historic landmark, thus making it impossible for him to develop his land. So in straight rows, with no thought for the natural lay of a forest, his construction crews planted Monterey pines until the trees became as thick around the chapel as feathers on a bird 's back. For the last four years, during the week before Christmas, someone had gone onto Dale's land and dug up truckloads of live pine trees. He was tired of answering to the county about having to replace them. He didn't give a damn about the trees, but he'd be damned if he'd put up with someone siccing the county watchdogs on him over and over. He'd fulfilled his duty to his Caribou buddies of passing out joke gifts to them and their wives, but now he was going to catch a thief. His Christmas present this year was going to be a little justice. That's all he wanted, just a little justice. The jolly old elf turned off Cypress and headed up the hill toward the chapel, patting the thirty-eight snub-nose revolver he'd stuffed into his wide black belt. Lena hefted the second Christmas tree into the bed of her little Toyota pickup and snuggled it into one of the ten-gallon cedar boxes that she'd nailed together herself just for that purpose. The underprivileged were only getting four-footers this year, maybe a foot or so taller once in the box. It had rained only once since October, so it had taken her nearly an hour and a half to dig the two saplings from the hard, dry ground. She wanted people to have live Christmas trees, but if she went for full seven-footers she'd be out here all night and only get a couple. This is real work, Lena thought. By day she did property management for vacation rentals at a local realtor, sometimes putting in ten- or twelve-hour days during the peak seasons, but she realized that hours spent and actual work were two different things. She realized it every year when she came out here by herself and got behind her bright red shovel. Sweat was pouring down her face. She wiped her hair out of her eyes with the back of a chamois work glove, leaving a streak of dirt on her forehead. She shrugged off the flannel shirt she'd put on against the night chill and worked in a tight black tank top and olive drab cargo pants. With her red shovel in hand, she looked like some kind of Christmas commando there at the edge of the forest. She sank the shovel into the pine straw about a foot from the trunk of the next tree she'd targeted and jumped on the blade, pogoing up and down until the blade was buried to the hilt. She was swinging on the handle, trying to lever up the forest floor, when a bright set of headlights swept across the edge of the forest and stopped with a stereo spotlight on Lena's truck. There's nothing to worry about, she thought. I'm not going to hide, I'm not going to duck. She wasn't doing anything wrong. Not really. Well, sure, technically, she was stealing, and breaking a couple of county ordinances about harvesting Monterey pines, but she wasn't really harvesting them, was she? She was just transplanting them. And†¦ and she was giving to the poor. She was like Robin Hood. No one was going to mess with Robin Hood. Just the same she smiled at the headlamps and did a sort of â€Å"oh well, I guess I'm busted† shrug that she hoped was cute. She shielded her eyes with her hand and tried to squint into the headlights to see who was driving the truck. Yes, she was sure it was a truck. The engine sputtered to a stop. A slight nausea rose in Lena's throat as she realized that it was a diesel truck. The truck's door opened, and when the light went on Lena caught a glimpse of someone in a red-and-white hat behind the wheel. Huh? Santa was coming out of the blinding light toward her. Santa with a flashlight, and what was that in his belt? Santa had a gun. â€Å"Dammit, Lena, I should have known it was you,† he said. Josh Barker was in big trouble. Big trouble indeed. He was only seven, but he was pretty sure his life was ruined. He hurried along Church Street trying to figure out how he was going to explain to his mom. An hour and a half late. Home long after dark. And he hadn't called. And Christmas just a few days away. Forget explaining it to his mom, how was he going to explain it to Santa? Santa might understand, though, since he knew toys. But Mom would never buy it. He'd been playing Barbarian George's Big Crusade on the PlayStation at his friend Sam's house, and they'd gotten into the infidel territory and killed thousands of the ‘Rackies, but the game just didn't have any way to exit. It wasn't designed so you could ever get out of it, and before he knew it, it was dark outside and he'd forgotten, and Christmas was just going to be ruined. He wanted an Xbox 2, but there was no way Santa was going to bring it with a home long after dark AND a didn't even bother to call on his list. Sam had summarized Josh's situation as he led him out the door and looked at the night sky: â€Å"Dude, you're hosed.† â€Å"I'm not hosed, you're hosed,† said Josh. â€Å"I'm not hosed,† Sam said. â€Å"I'm Jewish. No Santa. We don't have Christmas.† â€Å"Well, you're really hosed, then.† â€Å"Shut up, I am not hosed.† But as Sam said it he put his hands in his pockets and Josh could hear him clicking his dreidel against his asthma inhaler, and his friend did, indeed, appear to be hosed. â€Å"Okay, you're not hosed,† said Josh. â€Å"Sorry. I'd better go.† â€Å"Yeah,† said Sam. â€Å"Yeah,† said Josh, realizing now how the longer it took him to get home the more hosed he was going to be. But as he hurried up Church Street toward home, he realized that perhaps he would receive an emergency reprieve on his hosing, for there, at the edge of the forest, was Santa himself. And although Santa did appear to be quite angry, his anger was directed at a woman who was standing knee-deep in a hole, holding a red shovel. Santa held one of those heavy black Maglite flashlights in one hand and was shining it in the woman's eyes as he yelled at her. â€Å"These are my trees. Mine, dammit,† said Santa. Aha! Josh thought. Dammit was not bad enough to get you on the naughty list, not if Santa himself said it. He'd told his mom that, but she'd insisted that dammit was a list item. â€Å"I'm only taking a few,† said the woman. â€Å"For people who can't afford a Christmas tree. You can't begrudge something that simple to a few poor families.† â€Å"The fuck I can't.† Well, Josh had been sure the F-word would get you on the list. He was shocked. Santa pushed the flashlight in the woman's eyes. She brushed it aside. â€Å"Look,† she said, â€Å"I'll just take this last one and go.† â€Å"You will not.† Santa shoved the flashlight in the woman's face again, but this time when she brushed it away, he flipped it around and bopped her on the head with it. â€Å"Ouch!† That had to hurt. Josh could feel the blow rattle the woman's teeth all the way across the street. Santa certainly felt strongly about his Christmas trees. The woman used the shovel to brush the flashlight out of her face again. Santa bopped her again with the flashlight, harder this time, and the woman yowled and fell to her knees in the hole. Santa reached into his big black belt and pulled out a gun and pointed it at the woman. She came up swinging the shovel in a wide arc and the blade caught Santa hard in the side of the head with a dull metallic clank. Santa staggered and raised the pistol again. The woman crouched and covered her head, the shovel braced blade up under her arm. But as he aimed, Santa lost his balance, and fell forward onto the upraised blade of the shovel. The blade went up under his beard and suddenly his beard was as bright red as his suit. He dropped the gun and the flashlight, made a gurgling noise, and fell down to where Josh could no longer see him. Josh could barely hear the woman crying as he ran home, the pulse in his ears ringing like sleigh bells. Santa was dead. Christmas was ruined. Josh was hosed. Speaking of hosed: three blocks away, Tucker Case moped along Worchester Street, trying to exercise off his dinner of bad diner food with a brisk walk under the weight of a large measure of self-pity. He was pushing forty, trim, blond, and tan – the look of an aging surfer or a golf pro in his prime. Fifty feet above him, a giant fruit bat swooped through the treetops, his leathery wings silent against the night. So he could sneak up on peaches and stuff without being detected. Tuck thought. â€Å"Roberto, do your business and let's get back to the hotel,† Tuck called into the sky. The fruit bat barked and snagged an overhead limb as he passed, his momentum nearly sending him in a loop around it before he pendulumed and settled in upside-down attitude. The bat barked again, licked his little doggy chops, and folded his great wings around himself to ward off the coastal cold. â€Å"Fine,† Tuck said, â€Å"but you're not getting back into the room until you poop.† He'd inherited the bat from a Filipino navigator he'd met while flying a private jet for a doctor in Micronesia; a job he'd only taken because his U.S. pilot's license had been yanked for crashing the pink Mary Jean Cosmetic jet while initiating a young woman into the Mile-High Club. Drunk. After Micronesia he'd moved to the Caribbean with his fruit bat and his beautiful new island wife and started a charter business. Now, six years later, his beautiful island wife was running the charter business with a seven-foot Rastafarian and Tucker Case had nothing to his name but a fruit bat and temporary gig flying helicopters for the DEA, spotting marijuana patches in the Big Sur wilderness area. Which put him in Pine Cove, holed up in a cheap motel room, four days before Christmas, alone. Lonesome. Hosed. Tuck had once been a ladies' man of the highest order – a Don Juan, a Casanova, a Kennedy sans cash – yet now he was in a town where he didn't know a soul and he hadn't even met a single woman to try to seduce. A few years of marriage had almost ruined him. He'd become accustomed to affectionate female company without a great deal of manipulation, subterfuge, and guile. He missed it. He didn't want to spend Christmas alone, dammit. Yet here he was. And there she was. A damsel in distress. A woman, alone, out here in the night, crying – and from what Tuck could tell by the headlights of a nearby pickup truck, she had a nice shape. Great hair. Beautiful high cheekbones, streaked with tears and mud, but you know, exotic-looking. Tuck checked to see that Roberto was still safely hanging above, then straightened his bomber jacket and made his way across the street. â€Å"Hey there, are you okay?† The woman jumped, screamed a bit, looked around frantically until she spotted him â€Å"Oh my God,† she said. Tuck had had worse responses. He pressed on â€Å"Are you okay?† he repeated. â€Å"You looked like you were having some trouble.† â€Å"I think he's dead,† the woman said. â€Å"I think – I think I killed him† Tuck looked at the red-and-white pile on the ground at his feet and realized for the first time what it really was: a dead Santa. A normal person might have freaked out, backed away, tried to quickly extract himself from the situation, but Tucker Case was a pilot, trained to function in life-and-death emergencies, practiced at grace under pressure, and besides, he was lonely and this woman was really hot. â€Å"So, a dead Santa,† said Tuck. â€Å"Do you live around here?† â€Å"I didn't mean to kill him. He was coming at me with a gun I just ducked, and when I looked up – † She waved toward the pile of dead Kringle. â€Å"I guess the shovel caught him in the throat.† She seemed to be calming down a bit. Tuck nodded thoughtfully â€Å"So, Santa was coming at you with a gun?† The woman pointed to the gun, lying in the dirt next to the Maglite â€Å"I see,† said Tuck. â€Å"Did you know this –  » â€Å"Yes. His name is Dale Pearson. He drank.† â€Å"I don't. Stopped years ago,† Tuck said. â€Å"By the way, I'm Tucker Case. Are you married?† He extended his hand to her to shake. She seemed to see him for the first time. â€Å"Lena Marquez. No, I'm divorced; â€Å"Me, too,† said Tuck. â€Å"Tough around the holidays, isn't it? Kids?† â€Å"No. Mr., uh, Case, this man is my ex-husband and he's dead.† â€Å"Yep. I just gave my ex the house and my business, but this does seems cheaper,† Tuck said. â€Å"We had a fight yesterday at the grocery store in front of a dozen people. I had the motive, the opportunity, and the means – † She pointed to the shovel. â€Å"Everyone will think I killed him.† â€Å"Not to mention that you did kill him.† â€Å"And don't think the media won't latch onto that? It's my shovel sticking out of his neck.† â€Å"Maybe you should wipe off your prints and stuff. You didn't get any DNA on him, did you?† She stretched the front of her shirt out and started dabbing at the shovel's handle. â€Å"DNA? Like what?† â€Å"You know, hair, blood, semen? Nothing like that?† â€Å"No.† She was furiously buffing the handle of the shovel with the front of her tank top, being careful not to get too close to the end that was stuck in the dead guy. Strangely, Tuck found the process slightly erotic. â€Å"I think you got the fingerprints, but I'm a little concerned about there where your name is spelled out in Magic Marker on the handle. That might give things away.† â€Å"People never return garden tools if you don't mark them,† Lena said. Then she began to cry again. â€Å"Oh my God, I've killed him.† Tuck went to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. â€Å"Hey, hey, hey, it's not so bad. At least you don't have kids you have to explain this to.† â€Å"What am I going to do? My life is over.† â€Å"Don't talk like that,† Tuck said, trying to sound cheerful. â€Å"Look, you've got a perfectly good shovel here, and this hole is nearly finished. What say we shove Santa in, clean up the area a little, and I take you to dinner.† He grinned. She looked up at him. â€Å"Who are you?† â€Å"Just a nice guy trying to help out a lady in distress.† â€Å"And you want to take me out to dinner?† She seemed to be slipping into shock. â€Å"Not this minute. Once we get this all under control.† â€Å"I just killed a man,† she said. â€Å"Yeah, but not on purpose, right?† â€Å"A man I used to love is dead.† â€Å"Damn shame, too,† Tuck said. â€Å"You like Italian?† She stepped away from him and looked him up and down, paying special attention to the right shoulder of his bomber jacket, where the brown leather had been scraped so many times it looked like suede. â€Å"What happened to your jacket?† â€Å"My fruit bat likes to climb on me.† â€Å"Your fruit bat?† â€Å"Look, you can't get through life without accumulating a little baggage, right?† Tuck nodded toward the deceased to make his point. â€Å"I'll explain over dinner.† Lena nodded slowly. â€Å"We'll have to hide his truck.† â€Å"Of course.† â€Å"Okay, then,† Lena said. â€Å"Would you mind pulling the shovel – uh, I can't believe this is happening.† â€Å"I got it,† Tuck said, jumping into the hole and dislodging the spade from Saint Nick's neck. â€Å"Call it an early Christmas present.† Tuck took off his jacket and began digging in the hard ground. He felt light, a little giddy, thrilled that he wasn't going to have to spend Christmas alone with the bat again.

Pancreatic Cancer Is Lethal Malignancy With A Mortality Rate

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