The Symptoms and Signs of PDDNOS Essay Example For Students

The Symptoms and Signs of PDDNOS Essay Generally, children are 3 to 4 years old before they exhibit enough symptoms for parents to seek a diagnosis. There is no set pattern of symptoms and signs in children with PDDNOS. It is important to realize that a very wide range of diversity is seen in children with PDDNOS. All the items of behavior described in this section are common in these children, but a single child seldom shows all the features at one time. In other words, all children with PDDNOS do not have the same degree or intensity of the disorder. PDDNOS can be mild, with the child exhibiting a few symptoms while in the school or neighborhood environment. We will write a custom essay on The Symptoms and Signs of PDDNOS specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Other children may have a more severe form of PDDNOS and have difficulties in all areas of their lives. Because of the possibility that PDDNOS and Autistic Disorder are on a continuum, many clinical features described in the following section are very similar to those being described in the literature for Autistic Disorder. Some infants with PDDNOS tend to avoid eye contact and demonstrate little interest in the human voice. They do not usually put up their arms to be picked up in the way that typical children do. They may seem indifferent to affection and seldom show facial responsiveness. As a result, parents often think the child is deaf. In children with fewer delays, lack of social responsiveness may not be obvious until well into the second or third year of life. In early childhood, children with PDDNOS may continue to show a lack of eye contact, but they may enjoy a tickle or may passively accept physical contact. They do not develop typical attachment behavior, and there may seem to be a failure to bond. Generally, they do not follow their parents about the house. The majority do not show normal separation or stranger anxiety. These children may approach a stranger almost as readily as they do their parents. Many such children show a lack of interest in being with or playing with other children. They may even actively avoid other children. In middle childhood, such children may develop a greater awareness or attachment to parents and other familiar adults. However, social difficulties continue. They still have problems with group games and forming peer relationships. Some of the children with less severe PDDNOS may become involved in other childrens games. As these children grow older, they may become affectionate and friendly with their parents and siblings. However, they still have difficulty understanding the complexity of social relationships. Some individuals with less severe impairments may have a desire for friendships. But a lack of response to other peoples interests and emotions, as well as a lack of understanding of humor, often results in these youngsters saying or doing things that can slow the development of friendships. Impairment in Nonverbal Communication In early childhood, children with PDDNOS may develop the concrete gesture of pulling adults by the hand to the object that is wanted. They often do this without the typical accompanying facial expression. They seldom nod or shake their heads to substitute for or to accompany speech. Children with PDDNOS generally do not participate in games that involve imitation. They are less likely than typical children to copy their parents activity. In middle and late childhood, such children may not frequently use gestures, even when they understand other peoples gestures fairly well. Some children do develop imitative play, but this tends to be repetitive. Generally, children with PDDNOS are able to show joy, fear, or anger, but they may only show the extreme of emotions. .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed , .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .postImageUrl , .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed , .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:hover , .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:visited , .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:active { border:0!important; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:active , .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u72b4707b33538a551a03b8b8fe8aefed:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Atomic Bomb EssayThey often do not use facial expressions that ordinarily show subtle emotion. Comprehension of speech in children with PDDNOS is impaired to varying degrees, depending on where the child is within the wide spectrum of PDDNOS. Individuals with PDDNOS who also have mental retardation may never develop more than a limited understanding of speech. Children who have less severe impairments may follow simple instructions if given in an immediate context or with the aid of gestures (e. g. , telling the child to put your glass on the counter, while pointing to the counter). When impairment is mild, only the comprehension of subtle or abstract meanings may be affected. Humor, sarcasm, and common sayings (e. g. , its raining cats and dogs) can be confusing for individuals with the most mild PDDNOS. Many infants with PDDNOS do not babble, or may begin to babble in their first year but then stop. When the child develops speech, he or she often exhibits abnormalities. Echolalia (seemingly meaningless repetition of words or phrases) may be the only kind of speech some children acquire. Though echolalic speech might be produced quite accurately, the child may have limited comprehension of the meaning. In the past, it was thought that echolalia had no real function. More recent studies have found that echolalia can serve several functions, such as self-stimulation (when a child says words or phrases repeatedly without a communicative purposejust because it feels good); as a step between a child being nonverbal and verbal; or as a way to communicate (Prizant Rydell, 1993). Other children develop the appropriate use of phrases copied from others. This is often accompanied by pronoun reversal in the early stages of language development. For instance, when the child is asked How are you? he or she may answer You are fine. The actual production of speech may be impaired. The childs speech may be like that of a robot, characterized by a monotonous, flat delivery with little change in pitch, change of emphasis, or emotional expression. Problems of pronunciation are common in young children with PDDNOS, but these often diminish as the child gets older. There may be a striking contrast between clearly enunciated echolalic speech and poorly pronounced spontaneous speech. Some children have a chanting or singsong speech, with odd prolongation of sounds, syllables, and words. A question-like intonation may be used for statements. Odd breathing rhythms may produce staccato speech in some children. Abnormal grammar is frequently present in the spontaneous speech of verbal children with PDDNOS. As a result: phrases may be telegraphic (brief and monotone) and distorted; words of similar sound or related meaning may be muddled; some objects may be labeled by their use; prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns may be dropped from phrases or used incorrectly. When children with PDDNOS do develop functional speech, they may not use it in ordinary ways. Such children tend to rely on repetitive phrases. Their speech does not usually convey imagination, abstraction, or subtle emotion. They generally have difficulty talking about anything outside of the immediate context. They may talk excessively about their special interests, and they may talk about the same pieces of information whenever the same subject is raised. The most able persons can exchange concrete pieces of information that interest them, but once the conversation departs from this level, they can become lost and may withdraw from social contact. Ordinary to-and-fro conversational chatter is lacking. Thus, they give the impression of talking at someone, rather than with someone. The unusual responses of children with PDDNOS to the environment take several forms. Many children are upset by changes in the familiar environment. Even a minor change of everyday routine may lead to tantrums. Some children line up toys or objects and become very distressed if these are disturbed. Efforts to teach new activities may be resisted. Ritualistic or compulsive behaviors usually involve rigid routines (e. g. insistence on eating particular foods) or repetitive acts, such as hand flapping or finger mannerisms (e. g. , twisting, flicking movements of hands and fingers carried out near the face). Some children develop preoccupations; they may spend a great deal of time memorizing weather information, state capitals, or birth dates of family members. Some children develop intense attachments to odd objects, such as pipe cleaners, batteries, or film canisters. Some children may have a preoccupation with certain features of favored objects, such as their texture, taste, smell, or shape. .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 , .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .postImageUrl , .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 , .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:hover , .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:visited , .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:active { border:0!important; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:active , .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64 .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u690e4999ced9cb97fd5734e235096b64:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Diary of Anne Frank EssayUnusual responses to sensory experiences Many children may seem underresponsive or overresponsive to sensory stimuli. Thus, they may be suspected of being deaf or visually impaired. It is common for such young children to be referred for hearing and vision tests. Some children avoid gentle physical contact, yet react with pleasure to rough-and-tumble games. Some children carry food preferences to extremes, with favored foods eaten to excess. Some children limit their diet to a small selection, while others are hearty eaters who do not seem to know when they are full. The typical motor milestones (e. . , throwing, catching, kicking) may be delay ed but are often within the normal range. Young children with PDDNOS usually have difficulty with imitation skills, such as clapping hands. Many such children are very overactive, yet tend to become less overactive in adolescence. Children with PDDNOS may exhibit characteristics such as grimacing, hand flapping or twisting, toe walking, lunging, jumping, darting or pacing, body rocking and swaying, or head rolling or banging. In some cases the behaviors appear only from time to time; in other cases they are present continuously. Generally, children with PDDNOS do very well on tests requiring manipulative or visual skills or immediate memory, while they do poorly on tasks demanding symbolic or abstract thought and sequential logic. The process of learning and thinking in these children is impaired, most particularly in the capacity for imitation, comprehension of spoken words and gestures, flexibility, inventiveness, learning and applying rules, and using acquired information. Yet, a small number of children with PDDNOS show excellent rote memories and special skills in music, mechanics, mathematics, and reading. Because many children with PDDNOS are either without functional speech or otherwise untestable, some people question the validity of testing their intelligence. Moreover, it has been observed that a number of these children show major improvements in other developmental areas during the follow-up period without a change in their tested IQ. Follow-up studies have also shown that retardation present at the time of initial diagnosis tends to persist. Those children with a low IQ show more severely impaired social development. They are more likely to display unusual social responses, such as touching or smelling people, ritualistic behavior, or self-injury. The emotional expression of some children with PDDNOS may be flattened, excessive, or inappropriate to the situation. For no obvious reason, they may scream or sob inconsolably one time, yet giggle and laugh hysterically another time. Real dangers, such as moving vehicles or heights, may be ignored, yet the same child might seem frightened of a harmless object, such as a particular stuffed animal.

Everyman (Medieval Literature) Review essays

Everyman (Medieval Literature) Review essays The medieval play, Everyman, has defined what literature has come to know as The Everyman: the common, average person or character that is meant to represent every person. It is the character that is meant to allow the reader to identify with them. It is the character that represents society in general. Thus, the real message behind the medieval play Everyman is a social critique of what is wrong about The Everyman. Everyman can be traced back to the fifteenth century where it originated in a Dutch or Flemish play called Elckerlijc authored by Peter van Diest. The version must commonly read today is the sixteenth century English version. At its core Everyman is a morality play. Everyman is the main character who serves as an allegorical figure of the every man. In the play he is summoned by the allegorical figure of death to visit God and account for the life he has been lent by God. On his way, Everyman is told that he must go along, that his friends Fellowship, Kindred, Cousin, Goods and Knowledge will not accompany him. Only Virtue is willing to accompany Everyman and justify him before God. In the play, a messenger informs the audience that they must listen well, hinting that the play is really a message to them (the Everyman). The play begins with a conversation between God and Death, where God talks about the worlds people and the ongoing problem that they are able to sin freely without any thought of consequence. God order Death to go to earth and visit with Everyman and make him understand that his sinning is against Gods wishes. When they first meet, Everyman attempts to bride Death to get more time, but his request is promptly denied. However, Death does allow Everyman to find a friend to accompany him on his journey. The purpose of the friend is to serve as a witness before God and speak to Everymans alleged good virtues. E ...

Worst Roommate Ever How to Get Along and Co-Exist

Worst Roommate Ever How to Get Along and Co-Exist Many times, you dont get to choose your roommate if you live in a dorm. While its possible to change rooms or request a new roommate, the process is difficult and can only be used if theres a serious problem. So before you track down the RA and stir up a world of drama, try some of these tips to get along. Clear The Air The first step to getting along with your roommate is to clear the air and get all the past drama out of the way. This is best accomplished if you take the first step and begin with a peace offering. Whether its picking up their favorite take-away dinner or just sharing a bottle of wine, approach the discussion with an open mind and a smile on your face. Be prepared to take responsibility for anything youve done to make the problem worse – this isnt an argument to be won, its a way to simply clear the air and start fresh. You Dont Have to Be BFFs Theres always a vague notion that your college roommate will become your new Best Friend. The two of you will embark on this journey of personal, spiritual and intellectual growth, a bond will form and youll be developing a friendship that nurtures you for the rest of your life. While TV movies and sitcoms paint the picture, the reality is that most students go through at least one year of living with someone they simply cannot stand. Accept that you dont have to like each other – you just have to live together. Set Clear Boundaries Once youve cleared the air and accepted that the two of you dont need to become besties, you can lay down some clear boundaries. You cant stand it when your roommate lets their dirty laundry pile up so high the place smells like a giant armpit and your epic World of Warcraft sessions drive them up the wall. So your roommate agrees to do laundry more often or get a hamper with an airtight lid and youll need to start using earphones and not shouting at the screen when you play. Be willing to compromise and be willing to get everything out in the open now. Dont nitpick or try to force your roommate into conforming to everything you want without being willing to make some changes yourself. The goal is to find a compromise – a way for the two of you to share the same space, nothing more. Discuss the problems youve had as well as potential problems. Set up clear and definitive rules for drinking or smoking in the room having overnight guests noise levels for music, TV, video games, etc keeping the room clean If the thought of discussing any of this makes you uncomfortable, just imagine how uncomfortable youll be when your roommate decides to play Rock Band at 3am. Get Moving One of the simplest ways to deal with not wanting to be around your roommate is, of course, to just not be home when they are. If possible, stagger your classes for the afternoon if theirs are in the morning. Work odd shifts, hang out with friends more often or just get out and have fun on campus. If youre not naturally an active our outgoing person this may be difficult at first but spending less time in your room and more time outside will probably make your college experience better all around. Consider it a Life Lesson Getting along with people is something youll have to do for the rest of your life. While its unlikely that youll have to live with someone you dont like once youre out of college, learning how to deal with a difficult person without constant conflict is a skill that will serve you well for years to come. Its also important to know when to cut your losses. If the problem you have with a roommate involves them bullying, harassing or otherwise directly interfering with your life then its time to move from diplomacy to decisive action. Never attempt to act on the issue yourself. Immediately enlist the help of your RA or other dorm administrator to handle it. Typically problems with a roommate dont escalate to that point and learning how to handle difficult people can be an invaluable skill in the future. Learning to deal with a difficult roommate in college can easily hone diplomatic skills that will allow you to withstand even the most irksome work colleague in the future. Dealing successfully with a difficult roommate is a lot like dealing with difficult family members – you dont get to choose them but you do have to put up with them. Luckily for you, the time youll spend with a roommate will come to an end eventually but those bothersome family members will still turn up for Thanksgiving at Aunt Doras. How have you solved roommate problems in the past? Share your advice!

The Matrix Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

The Matrix - Movie Review Example The Matrix depicts that human intelligence is a strong force which cannot be repeated or mechanically restored. The movie portrays human intelligence is based on such issues as reasoning, thinking, and problem solving. People differ in their ability to reason effectively. However, the cognitive processes responsible for human actions and performance cannot be repeated by machines. The movie portrays that most people live in quite large social groups, and their intelligence evolved to cope with the demands of social life, the need to learn one's place in a social hierarchy, how to interact with one's social superiors and inferiors, how to co-operate with others, and how, sometimes, to outwit them. In the article, Lazar underlines that: â€Å"power in itself is deceptive as it is based on a paradox: it allows the taste of truth/knowledge but causes its own end (and arguably the end of truth/knowledge)† Using such characters as Neo, Morpheus and Trinity, the movie portrays that o nly human beings have the ability to think and apply decision-making to complex situations. Machines are unable to think flexibly. The Matrix shows that people go one step further by attributing, the possession of a 'theory of mind' which, they proposed, underlay the machines ability to understand, control, or predict the behavior of others. The idea has been taken up by numerous fiction writers, some of whom have argued that we possess a domain-specific 'theory of mind module'.

Career in retail Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Career in retail - Essay Example 3. This position matches with the necessary skills that I have learnt as part of my education and would provide me with an ideal opportunity to put the skills to good use. Further, the job would be a good fit for me given my personality traits and other characteristics that would match the skill set requirements of the job. All in all, the job would be an ideal starting point for me and for my career into the Canadian retail industry. 4. The pros of the job are that I would be utilizing my educational background and put to use the skills that I have learnt. The job would entail training in the areas of business and management along with finance and contracting. This would enable me to pursue the related skill sets and gain valuable insights into these fields. The biggest advantage of this job is that I would be given responsibility over an entire Franchise and hence this would be an ideal start to my career in the Canadian Retail industry. 5. The cons of the job are that since the position entails responsibilities beyond the normal ones that are part of a job in the retail industry, I would have to ensure that I scale up my performance level and work longer and harder. Though I would not necessarily see this as a negative, the fact remains that this would certainly add to the burden and I have to put in that much more work to measure up to the specifications. 6. I believe that the salary being offered is reasonable considering my qualifications and the demands of the job. There is nothing in the compensation package to suggest that the salary being offered is below my expectations or is somehow not consistent with the job description. Further, I am enthused by the fact that the package involves perquisites that make up for any deficiencies in the monetary compensation. 7. http://www.olx.ca/retail-jobs-cat-386 This job posting is

The Impact Of Digital Media On Ebay Information Technology Essay

The Impact Of Digital Media On Ebay Information Technology Essay eBay is known all over the world as the leading online Marketplace which came in to life in 1995,eBay Inc, was founded by Pierre M. Omidyarand its headquartered in San Jose, California, TM (2002). eBay created a special platform for the sales of goods and services by a passionate village of individuals and business. On days there are millions of items across thousand of categories for sale on eBay just like Half.com, eBays site dedicated to fixed price trading. eBay allows trade on a Local, National and International basis, with customize site in marketing all over the world. eBay, together with its sub-visions, bring online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, online payment services, and online communication offerings to a diverse community of individual and business in the USA and Internationally. The company operates in three Intentions: eBay Marketplace, Payments, and Communications. The eBay Marketplaces: This platform provides infrastructure to enable online commerce in a variety of formats, including the traditional auction platform; and its other online platforms, such as Rent.com, Shopping.com, Kijiji, mobile.de, and Marktplaats.nl. Its services include trust and safety programs, reply forum, safe chanel program, eBay standard purchase protection program, customer support, tools and services. The Payments segment: Feeds a product for small businesses, online sellers, and individuals that enables them to send and receive payments online. Its services include joining the network, crosscheck of its PayPals account holders, withdrawing funds. The Communications segment: provide voice over Internet protocol calls between Skype subscribers, also provides connectivity to traditional fixed-line and handheld telephones. The company also provide online apartment rental services and comparison shopping resource service, as well as provides an Internet payment platform that allows merchants to process, and manage online payments. 2. MISSION STATEMENT OBJECTIVE eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay brings together millions of people every day on a local, national and international basis through variety of websites that focus on commerce, payments and communication. This has also help the company in various ways between their numerous customers worldwide. They have engaged in the method stated below. A Place to Buy. You can get almost anything item you need or want at very low deal better than you can find at any traditional brick and mortar, even online stores. But caution should be taken because of rotten or fake items deals on eBay. A Place to Sell. No matter the size of our product or services, eBay has various categories channels to sell items. eBays global reach can even move unusual items that are not in demand in our own neighborhood in to cash. A Place to Shop. Large variety of items can be found for sale on eBay, many members have discovered that eBay is one of the best place in the world to window or comparison shop. These items include photos, detailed descriptions, and owner experiences. Because you see lots of the same items side by side in various conditions and know what each one sold or selling for, eBay gives you insight into the real market value of most types of goods around the globe. A Website: With no physical building eBay store, Founded in San Jose but now carry out daily activities from various cities, eBays service exist basically online apart from the delivery of bought and sold items every other network of the business are handled through eBay website. Socially Responsible: eBay with its B2C way of handling business has lower the barriers to buying and selling, these bring a massive global awareness to it business. It also fosters new economic opportunities to developing areas and brings cultural understanding between different populations. This has made eBay one of the worlds most interesting and exciting trans-national ambassadors. 3. THE IMPACT OF DIGITAL MEDIA ON EBAY eBay is a cutting edge in commence by selling almost everything be it of what nature with its presence in every corners of the globe with no physical store, with limited staffs but satisfy it numerous customer worldwide. But how is this possible? Social Media Marketing: Recent addition to organizations plans. Integrated marketing communications is a practice organization follow to connect with their target markets. Integrated marketing communications coordinates promotional elements, advertising, personnel selling, public relations, publicity, direct marketing and sale promotion. Increasingly viral marketing campaigns are also grouped into integrated marketing communications for eBay. The growth of social media has impacted the way organizations communicate, the internet provide set of idea which enable persons to develop social and business platform, share knowhow and collaborate on project online. Cell Phones: Usage has also become a benefit for eBay media marketing. Today many cell phones have social networking capabilities, individuals are notified of any happenings on social networking  sites through their cell phones in real-time. This constant connection to social networking sites means products and companies can constantly remind and update followers about their capabilities, uses, importance, etc. Since cell phones are connected to social networking sites, advertisements are always in sight. Computers: The use of computer has come to stay in our daily life be it at home, offices, school, this is one of the basic tools used by eMarketers worldwide, eBay uses the help of computer since they dont physical store to carry out their daily business and this is done by logging into their website by typing in the URL address with an access from ISP provider. Once logged in, you see various categorizes of product, prices, description of items and options of payment of items bought. Buying of items online and shipping to every part of the globe is an everyday activity at just by the use of a computer, Newsweek (2004) Internet Marketing: eBay use the internet known as digital marketing, web marketing, and online marketing is the marketing product and services over the internet. Internet marketing is considered to be broad in scope because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless  media. Digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management systems are also often grouped together under internet marketing. This market joins the vast idea and technical background of the Internet, including design, development, advertising, and sales.  Internet marketing also refers to the placement of media along many different stages of the customer engagement cycle through search engine marketing on specific websites. 3.1 THE USE OF THE INTERNET BY eBay The internet as change the landscape of the world in every way things are done in every way things are done globally. Never before have people been able to interact in such a cost effective and comfortable way. The business world as seen a better new of doing its daily activity, business now are done in very short span of time even without the presence of both party at the same place or time. Now it is possible for you to establish your own company with a very small financial investment or in some cases even without any start-up capital. eBay use the internet in carrying of its daily business to meet target market and satisfy its customer at a very low cost and maximizing profit. Information: People worldwide are using the internet on a regular basis, with email and search engines as the most popular services. Information is power. People are able to influence, direct, convince, educate and manipulate others through one single tool: The distribution of information. Email and discussion forums allow people to share their thoughts, ideas and experiences with other people from all corners of the world. Within a relatively short period of time the Internet and its communication channels will be part of our daily lives as are running water and electricity. Cost Effectiveness: The internet is by far the most effective communication tool. If you want to send a letter via conventional or so-called slow mail, it will cost at least around $1 assuming you restrict yourself to two single sheets of paper. Sending the same amount of information via email will be up to 100 times cheaper with immediate delivery. In addition to this, email with its numbers of advantages over the slow mailing system of delivery of messages, sending and get a reply on the spot. Online Auction: In this massive marketplace, eBay rules the auction sites. According to the Nelison Rating, eBay is among the top ten most trafficked sites on the internet. eBay leads the online auction industry with a more than 60 percent share of the market, its closest competitors, Yahoo! Auctions, is only half its size followed by Amazon.com, all these are done with the help of the internet and makes eBay smile to the bank on daily basis. Low Cost Operation: Running business requires tons of capital no matter the size of the outfit, the business has to pay for rental shops, offices, motor vehicle, staffs, before it can think of making its profit which is the primary idea of the business, but doing online business you cut down your expenses to a very little amount of capital and that is the edge eBay is use to run its operations and has really help the business since it does not have physical presence anywhere, it does its business around the globe and sell lots of items to its customers worldwide. The internet helps eBay in an immeasurable way of cutting down cuts of operations and get to all part of the world without even being there in presence. 4. INTERNET AS A MARKETING PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS Public relations is defined as a management function which identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial  relationships between an organization and the public upon which its success or failure depends. Whereas advertising is a  one-way communication from sender to the receiver, public relations considers multiple audiences and uses two way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its messages and the organizations actions maximum benefit. The internet is used as a tool in Public Relations and has replaced the use of paper form of notifications and is carried out in method stated below. Tweeter: Social media is a great way to have a conversation with your market and manage connections with prospects, customer, bloggers. Even if you dont join Twitter you can monitor what people are saying company, trends, friends and products. This is quite useful from a marketing and PR standpoint. Tweeter has a search engine that let you post any information and can be linked to eBays platform. Facebook: Business firms states their URLs on cable Tv commercials, were friends and followers can join them on Facebook. This is sharp method way of internet PR, youre a startup entrepreneur, you could start a group to help entrepreneurs connect and exchange ideas. Search to make sure one doesnt exist already in your area. Your friends on your facebook will have first hand information of what is happening around you and your business and will also pass to from friends to friends if even they are not yours. eBay is linked to facebook which acts as an indirect form of PR, Instant message could also take form by chatting on both platform. Email: This is the fastest, stress less and cheapest form of PR and e-marketing with the use of the internet, when searching for information or to joint an organization like eBay, Amazon you go through a process of filling and providing certain information about yourself and your preference requirement, all these information is kept in their database and at the end you provide your e-mail. The organizations use their database information to communicate with you, through this medium you are updated with the latest information relating to previous request. As you change your preference change it is also updated in their database. eBay use this form of PR to promote their product to you and information is sent to you in respect of delivery of the item you paid for. Website Feedback: Various website use a page known as website feedback as a form PR tool to give a comments, complain or report on your experience you may have after buying a product or trial of certain items in other for them to know how their customer feel about product bought from them. 5. EBAY SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGHT: The Company use the advantage of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Both parties (Buyers and Sellers) subscribe with the company and information needed by eBay on dealers. This is known as Business2Consumer (B2C) of their business. With the strong customer and dealer relationships are based on Consumer2Consumer (C2C) business platform, where good business relationships occurs, where buyers and sellers interchange feedback for each other for the next transaction to take place. WEAKNESSES: Organizations works painfully to limit fraud. eBay platform of business is very open to fraudulent activities. But the company act with the issue very quickly. These includes inferior goods being marketed to unknown and suspecting eBayers. Other forms of theft could include redirection of stolen goods. Make it known that fraud and theft are problems with outsiders not eBay. The weakness is that mischievous individuals can exploit the C2C business platform. Many companies, systems breakdowns could disturb the trading transaction of eBay on daily bases. eBay and Paypal have suffered shutdowns and total breakdown. As technology improves for the better weakness will be less an issue. OPPORTUNITIES: Acquisitions bring new business strategy openings. eBay has into agreement to buy off online telephone company Skype Technologies with a deal reported of about worth $2.6 billion. PC users use Skype to have conversation with each other for no charges and make cut-price calls to handheld cell-phones and fixed landlines once you have subscribe to the services. This will bring in more customers to the business and also make profit to continue to grow. THRATS: The world Internet brands, success attract competition. Overseas competitors competing in their home markets have the technical experience that could give them a stronger advantage over eBay. It came to the notice of eBay that it has met with other USA home Internet providers when trading in other international country. Yahoo! stand out in the Asian market. Doing the same market is a threat, just like weaknesses stated above, the name is attacked by mischievous individuals. When e-mail sent to unknown eBayers disguards to come from eBay. Logos, and design of the pages looks just the same. However they are designed so that you input private information that the thieves can use to accesses to passwords and identifications. Not all costs can controlled by eBay, example shipping charges and credit card charges. With fuel prices to rise, the customer suffers the increment of delivery and postal charges. This affect the total cost of auctioned items very expensive. When provider of credit card merchants like Visa or Master-card decide a charge for online business transaction the total cost of the same items would increase with a negative effects on the final customer of the product and will make eBay loose some of its future consumer and will affect the profit and share value of the company. 6. CONCLUSION EBay is well aware that in order for the company to maintain its competitive advantage and make it sustainable in the long run, the company must take advantage of the changes at the corporate, organizational and business levels. EBay embraces the five building blocks which are applied randomly throughout eBays history: improvisation, co-adaption, regeneration, experimentation and time pacing as evident by the strategies discussed. The company also embraces the 10 principles of competing on the edge about strategy, organization and leadership. With all hands on deck EBay can go further if the managing, marketing department embrace more with its IT department by merging with more social media platform not just their website because social website break more distance with communities of friends of my friends. Security department should work more bringing down the risk of internet fraud, this is one area of online business transaction that turn people away from buying online, because nobody wants to their money to end up on the place after paying for an item or product.

Bite Me: A Love Story Chapter 6~7

6. The Vampire Parrots of Telegraph Hill A flock of wild parrots lives in the city of San Francisco. They are South American cherry-headed conures-bright green with a red head, a little smaller than a typical pigeon. No one is quite sure how they came to the City. It's likely that they are the descendants of animals caught in the jungle, then released to the city skies when they proved too wild to be kept as pets. They fly over the northern waterfront of San Francisco, foraging for fruit, berries, and blossoms, from the Presidio at the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge, over Pacific Heights, the Marina, Russian Hill, North Beach, and all the way to the Ferry Building near the Oakland Bay Bridge. They are social, squawky, silly birds that mate for life and advertise their presence with a cacophony of beeps and cheeps that inspire smiles from residents, bewilderment from tourists, and hunger in predators, mostly red-tailed hawks and peregrine falcons. The parrots spend their nights high in the trees of Telegraph Hill, beneath the great concrete phallus of Coit Tower, sheltered from attack from hawks by the evergreen canopy overhead, and from all but the most ambitious cats, by the sheer altitude. But still, they are sometimes attacked, and although gentle creatures, they will fight back, biting with their thick, built-for-seed-crushing beaks. Which is what happened. The next morning after he witnessed the cat attack in the SOMA, the Emperor of San Francisco was awakened from a nest he'd made in one of the little stair gardens on Telegraph Hill, to hear parrots squawking in the trees. The sun was just breaking the horizon behind the Bay Bridge, turning the water red-gold under a blue morning mist. The Emperor crawled out from under a pile of carpet padding, stood, and stretched, his great joints creaking in the cold like ancient church doors. The men, Bummer and Lazarus, poked their noses out of the gray cloak, snuffled the dawn, then, with the call of the parrots, resolved themselves to morning and emerged like urgent butterflies to search for the perfect spot for the first wee of the day. The three watched as fifty or so squawking parrots circled Coit Tower and headed out toward the Embarcadero, where, suddenly, they all stopped flying, burst into flames, and fell like a smoldering storm of dying comets into Levi's Plaza. â€Å"Well, you don't see that every day,† said the Emperor, scratching Lazarus's ears through the bandages. The retriever was a doggy version of The Mummy, wrapped ears to tail in bandages after his last encounter with the vampire cats. The vet in the Mission wanted to keep him overnight, but the retriever had never spent a night away from the Emperor since they had found each other, and the vet had no accommodations for a large and burly monarch, let alone a feisty Boston terrier, so the three had bunked together under the carpet pad. Bummer chuffed, which translated from dog to: â€Å"I don't like it.† As the famous frog sang, it's not easy being green. 7. The Fog Comes on Little Cat Feet and Whatnot FOO Stephen â€Å"Foo Dog† Wong's fully bombed Honda drift machine was full of rats. Not completely full, the passenger seat was filled by Jared Whitewolf, Abby's backup BFF. (BBFF, really.) â€Å"Did you have to get all white ones?† Jared asked. He was six foot two, very thin, and paler than Death shagging a snowman. The sides of his head were shaved and in the middle he sported an unlaquered Mohawk, which hung in his eyes unless he was lying on his back or looking up. In addition to a floor-length black PVC cenobite coat, he was currently wearing Abby's thigh-high red platform Skankenstein ® boots, which was completely within his rights, as her current BFF. What bothered Foo was not that Jared had on girl's boots, but that he had on the boots of a girl with distinctly small feet. â€Å"Don't those hurt?† Jared tossed his hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Well, it's like Morrissey said, ‘Life is suffering.'† â€Å"I think the Buddha said that.† â€Å"I'm pretty sure Morrissey said it first-like, back in the eighties.† â€Å"No, it was the Buddha.† â€Å"Have you ever even seen a picture of the Buddha with shoes on?† Jared asked. Foo couldn't believe he was having this argument. What's more, he couldn't believe he was losing this argument. â€Å"Well, I have some Nikes upstairs that might fit you if you need to change shoes. Let's get the rats unloaded. I have to get to work.† Jared already had four plastic cages with two white rats in each stacked on his lap, so he unfolded himself out of the Honda and wobbled on the red platforms to the fire door of the loft. â€Å"Don't try to paint them black,† Jared said, peering into the Plexiglas boxes as Foo opened the door for him. â€Å"I tried that with my first rat, Lucifer. It was tragic.† â€Å"Tragic?† said Foo. â€Å"I'd have never guessed. Put them on the floor in the living room. I'll borrow the truck from work tomorrow and pick up some folding tables to put them on.† In addition to pursuing his degree in molecular biology, and variously rescuing Abby, formulating vampire serum, and tricking out his Honda, Foo still worked part-time at Stereo City, where he specialized in telling people that they needed a bigger TV. â€Å"You still have that job?† Jared said as he stumbled up the stairs. â€Å"Abby said you guys have total fuck-you money.† Why did she tell him? She wasn't supposed to tell him. Did she tell him everything? Why did she have to have friends at all? She'd given Jared five thousand dollars of Jody and Tommy's money for Hanukkah-despite the fact that neither one of them was Jewish. â€Å"Because I will not let mainstream society make me into the Christmas bitch of the zombie baby-Jebus, that's why,† she'd said. â€Å"And because he helped me take care of the Countess and Lord Flood when they were in trouble.† â€Å"I need to keep my cover,† Foo said. â€Å"For tax purposes.† That was partially true. He did need to keep up his cover, because, like Abby, he hadn't actually told his parents that he'd moved out. They were so used to him being at school, in the lab, or at work, that they hadn't really noticed that he hadn't been sleeping at home. It helped that he had four younger brothers and sisters, who were all carrying insane work and course loads. His parents were all about toil. As long as you were toiling, you were okay. They could smell toil from miles away, or the lack of it. He might be able to get away with living in his own loft with his spooky-sexy girlfriend, and doing bizarre genetic experiments on the undead, but if he quit his job they'd sense it in a second. It took Foo and Jared twenty minutes to get all the rats up the steps and lined up around the living room. â€Å"We're not going to hurt them, are we?† said Jared, holding up one of the plastic cages so he was eye to eye with its occupants. â€Å"We're going to turn them into vampires.† â€Å"Oh, cool. Now?† â€Å"No, not now. For now, you're going to need to feed them and make sure there's a water bottle in each of their cages,† Foo said. â€Å"Then what?† Jared asked, tossing his hair out of his eyes. â€Å"Then you can go home,† said Foo. â€Å"You don't need to observe them full-time until the experiment starts.† â€Å"I can't go home. I told my parents I was staying over at Abby's.† Foo was suddenly horrified at the thought of having to spend the night in the loft with a hundred rats, two bronzed vampires, and Jared. Especially Jared. Maybe he'd go home and leave Jared to watch the rats-make an appearance at home for the parents, so as to throw them off the trail of his non-toiling, loft-living, Anglo-girlfriend lifestyle. â€Å"You can stay here, then,† Foo said. â€Å"I'll be back in the morning.† â€Å"What about them?† Jared nodded toward the bronzed figures of Jody and Tommy. â€Å"What about them?† â€Å"Can I talk to them? I didn't get to finish telling Jody my novel.† Jared had spent a very long night telling Jody the first part of the novel he was going to write, an erotic horror story that starred himself and his pet rat, Lucifer 2. â€Å"Okay,† said Foo. He didn't really like thinking about the two people, well, vampires, but they seemed a lot like people, that he'd helped imprison in a bronze shell. It sort of gave him the willies, and that was highly unscientific. â€Å"But no touching,† he added. Jared pouted and sat down on the futon, about the only spot in the entire living-room-kitchen area not covered with plastic rat cages. â€Å"Okay, but will you help me get these boots off before you go?† Foo shuddered. It had been less than an hour since the cops led Abby away and already he missed her like a severed limb. It was embarrassing. How could hormones and hydrostatic pressure make you feel like this? Love was very unscientific. â€Å"Sorry,† Foo said. â€Å"Gotta jet.† A true hero, the kind Abby accused him of being, he knew, would have helped Jared. JARED Abby Normal had once offered to pay for a tattoo for Jared that read: Danger. Do not administer caffeine without adult supervision. Jared asked, â€Å"Can it be in red? Does it have to be on the forehead? Maybe on the side so I can grow my hair over it if I don't like it. Am I being emo? Do you want to play Blood-feast on Xbox? They have green fur iPod cases at Urban Outfitters. I love white chocolate mochas. Marilyn Manson needs to be dragged to death behind a clown car. Oh fuck, I'm so allergic to this eyeliner I could cry.† Abby said, â€Å"Oh my God, you're like Obnoxious and Annoying had an ass baby!† â€Å"What are you trying to say?† asked Jared. What she had been trying to say, although she didn't know it at the time, was that under no circumstances should Jared be left alone in an apartment with an abundance of time and espresso, which is what Foo had just done. So after feeding, watering, and naming all the rats (most given French names from Abby's copy of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal), Jared began brewing espressos and was nine demitasse cups into the afternoon when he decided to act out the remainder of his unwritten vampire adventure novel, The Dark of Darkness, for a hundred rats caged in plastic and two vampires encased in bronze. â€Å"So the evil Blood Queen dons her chrome strap-on of death and goes after Lucifer 2. But Jared Whitewolf is on her like a fat kid on a cupcake, parrying her blows with his dagger of death, or Dee Dee, as it is known.† Jared pirouetted, a move he'd learned in ballet class at age six, and slashed the air, low and fast, with the double-edged dagger held backhand so as to sever his imaginary enemy's femoral artery, a move he'd learned in Soul Assassin Five on the Xbox (although it was harder to do while wearing platform boots than it was in the video game). The dagger was real enough, twelve inches of double-edged high-carbon stainless steel with a dragon hilt. Jared carried it because he thought it made him look badass when doormen took it away from him at clubs. â€Å"And he strikes her weapon in half!† he said, leaping and bringing the blade around a little too fast. He turned his ankle, lost his balance, and as he fell, the dagger put a deep nick in the bronze statue. â€Å"Ow!† He sat on the floor holding his ankle and rocking back and forth in the yoga position known as the â€Å"freaked-out half-lotus.† Then he noticed the gash he'd put in the bronze, directly over Jody's right clavicle. â€Å"I'm sorry, Countess,† Jared said, still a little breathless from his battle. â€Å"I didn't mean to hurt you. It's just that I had to save Lucifer 2. You'd do the same thing for Lord Flood if he was in the story.† Jared buffed at the bronze with his sleeve, but the gash was deep and wasn't going to go away with polishing. â€Å"Abby's going to kill me. I'll patch you, Countess. Just hang on. Toothpaste. We used it on the wall that time we drank Abby's mom's vodka and played cross-country darts in her living room. Hang on a minute.† Jared let the heavy dagger drop to the floor, climbed to his feet, winced, then limped off to the bathroom to look for toothpaste. He located a tube of all natural tartar control with baking soda just as the sun dropped under the horizon in the west. Out in the living room, a needle-thin stream of mist began leaking out of the gash he'd made in the bronze statue. Toothpaste probably wouldn't have fixed it. THE ANIMALS In the last two months, the Animals, the night stock crew at the Marina Safeway, had hunted an ancient vampire, blown up his yacht, stolen millions of dollars' worth of art, sold it for pennies on the dollar, spent the remaining hundreds of thousands on gambling and a blue hooker, got turned into vampires, were torn apart by zoo animals, then burned up by sunlamps when they attacked Abby Normal, then turned, by Foo, back into seven guys who stocked shelves at the Safeway and smoked a little too much weed. And as it often is with adventurers, after the adventure, they were feeling a little bored, and a little worried that nothing exciting would ever happen to them again. After you've battled the darkness, then become the darkness, then shagged the darkness, frozen turkey bowling and skiing behind the floor-scrubbing machine just doesn't hold the same thrill. After you've shared a blue prostitute with your buddies to the tune of a half a million dollars, only to have her kill and resurrect you before disappearing into the night, swapping stories of banging babes was a bit of an anticlimax. After all, they worked nights and the oldest of them, Clint, was only twenty-three, so most of their stories were gross exaggerations, wishful thinking, or outright lies anyway. Even crucifying Clint with zip ties on the potato chip rack every other Friday didn't seem fun anymore, and last week they had just left him hanging, thrashing in the Doritos, and went off to stock their aisles before he could even forgive them for knowing not what they did. Tragic, really, to be young, free, and mind-numbingly bored. So when the Emperor of San Francisco came screaming out of the parking lot and slammed, face-first, into the big Plexiglas front window, rattling the Tic Tacs on every register, each of them dropped what he was working on and headed to the front of the store, hoping in their hearts that something outstanding was coming down. The seven, the Animals, stood on one side of the big window, while the Emperor pounded on the other, the royal hounds leaping and barking at his side. â€Å"Maybe we should let him in,† said Clint, curly-haired, born-again, ex-heroin addict who worked cereal, coffee, and juices. â€Å"He seems troubled.† â€Å"S,† said Gustavo, the porter, leaning on his mop. â€Å"Troubled.† â€Å"Seems fucking freaked,† said Drew, the Ichabod-Crane-gaunt master of the frozen food aisle and chief medical officer. â€Å"Totally fucking freaked.† â€Å"What's wrong?† asked Lash, the lean black guy who had become their leader when Tommy was turned into a vampire, largely because he almost had an MBA, but also because he was a black guy and inherently cooler than everyone else. â€Å"Murder, destruction, ravenous creatures of the night, a storm of them,† shouted the Emperor. â€Å"Hurry, please.† â€Å"He always says that,† said Barry, the balding fireplug of a scuba diver who also stocked soap and dog food. â€Å"Well, every time he says it, it's kind of true,† said Jeff, the tall blond ex-power forward with the blown-out knee (baking supplies and international foods). â€Å"I say let him in.† â€Å"Look, the retriever is all bandaged up. Poor guy,† said Troy Lee, their resident martial arts expert who worked the glass aisle. â€Å"Let them in.† â€Å"You just want to roll the little one up in a burrito,† said Lash. â€Å"Yeah, that's right, Lash. Because I'm Chinese, I have a deep-seated need to nosh house pets. Now why don't you let him in before my inner Chinaman forces me to kung-fu your bitch ass.† Because he understood that he was the leader only so long as he told everyone to do what they wanted to do anyway, and because he had had his bitch ass kung-fued in the past and hadn't cared for it, Lash unlocked the door and let the Emperor in. The old man fell into the store when Lash opened the door. Bummer and Lazarus stopped barking and bolted by them, and on toward the back of the store. Jeff and Drew got the Emperor seated on one of the registers and Troy Lee handed him a bottle of water. â€Å"Chill, Your Majesty, we've done this before.† â€Å"Not like this. Not like this,† said the Emperor. â€Å"It's a storm of evil. Lock the door.† Lash rolled his eyes. They really had done this before, and the door being locked or unlocked wasn't going to make much difference if a vampire was following the old man. â€Å"We got your back, Highness,† Lash said. â€Å"Lock the door,† the Emperor moaned, pointing through the window. A fog bank was moving across the parking lot, with rather more intent than one usually expects from a fog bank. A high, yowling screech seemed to come out of the fog in a stream, as if it had been sampled, amplified, and duplicated a thousand times. The Animals moved to the glass. â€Å"Lock the door, Lash,† Clint said. Clint never gave orders. The edge of the fog bank was boiling with shapes, claws, ears, eyes, teeth, tails-cats formed of fog, rolling in a wave over one another, some materializing partially, only to evaporate and roll back into the cloud, their red eyes moving through the cloud like embers out of a firestorm. â€Å"Whoa,† said Drew. â€Å"Whoa,† repeated the others. â€Å"Okay, that is different,† said Troy Lee. â€Å"My friends all over the City are missing,† the Emperor said. â€Å"Street people. They're gone. Just their clothes and gray dust,† the Emperor said. â€Å"The cats are killing everything in their way.† â€Å"That is fucked up,† said Jeff. â€Å"Deeply, deeply fucked up,† said Barry, dragging one of the heavy wooden order dividers off the register and brandishing it like a club. â€Å"Lock the fucking door, Lash!† Clint screamed. â€Å"Jesus hates it when you use the f-word,† said Gustavo, the Mexican porter, who was Catholic and liked to remind Clint when his Jesus was slipping. The fog washed against the window and claw marks etched the Plexiglas instantly to frost, as if it had all been sanded. The noise was like, well, it was like a thousand vampire cats clawing on Plexiglas-it made their teeth hurt. â€Å"Did anyone bring weapons?† Troy Lee asked. â€Å"I brought some weed,† Drew said. A cat's claw of fog crept under the door and raked the toe of Lash's sneaker. He snapped the lock shut, pulled out the key, and backed away. â€Å"Okay, break time,† he said. â€Å"Crew meeting in the walk-in.† JARED Across town, in the bedroom of a fashionable loft, in the fashionable SOMA neighborhood, aspiring rat-shagger, Jared Whitewolf, looked up from rubbing his sore ankle to see a completely naked redhead walk into the room. Her hair hung to her waist in a great curling cape, framing her figure, which was perfect and as white as a marble statue. She held Jared's double-edged dagger in her right hand. Jared backed up onto the bed in a reverse crab walk. â€Å"I, I, I, it, it, it-Abby made me-â€Å" â€Å"Chill, Scissorhands,† Jody said. â€Å"You'd better find some of those blood bags of Steve's fast, unless you'd like to finish high school as a pile of greasy dust. Countess is thirsty.†