A Camping Trip By Bridget Andersen | Short Story

A Camping Trip By Bridget Andersen | Short Story When I say the words breakfast burrito, I bet that an outdoor camping trip in the wilderness doesnt come to mind. My story begins with three friends trying to spend more time together. After several months of heavy duty school, sports obligations, church requirements, and other pressures in their lives, they decided it was time to take a break. One friend wanted to go to Busch Gardens so that she could scream out her frustrations and enjoy the roller coaster rides. Another wanted to go to the beach, where she could relax in the sun and play in the waves. Yet another friend, who was a girl scout, knew the tranquility and solitude of a camping trip. She wanted to go camping in the quiet wilderness of southern Virginia. Therefore, the group of friends put their minds together and came up with a plan for a wonderful camping adventure. They imagined it would be just like the old days when they camped in their back yard, ate kitchen-cooked food, and had the luxuries of the house at their d isposal. They looked forward to a fantastic camping trip of friendship and fun. As the day finally came, it was time to depart. Having spent most of the previous week packing their clothes and supplies, it was a miracle that they could fit all of their provisions in the car. They had even considered strapping a friend to the roof in order to fit in an extra food cooler. Because the trip was going to be long and they wanted to be entertained the whole way, so they also brought their cell phones, DVD players, and snacks to keep them satisfied. When they arrived at the campsite, they expected to see lodges and cabins that had air conditioning and plumbing. What they actually found was far below their expectations. There were no cabins: only small, flat, gravel surfaces on which they were suppose to set up their tents and a charred fire pit, full of leaves, camper trash and other debris. However, this did not dampen the girls spirits; they just got to work unpacking their various supplies from the car. The only trouble that they encountered while setting up camp was pitching the tent. The Girl Scout borrowed the tent from her brother, who was a boy scout. On his many trips the instructions for setting up the tent became water stained and ripped so that the words and diagrams were incomprehensible. None of the girls had much experience setting up a tent so they just had to try their best. When they were done, the tent could stand by itself, but it looked nothing like the tent on the front of the package in which it came. There was also a piece of cloth leftover for which they could not find a use. The girls dismissed these observations and figured that if the tent stood, it was good enough for them. After setting up camp, the three friends decided to go for a relaxing hike to a nearby lake, where they would go for a canoe outing. Unfortunately, one of the campers had forgotten to bring a water bottle. She also happened to be in horrible physical condition. Because of her condition, the short hike to the waterfront became very challenging, as the two campers urged and eventually supported their friend. After resting for a short while at the waterfront, the girls found enough energy to push off the canoes into the water. While doing this, one girl accidentally stepped onto a muddy rock and fell head first into the water. She rose from the lake looking like a wet dog, but she was still good-natured with a smile on her face. The three friends sat there and laughed until they were having trouble breathing. Then they went out on the water. For a while, they explored the shores and docks around the lake. However, due to their exhaustion and poor paddling skills, the canoe flipped over. Again, the friends found some smile in this experience and had fun climbing back into the canoe. Eventually, the friends decided that it was time to finish their canoe outing, and they made their way back to camp. After an afternoon of fun on the water, they had built up quite an appetite. On arrival at the campsite, however, they were in for a very big surprise! The local camp raccoon, Joe Raccoon as he was widely known, had outsmarted them by sneaking into their camp in broad daylight while they were away on their canoeing trip and getting into their food, bins, and buckets! As they looked over the supplies, they found half-eaten fruit pies, opened containers of coffee grounds, missing popcorn kernels, sandwich makings thrown about, and tons of empty candy wrappers. At one point, one of the campers happened to catch a brief glimpse of Joe Raccoon as he scampered away from the campsite with an enormous belly, fingers full of goodies, and wearing a mischievous grin. The girls sat in a circle in great dismay wondering what they were thinking when they had decided to go camping. W ithout food, empty-stomached, exhausted, and frustrated, this camping trip was turning into a not-so-fun outing. Moreover, it was only early afternoon. Even after they arduously cleaned up the campsite, they were still soaked from their dip in the lake. Since the girls had packed a surplus of clothes, they decided that they could risk using up another outfit in order to get dry. However, when they got inside the tent, they all screamed at the sight to behold. There were bugs and spiders of every shape and size crawling around in their sleeping bags. Lions and tigers and bugs, oh my! They had forgotten to close the tent flap when they left for their canoe trip! Rather than going into the tent, they decided that it would be better to remain in their wet clothes than face the creepy crawlies. Eventually they drew straws to decide who would sweep out the tent. What a horrible decision the canoeing trip was turning out to be! They were hungry and miserable and decided to cook dinner over the fire with the supplies that Joe Raccoon had left behind. Maybe their clothes would dry off beside the fire too? They had planned on making spaghetti and meat sauce. None of them envisioned how hard it would be to cook it. They had to make sure that the grate that they placed over the fire was the right distance away, that the heat from the fire was evenly spaced out, and that they did not spill the hot water on themselves. After a while, they finally succeeded in putting the noodles on the fire and letting it stew. However, none of them had ever cooked spaghetti before and they did not know that you have to stir it continuously. As a result, when they took the spaghetti out of the pot, it was clumped at the bottom and burned in such a way that it was inedible. The girls had to satisfy their hunger with the Cheerios and fruit that they had planned on eating in the morning. They finished their meager dinner in silence a nd then grumpily went to bed. Yelling and snapping at each other the whole time. This camping trip was causing more stress than they had originally planned. The next morning two of the girls woke up to find that it had rained in the middle of the night. Their tent was completely soaked, and they were practically swimming in the water that was lining the bottom of the tent (they forgot to put their rain jacket on when they pitched the tent). However, after they got over their frustration with the dampness, they opened their tent and smelled the tantalizing aroma of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..Potatoes, oh for the love of potatoes! After being hungry and cold all night, the warm, delicious scent of the potatoes was like heaven to their noses! Visions of mashed and baked potatoes danced in their heads. They quickly went in search of the source and found the remaining girl (who was the Girl Scout) cooking hash browns on the fire. She had set up a table that was already filled with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, sour crà ¨me, salsa, and warm tortillas. The Girl Scout greeted them and told them that she was making one of her traditional camping foods: breakfast burritos. They nodded and sat down in folding chairs by the fire. They sang and laughed around the fire while the Girl Scout finished roasting the potatoes. The fire crackled and gave off warm waves of heat that the girls savored. When the girl was done cooking, she put the potatoes on the table, and the girls filled their own burritos with the main ingredients along with sour crà ¨me, onions, and salsa in order to make it more flavorful and sat down at the campfire again. At first, the other campers were wary. What if the burritos ended up being a mistake like the rest of their camping trip? But as they watched the other girl dig in, the warm smell of the food overpowered their sense of caution, and they each took a bite. The burrito was fantastic! The potatoes were cooked to golden-brown perfection, and the eggs were simmered just right so that the combination was incredible! The breakfast burritos awakened their five senses. They could see the golden brown potatoes and the yellow of the perfect eggs. They could feel the nice crispy warmth of the tortilla in their hands and the soft feel of the potatoes and eggs as they took each bite. They could still smell the scent of the potatoes, but now it was joined with the satisfying smell of the eggs and onions, mixing together to create the ultimate aroma. They closed their eyes and heard the sound of satisfaction as the other girls enjoyed their own burrito. The burritos tasted like no other food on earth. The combination of all the ingredients created the perfect blend of flavors. Each girl gobbled up two burritos in a flash. Once they were full and content, they all sat around the campfire and eventually took a nap. They woke up and started packing up their things. They had much less to pack, thanks to Joe Raccoon. Once they were done, they set out on the road again. While driving home, the friends reflected on their short camping trip and decided that it wasnt that bad. The breakfast burritos that day had definitely brightened the trip! Plus, it was a good experience for them. Next time they went on a camping trip, they would know what to watch out for so that they would not make the same mistakes that they made this year. They even considered coming back next year to the same place! If they did, then they would certainly remember to eat breakfast burritos! Breakfast Burritos*: Things You Will Need: 1 box hash browns Salt and pepper Garlic powder 8 eggs Oil and butter 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese Sour cream Salsa 14 flour tortillas A pan A spatula Procedure: Put oil in a pan to prevent the food from sticking to the sides. Place hash browns and butter into the pan and cook them over the fire until they start to brown. Flip them every once and in a while to make sure that they dont burn. Scramble eggs and add to hash browns. Continue to cook and flip until all solid. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until done. Place in heated tortilla. Add cheese, sour cream, and salsa in the burrito (optional). *I received this recipe from: Carrie Clark, leader of Girl Scout troop 2659

Issues with Unlimited Police Powers

Issues with Unlimited Police Powers Police is enforcement is a vibrancy interpretation of the law, safeguarding citizens from threats of anti social elements qualifies to be the most decisive police job description. Crime is an act for which on may punished by law. A criminal describes someone who has broken the accepted laws of the country by his or her action. The police is the people who have power to bring criminals to justice. Clearly there are limits on a precincts ability to use its police power to control the persons and property of citizens. The general rule is that the means employed in the exercise of the police power can be neither arbitrary nor oppressive, and there must be a reasonable and substantial relationship between the means employed and the end to be attained. In today world, we are facing many incidents of police powers and their authority, if police have unlimited power when dealing with crime, the issue of corruption will be occur. The police corruption has been used to describe many activitie s such as bribery, violence, brutality, fabrication and destruction of evidence, favouritism and nepotism. Corruption of authority is when an officer receives some form of material gain by merit of their position as a police officer with violating the law. Police may use their authority to get some extra income when dealing with criminal. It is most commonly happen when police dealing with traffic offenders or maybe a murder. Police may receive some pocket money, when the traffic offenders are trying to escape from traffic tickets. It happens every day in our real life. Bribery will be happen if the murder criminal is a richer, they can even escaped arrested with money. So when bribery is happen, the richer criminals do not need to be punished by law. The truth cannot be found, the victim cannot find the murderer. The unsolved crime is gradually increased. Favoritism and nepotism also is the reason may cause innocent. Police may actually protect the people they would like to protect, such as their family even they are likely to be criminals. The fabrication and destruction of evidence may happen due to escape legal of sanctions. With such behavior, is often result more victims and more innocent events. This is actually unfair to the public. These are also the reason why we still have lot of unsolved crime in our country. Police are human, human are prone to error. Unlimited power means police dont have to abbey the law or the constitution. Meaning they are allow to do absolutely anything to the suspects of the crime. There is now the era of numerous incidents of police brutality against criminal suspects resulting in serious injuries and deaths. The police may use abuse on the suspects who may actually innocent. There have been several cases involving. This was certainly the case in the deaths of three innocent school boys who were shot dead by the police. The police said they ignored orders to surrender and opened fire at police personnel. It was great suspicion of foul play, because there is no witnesses, no police cars with bullet shots, no wounded policemen. Where there is a death by police shooting, the authority alleges that the deceased attacked and the police acted in self defense. Families of those shot dead have often protested that the deceased had no history or track record of any crimina l activity, again raising questions about the veracity of police claims. The police may assume the things they do to be helping society, such acts may include violence towards the suspect. However, the victim may feel unfair, but still, since the right is given to the police, they are not responsible in inflicting damages to the victim. A string of vicious murders by the police on suspects have left the nation loathe and distrust the police for the police force. It is very difficult to believe that these deaths are caused by the very institution is supposed to protect and preserve justice, even to those who are suspected individuals. This is not the usual situation of having to put up with police corruption, misconduct, mistreatment and heavy-handedness as part of our life everyday life. It will continue to happen as long as the police have the discretion and unlimited power in their hands to interpret as they like the Federal Constitution. Social unrest may also occur due to the police having unlimited powers, the victim may feel unfair due to police corruption. Riots might happen due to the seeking of justice for the victim may result. Social unrest may cause our country political unstable. Social unrest not only will cause the loss of many innocent lives, it will also in the drop of our economic level, Foreign investors will no longer take interest in investing in a country with internal conflicts. Such an incident is similar to that of the 1992 Los Angeles riots which were sparked when the jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King when he resisted arrest. Looting, assault, arson and even murder occurred. The country took a long time to settle the unrest, resulting in loss of revenue for the country. This shows how a country can adversely affected due to unlimited powers given to the police, this all actually can be avoid. It is important to the government to overlook the effect of giving such right to the police before doing so ensure best to the country and its people. In my opinion, police should not have unlimited power when dealing with crime. Although the police have ether assumed or have been assigned responsibility for dealing with many more of complex crime and social problem, but their job is to service people. The mission of police is to control crime, we expect them to perform, a crime control role. They should not be giving authority to judge a criminal. Their job is to find out the criminal and left them to legal sanctions.

Cause of World War I Essay -- essays research papers

WWI Causes World War I, a war that started out locally in Europe between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that later ended up including thirty two different nations. This war has been around for almost a century and yet the causes of it are still being debated. There are many different scenarios that have been considered. Some of the key reasons that were believed to have instigated WWI were nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and an arrangement of treaties. Also the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was believed to be one of the immediate causes. Nationalism is the doctrine that your national culture and interests are superior to any other. From just reading the meaning of nationalism it is quit obvious to see that this idea will oppose some kind of conflict sooner or later, and as proved later on it did. At the settlement of Vienna in 1815, the idea of nationalism was ignored mainly because nations wanted to preserve the peace. Germany and Italy were left as divided states, but strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and Germany also in 1871. Another result of the Franco-Prussian War, which took place 1870-1871, was that France wasn’t happy with the outcome of Alsace-Lorraine losing, and regaining what they lost from that was a major goal for the French. Nationalism was a problem for Austria-Hungary and the Balkans. Those areas had many conflicting national groups. The strong faith Serbia had for the movement advocating th...

GlaxoSmithKline and the China Bribery Scandal Essay -- GSK Bribery in

Multinational corporations (MNCs) are investing and operating in many foreign markets around the world. With this globalization, it is becoming increasingly important for managers at all levels to become proficient in cross-cultural management. This paper will explore the challenges encountered by a British expatriate managing the Chinese business unit for a British pharmaceutical MNC. An assessment of the national cultural differences using Hofstede’s research on work-related values differences will be explored. The data will be analyzed to determine if these differences had an impact on the organizations ability to successfully manage cross-culturally. GlaxoSmithKline, Plc (GSK) is the largest British pharmaceutical company with a presence in more than 100 countries around the world. In July 2013, the Economic Crimes Investigations Unit of the China Public Security Ministry in Beijing accused GSK of bribing government officials and doctors to prescribe higher costing branded drugs to treat their patients. GSK reportedly offered approximately $489 million in illegitimate travel packages, meeting expenses, entertainment and cash over six years to these doctors and officials (Sukhija). Often, the incentives were funneled through travel agencies, who would send doctors on international trips and provide them with luxuries while at other times payments were simply made in cash. GSK released a statement explaining that the allegations made against the senior executives of the company are ‘shameful'. †We are deeply concerned and disappointed by these serious allegations of fraudulent behavior and ethical misconduct by certain individuals at the company and third-party agencies. Such behavior would be a clear breach of GSK'... ...013. El-emergente.com. Web. 20 May 2014. Okoro, Ephraim. "International Organizations and Operations: An Analysis of Cross-Cultural Communication Effectiveness and Management Orientation." Journal of Business & Management (2013): 1-13. Document. Philippidis, Alex. "China's Challenges Stretch Beyond the GSK Scandal." 01 August 2013. Genengnews.com. Web. 19 May 2014. Reilly, Mark. "Mark Reilly, China - GlaxoSmithKline." 10 December 2009. gsk.com. PDF file. 19 May 2014. Shobert, Benjamin. "Three Ways to Understand GSK's China Scandal." 04 September 2013. Forbes.com. Web. 18 May 2014. Sukhija , Sheetal . "GSK China scandal: What have been the highlights?" 31 July 2013. BioSpectrum Asia Web site. Web. 2014 May 16. Voreacos, David. "China's Bribery Culture Poses Risks for Multinationals." 21 November 2013. Bloomberg.com. Web. 19 May 2014.

Hugh Prathers Notes to Myself :: Notes to Myself Essays

Sometimes mankind has to ask the question ‘what is it that makes up the actions and determines the type of interaction that we display when around other people?' Notes to Myself is the contemporary world's way of questioning the value of putting on facades. The novel also questions things we know as ‘ trivial' such as watching a cat sleep on our belly or staring at clouds in the sky. The author used an interesting form for writing his collection, omitting page numbers and leaving no indication as to what subject the reader should expect to be encountering upon reading sections. His views are interesting to say the least. Focusing on self meditation and self reliance, he proceeds to describe human interaction and what he really is thinking when exposed to different situations. For instance, he describes a conversation with a young lady in which she wanted to ‘just be friends' while he being ‘male' can do nothing about the fact that he may be sexually aroused by her whether they were ‘just friends' or not. This type of unconventional expression of human emotion is the color of all of the selections. The author does not wish to conceal feeling nor put on different faces in different situations but be himself and be happy being himself at all times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interesting stands on happiness are also expressed. Boredom is vaguely related to happiness by the rationalization that one can be happy simply by picking lint off of the floor. While his thoughts are genuine, one can almost comprehend the randomness of human thought. There is a wrinkled cellophane wrapper on my desk and it reflects my image just as water does. Randomness is definitely one of this books strong points. (That random sentence beforehand was a personal example of the wandering mind).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is the type of book that you would not want to read between commercials but one that warrants a good hour and a half (at least) of quiet Hugh Prather's Notes to Myself :: Notes to Myself Essays Sometimes mankind has to ask the question ‘what is it that makes up the actions and determines the type of interaction that we display when around other people?' Notes to Myself is the contemporary world's way of questioning the value of putting on facades. The novel also questions things we know as ‘ trivial' such as watching a cat sleep on our belly or staring at clouds in the sky. The author used an interesting form for writing his collection, omitting page numbers and leaving no indication as to what subject the reader should expect to be encountering upon reading sections. His views are interesting to say the least. Focusing on self meditation and self reliance, he proceeds to describe human interaction and what he really is thinking when exposed to different situations. For instance, he describes a conversation with a young lady in which she wanted to ‘just be friends' while he being ‘male' can do nothing about the fact that he may be sexually aroused by her whether they were ‘just friends' or not. This type of unconventional expression of human emotion is the color of all of the selections. The author does not wish to conceal feeling nor put on different faces in different situations but be himself and be happy being himself at all times.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Interesting stands on happiness are also expressed. Boredom is vaguely related to happiness by the rationalization that one can be happy simply by picking lint off of the floor. While his thoughts are genuine, one can almost comprehend the randomness of human thought. There is a wrinkled cellophane wrapper on my desk and it reflects my image just as water does. Randomness is definitely one of this books strong points. (That random sentence beforehand was a personal example of the wandering mind).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is the type of book that you would not want to read between commercials but one that warrants a good hour and a half (at least) of quiet

Filipino People and Hardworking Filipinos Essay

Negritos – Negritos represent a resourceful and hardworking Filipinos because in their time, hardwork and patience is the core of surviving in the wild. Indonesians – Their greatest influence is agriculture. Because of agriculture, Filipinos learned to till the land and that is one of the major sources of Philippine Products today. Malays – Their greatest influence is that they’ve introduced a more advance way of living. Barangay Early Philippine Civilization and Subsequent Changes. -What I’ve learned in this topic is that this early type of Philippines civilization helps in the management of the early society that results to more cooperative and systematic community. Spanish Occupation An important impact of Spanish rule in the Philippines is the creation of a mestizo culture with entrenched landed interests and a highly skewed land distribution. The Spaniards made the local datus head of the barangays, who eventually acquired large landholdings. Spanish Occupation – One of the greatest achievements of Spanish Authorities is the centralized and organized government. They also preserve the traditional authority of local leaders that helps in governing the least manageable units of the society. It is good in the side of the Spanish because it is their efficient way of collecting tax and managing the Filipinos. For me the way they want to organized the government is one of their greatest achievement because it helped in the organization of better governance. Other Political Organization Negritos – This is one of the earliest political organization wherein the leadership is vested on the elder men Kalinga – The leadership is vested on the stronger people who has the power to influence people. Benguet Village – composed of formal legal Political structure and the traditional authority. Muslim – One of the greatest political organizations because their government structure is more organized because there are branches of the community that govern every single segment in the society. Political System Encomienda System – Encomienda system has good and bad effects in our country. Because of this system, Filipinos were forced to pay taxes to the Spanish. One of the good effect is that it civilized those Filipinos in the far away places. Other good effect is to protect the inhabitants and maintain peace and order. But this system is abused by higher Spanish officials because they collect too much tax and products from the Filipino people. Central and Local Governance -This government structure is one of way for the Spanish to control over the Philippines. Katipunan This serves as an eye opener for the Filipino citizens to fight for independence and Filipinos were unified.. Because of this, Filipinos were more conscious of what the Spaniards are doing to them. The goal of this movement is to separate the Philippines from Spain, and this is good for the Filipinos because that time Spanish are very cruel to them. But because the organization is discovered by the Spaniards this movement did not materialized. The Pact of Biak na Bato One of the learning of this topic is that Filipinos try other means for their independence. Even though this movement is not successful, this event causes for Filipinos to rely on the Americans. The Philippines Under The American Colonial Rule American Occupation in the Philippines is the best and most important occupation here in the Philippines. One of the greatest influences of the Americans is the organization of school systems in the country. Another is the equalization of women in the society. Americans’ actions in establishing the first formal education in the Philippines was something to which we should be thankful for. We were given the chance to be educated. And since the medium of instruction in public schools were in English, Filipinos were given the chance to learn the language of our occupants: Americans, the chance to learn the universal language. Here, Filipinos were very willing to learn and were glad that they were given the chance. Japanese Occupation Japanese occupation cause severe destruction during the Philippines because they’ve abolished government structures and abuse many Filipinos and Americans. One of the evidence is the Death March. They also established Pro-japanese militants, all of them are Filipinos and these groups were used by the Japanes to spy on the Filipino Activities. Filipinos has not much enthusiasm in returning to school first because the Filipinos as a whole were suspicious of the Japanese intension and second, children focused on helping their parents tide over the difficult times. Even though the Japanese allowed continuing using English as the medium of instruction in teaching.

Compare and Contrast of Short Stories Essay

In â€Å"The Ones That Walk Away From Omelas† and â€Å"The Lottery†, Ursula Le Guin and Shirley Jackson portray a supposedly perfect society built on clandestine secrets. In the short story â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas†, Omelas’ inhabitants are smart and cultured, and it seems like a utopian city of happiness and delight. Everything about Omelas is your every desire, disregarding the secret of the city: the good fortune of Omelas requires that a single unfortunate child be kept in never-ending filth, darkness and misery, and that all its citizens should be told of this when they come of age. After the truth is told to the people of Omelas most are initially shocked and disgusted and somehow manage to live there life and make it worth it for the child’s existence; others just walk away from the city of Omelas. In the short story, â€Å"The Lottery†, a small village of about 300 have an annual lottery; women, men, and children participate, to see who will be the chosen one to guarantee enough rain for the corn crops. The winner is to be stoned to death. The way the authors use irony to depict the story societies as wonderful and perfect then towards the end the dark secret is discovered is very intriguing and captivating, which makes you want to keep reading. In the story, â€Å"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas†, Omelas seems to be this beautiful and cheerful place. The story takes place during a festival and there are children running around laughing and there is music. It talks about a race and how the horses are excited, â€Å"(the horses) flared their nostrils and pranced and boasted to one another â€Å" with silver, gold, and green braided into their manes. The story has and air of excitement and celebration that is soon questioned when the author begins to talk about the child.