Estern foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Estern foods - Essay Example These challenges would be analyzed as follows: a) HRM: the firm’s workforce needs to be appropriately trained in order to be able to meet the standards set by the firm’s strategic managers. Reference is made in particular to the quality of food prepared but also to the quality of customer services. In the context of HRM another issue should be addressed: employees may be asked to work overtime and in different positions, especially during high peak seasons. Employees need to be ready to meet the challenges set by changes in the workplace so that their performance is kept at high levels. At this point, HR managers would have to face the following challenge: they should use effective criteria when allocating job positions, ensuring that each employee is assigned tasks to which he can respond. Additional or different duties could be assigned to employees gradually so that they have time to be adapted to the needs of other roles according to the organizational needs. In add ition, equality and fairness in compensation would be of critical importance for securing high employee motivation; b) Accounting: the firm needs the support of an accounting consultant; emphasizing on accounting standards and principles will help the organization to control its costs and income more effectively so that its performance is kept high; c) Marketing: the firm has to employ a marketing plan that will be aligned with the local culture and market trends; traditional marketing techniques would be combined with advanced marketing strategies, such as the social media; d) Operations Management: the cooperation between various organizational departments should be carefully organized; daily operations should be set in hierarchical order ensuring that all business activities are monitored and checked as of their alignment with business standards and ethics. Particular emphasis should be given on innovation and creativity, as factors that could enhance the firm’s competitiv eness in its industry. 2. HRM issues in Eastern Foods Business environment incorporates a high range of elements, including ‘economic, socio-cultural and administrative factors’ (Goyal and Goyal 2007, p.6). Organizing and distributing tasks are critical duties of managers in modern organizations so that conditions in internal organizational environment, where the firm’s HR are incorporated, are effectively controlled. In fact, it has been proved that the ability of HR managers to assign tasks aligned with the skills/ background of employees can help to avoid conflicts across organization and to keep employee performance high (Goyal and Goyal 2007). On the other hand, in the food industry competition is high. Customers’ expectations tend to be continuously increased a fact that creates pressures for changes in the firm’s practices (Simms 2005). Employees need to be willing to support organizational changes otherwise the relevant plans will fail. Empl oyees have a key role in another factor affecting organizational performance: innovation. Promoting innovation is a necessary prerequisite for firms that aim to keep their performance at high levels (Limberg 2008). In the food industry also, a similar issue appears. However, innovation and creativity cannot be enhanced within a particular organization unless they are adequately supported by employees; reference is made not only to

The Impact of an Exercise Tax on Demand, Supply, Price, and Quantity Essay

The Impact of an Exercise Tax on Demand, Supply, Price, and Quantity - Essay Example There are several factors that affect the price elasticity of demands. One of these factors is the level of prices. Expensive goods such as cars have a high elasticity of demand as a result of the sensitivity to price changes. On the other hand, the price elasticity of demand for inexpensive good such as matchboxes rarely changes the demand by a significant amount. Another factor that affects the price elasticity of demand is the income level. The elasticity of demand for any product is less in groups with higher income levels as compared to the low-income levels. This is as a result of the fact that the impact of prices changes is bigger to the poor people than the rich (Varian 320). The availability of a close substitute is another factor that affects the elasticity of demand. Demand for a product with many substitutes, for example, Pepsi is more elastic as compared to that with a few or no close substitutes such as salt. Lastly, the nature of a commodity is another factor that affects the price elasticity of demand. Necessity goods such as vegetables have inelastic demand while comfort goods such as refrigerators have elastic demand. Luxurious commodities such as cars have more elastic demand than comfort goods (Varian 323). For a consumer to maximize utility he must be at the consumer equilibrium condition. Economists express this condition by equating all of the marginal utilities per dollar that the consumer spends in buying a certain commodity. As seen from the above calculation, there is no single equation where the marginal utility per dollar is at equilibrium hence there is no combination where the consumer has the option of maximizing the utility.  

Quality Perception of Ready to Cook Meals

Quality Perception of Ready to Cook Meals The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of quality perception of housewife towards their preference of use of ready to cook meal and to know that which variables of quality perception have an impact on the preference to use. The variables we have taken for the study are taste, freshness, storage life, hygiene, quality of ingredients. Primary data has been collected through personal survey; we have used the questionnaire as an instrument for the data collection. The convenience sampling method was followed. The questionnaires were filled by 150 respondents i.e. housewife. Optimal scaling or categorical regression was used which is statistical technique used to analyze the impact or effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. The results show that there is no effect of the independent variable (taste, freshness, storage life and quality of ingredients) on the preference to use of the ready to cook meal. In other words we can say that the housewives are not influenced by these variables of quality perception i.e. they have no effect on the preference to use. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview Every region has different culture and different perceptions related to meal, (Rozin, 1999). Industry response to consumers varying lifestyles and preferences has seen an excess of prepared foods (ready-to-cook items) introduced into the market over the past two decades. During this time period, the food industry has prepared a concerted effort to meet up the desires of a time-hungry consumer through enlarged offerings of semi prepared and ready to cook meals. As the emergence of time, men and women both are preferred to work, (Goyal Singh, 2007) because the daily requirements are grown very high and everyone wants to live a lavish life. For women its mandatory to look after their home and family along with their job. It is also factual that many of us do not have the time or energy to cook like that everyday. Mainly responsibility for the preparation of meal lies with women. Its true that housewife is always responsible for meal, even she spend more hours away from home than her hu sband. For working women it seems daunting to give time to cooking after a long working hours. It is quite tiring to plan and prepare a meal for working women, where every day chores as well as office work have no avoidance. She has a more purchasing power however less time to cook and eat. There are options available for the food that fills the empty tummies which are also healthy and take less time. And even some of them have pretty good taste too.As the work habits of women have increased; it has an effect on life style. I have found a way out to this menu planning and making phobia. The easiest way out that I could think of was ready-to-cook meals. Ready to cook meals is a packaged meal that already cooked or just need to reheats it before use. Many research shows that the concept of ready to cook meal comes from during wars, military has limited resources to prepare food and it is available in pouches and tin cans. It is popularly used in US and Europe countries for ages and has a mature market in food industry. Although it has also captured a market share in Asian countries for past two decades. Ready to cook meals makes life easier that they are easy to make, ready to eat whenever you want to and you just have to do reheat it and it is all done, it is easy to store. These meals can be stored for long time like kept frozen for over three months and once it has cooked then can be stored up to three days in the refrigerator. So, it is a nice deal unlike the consumable commodities. The adoption of ready to cook meal is easier specifically for working women against home cooked meal because she usually dont get the time to make va rieties of meal on everyday basis. Thats why working women are more likely to buy convenience products than the housewives. Daily dine out is not a healthy choice. Because restaurants offers a heavy and fattening meals which are injurious to our health. So, the people who are health conscious and want a high quality meal or try a new eating experience, they prefer to have natural food ingredients then ready to cook meal is a good choice for them, which is hygienic and tasty like restaurant food. While on the other hand, the advantage of making own home cooked meal is that you can prepare meal according to your preferences, some people like less spicy food. So, you can add or eliminate the ingredients as per your desire. You have a complete control over making of your meal and no preservatives used in it. 1.2 Problem statement The research we conducted is about to study the effects of housewife quality perception of ready to cook meal on their preference to use. This research is actually an experimental research in which we found that do the housewives prefer to use the ready to cook meal. And how do they find the ready to cook meal in aspects of its taste, freshness, storage life, hygiene, quality of ingredients in comparison of home cooked meal. There are many companies which offers ready to cook meal in the market. The task of cooking a big meal after a full day of work might appear kind of off-putting. Due to scarcity of time, the difference is arising in purchasing of substitution of purchased goods. Both the employed and non employed wives are going to apply Time-Buying strategies. But the employed wives take more care of their time so they go for convenience meals or purchase meals. Ready-to-cook meals are dependable with modern consumer fashions towards greater involvement in cooking and the desire to use natural, unprocessed ingredients. This type of food can be served in a short amount of time. This type of food prepared available in market that gives benefit to both employed and non employed women. The perception of ready to cook meal depends upon some factors which are highly effective on buying of purchased food. When the women consider using ready to cook meal there are some variables like taste, freshness, storage life, hygiene, quality of ingredients, which comes in her mind and make comparison with the home cooked meal. In this report we came to the knowledge that both working n nonworking women were willing to cook food tasty as well as quick. Although we got know that we added flavor in food through long, slow and simmering cooking but now women are finding other ways of infusing flavor that we saw in this study. Mostly women collect recipes that take short time, some keep their pantry and freezer stocked with ingredients used in most quick tasty meal recipes. Some tasty and healthy shortcuts can make cooking trouble-free and delicious. The other significant variable to consider is storage of ready to cook meal. This discipline describes how to handle, prepare and safe meal in ways that prevent food borne illness, WHO (2007). This practice is to be followed to avoid potentially severe health hazards. Housewives are very conscious about food safety. They dont take risk for health of their families. They try to Store their food properly and under the best possible position that would extend its life to its extreme potential. Some foods can be stored at room temperature and some must be refrigerated. Freezing can be exploited to increase the life of many items for consumptions. To get the most out of the storage areas, definite conditions must be maintained. These meals are designed to be heated, but can be eaten cold since they are already fully cooked. With the passage of time storage methods are changing with eating patterns. No women look like to be ready to spend hours in cooking foods. Even though, it means we just can not have right to use to real time fresh food. But so is the need of time that we have started showing willingness to buy meals ready to eat where no issues of storage arise. The quality of ingredient is another very important characteristic of meal that is considerable among consumers. This contains such features as texture, and flavor and so on. As well as ingredient quality, there are also hygiene requirements. It is important to make sure that the food processing surroundings is as clean as achievable in order to produce the safest possible food for the consumer. 1.3 Hypotheses H1: The taste perception of ready to cook meal has a positive effect on housewife preference to use. H2: The freshness perception of ready to cook meal has a positive effect on housewife preference to use. H3: The storage life perception of ready to cook meal has a positive effect on housewife preference to use. H4: The hygiene perception of ready to cook meal has a positive effect on housewife preference to use. H5: The quality of ingredients perception of ready to cook meal has a positive effect on housewife preference to use. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Quality and safety are two important elements in consumer food perceptions and decision making associated with food choice (Grunert, 2005). But the both quality and safety are two different and broad categories. If we take quality as benchmark it may include study hygiene, taste, freshness, health effects and storage life. These five variables also lead to safety of food and if these five variables will be taken under consideration in making home food or purchasing ready to cook meal can be the most important variables to be in consideration. At first it is to be understand that either women now days are cooking food at their home or not or purchasing it from outside. There is a growing demand for the convenience of take-out food, and food service establishments are seeking to satisfy this demand (Food Institute Report, 2007). The ratio of purchasing the food from outside is growing day by day but the preference to use food will remain the same because the compromise on hygiene, taste, freshness, health and storage has to be always in consideration. With the emergence of the supermarket and hypermarket culture, consumer preference for packaged food products has increased significantly in the recent years (Stewart-Knox Mitchell,2003). This factor should not be neglected that with opening of more and more supermarkets, the demand and use of frozen food, ready to cook meal and have increased and consumers are also very well aware of quality and preference to use food (Silayoi Speece, 2004). Consumers have now become more discriminating in their food product choices and have started emphasizing more on convenience, freshness and quality of the products (Quagrainie, 1998). Freshness, hygiene, taste, all these factors are very important before purchasing package food product because health is an important factor and consumers cant compromise in any kind of health issues(Acebron, Levy., Mangin, Calvo Dopico, (2000) . The desire for convenience and an increase in the number of working women are some of the significant factors driving a strong growth of packaged food products (Goyal Singh, 2007). Besides, consumers have now started preferring quality food intake and are becoming more aware in terms of nutritional diet, health and food safety issues (Ruth Yeung, 2001). The producers of the packaged food should take this factor in reflection because as trends changes the producers have to adopt it quickly because of to capture the market and to remain the markets leaders (Rimal, Fletcher, McWatters, K.H., Misra, S.K. Deodhar,2001). As economies develop and incomes increase, people not only demand higher levels of safety and quality in their food (Smith Riethmuller, 1999), but also express concerns about the environmental sustainability, the logical use of natural resources and the protection of farmers and animals health (Overby, Gardial, Woodruff, 2004). These changes in attitudes and values (Tansey, 1994) have also been stimulated by a number of food scares and crises (e.g. pesticide residues, saturated fats, veterinary drugs, food additives, dioxins, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, etc.) that have become a major public health problem worldwide and shaked consumers confidence in food quality and food safety. Furthermore, the increasing technological change especially the genetic engineering and its use in agriculture and food industry is generating much controversy over its costs and benefits with the majority of European consumers having a negative attitude towards genetically modified food (Verdurme Vi aene, 2003). Where consumers are going towards package foods, at other side increase in health issue is an another problem. So still there is a huge majority who is still love to cook food their home and prefer it more than ready to cook meal because for them taste, freshness, hygiene is more than the package foods (Hobbs, Bailey, Dickinson Haghiri, 2005). Consumers are believed to generally prefer products of high quality. However, the underlying cognitive determinants of quality and safety are not sufficiently understood within the area of consumer behavior. (Rijswijk Frewer, 2008). Quality is always the benchmark for the people and in food no one like to compromise on it. The variable which is in discussion of hygiene, storage, freshness, taste and effect on health is the benchmark for the preference to use the food. People can spend premium price but will not compromise on the given variables because health is an important factor for everyone(Rohr, Luddecke, Drusch, Muller Alvensleben, 2005). It is important to understand consumers own perceptions and representations of quality and safety. This is because consumers will base their purchasing decisions on these beliefs (Rijswijk Frewer, 2008).It is not necessary that the variables which is being considered is the benchmark for everyone, For some only 3 will be considered, for oth er 7 attributes can be in their view. Consumers are likely to derive quality or safety perceptions from other product cues, either intrinsic (e.g., appearance of the product) or extrinsic cues (e.g., a quality label) (Nelson, 1970). Its an another view of judging quality by looking to other product looks because no one knows what is inside, how it is cook, etc. In addition, the interrelationship between consumer conceptualization of food quality and food safety warrants further investigation. If consumers perceive quality and safety as independent attributes, different decisions may be made depending on whether consumers focus on quality or safety issues in their food choices. However, if the two concepts are inter-related, and are implied by one another, food choices may always involve decisions about both quality and safety. (Rijswijk Frewer, 2008). Both qualitative and quantitative research has addressed issues associated with cultural determinants of food choice. It is evident that when analyzing factors that influence food choice it is important to take consumers cultural backgrounds into account (Nayga, 1999). It is believed that people from different cultural backgrounds have different perceptions and experiences related to food (e.g., Rozin, P., Fischler, C., Imada, S., Sarubin, A. Wrzesniewski, A., 1999). So the culture factor will be having an impact on our results because most of the house wife will not prefer the ready to cook meal because their mothers dont like this concept, they might have a thought which is not good for health, so these factors can have an impact on preference to use food. There is a growing demand for the convenience of take-out food, and food service establishments are seeking to satisfy this demand (Food Institute Report, 2007). The current trend in today world is to consume the frozen food, package food, ready to cook meal or restaurant food because of the lack of time in current life (Lennernas, Fjellstrom, Becker, Giachetti, Schmitt, Remaut de Winter Kearney, 1997). To live a good life every member of the family has to earn for the good living, so the trend is setting now for the ready to cook meal which can get ready as soon as possible. The challenge is to find containers that keep the food hot, and are cost effective (Matsumoto, 2000). Initially in package food idea was introduce, it was having the flaws how to keep food hot and how to make it cheap because the idea was very costly. And when you think the consumer will be purchasing the food because every one has the different schedule, so the idea of ready to cook meal has come up, when you get home you just have to cook for around few minutes and have good hot food at consumer convenience. Despite the increasing sales, it is only take-out and curbside services that are fueling the market. Consumer interest for dining in restaurants is not growing; the value to the current consumer is the ability to purchase already prepared food, and take it away to consume at home (Prewitt, 2002). Consumers are not interested in purchasing the prepared food because till they take that to home it may not remain fresh because distance from the restaurant to home can be long or short both, other perspective is that it has been observed that people dont like to eat as soon as they reach their home, they first like to fresh up, get relaxed and then loved to have food with their family, so ready to cook meal is very much good for these kind of people as it is safe, hygiene, taste good. This market is supported by single working people, and dual-income couples, with children or without, who are purchasing take-out food five times per week due to time constraints (Binkley Ghiselli, 2005). In Denmark, the respondents of one research (Poulsen, 1999) believed that prepared meals provided convenience by enriching the every day diet. This convenience may be supposed as promoting an easy way of healthy living. However, consumers also perceived unnaturalness and uneasiness towards the taste changes, higher price, doubt about the enrichment effect, and uncertainty toward eating functional food products. On the other hand, attitudes were seen to be more encouraging towards the tangible aspects of functional foods. Some of these aspects, included enrichment with supplements of calcium and vitamins (Poulsen, 1999). CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS This chapter covers the detail information regarding method of data collection, research questions, and objective of this study, research hypothesis, data collection, sample size and technique. It also includes the tool which has been used in the study. 3.1Method of Data Collection: The method of data collection was a personal survey technique. The data was collected from different housewives in whom both working and non working housewives were included. 3.2 Instrument of Data Collection: The instrument used to collect the data was a structured questionnaire. It contained 10 questions, in which 3 questions were regarding personal information of the respondent, 2 questions regarding the usage of ready to cook meal and other 5 questions were regarding the effects of housewife quality perception of ready to cook meal on their preference to use. The different quality factors of ready to cook meal were considered like taste, freshness, storage life, hygiene, quality of ingredients in this questionnaire. 3.3 Sample size: The sample size was of 150 respondents. The respondents were housewives who were to ask to fill the questionnaires. Two categories of housewives i.e. working and non working women had been considered in this study. 3.4 Sampling Technique: The sampling technique used in this study was convenience sampling that based on random data collection. 3.5 Statistical Technique: The statistical technique used for the analysis was regression. To find out the effect or impact of independent variables which were taste, freshness, hygiene, storage life and quality of ingredients on the dependent variable which was preference to use, we applied optimal scaling or categorical regression test because the data was based on categories. In summary shows that the questionnaires filled were 100% valid and all 150 respondents filled the questionnaire. The value of Cronbachs Alpha shows the reliability of the data. It is greater than .50 so, we can process further our study. . CHAPTER 4: RESULTS The effect of housewifes quality perception of ready to cook meal was determined by the optimal scaling which is categorical regression analysis, this technique is used to predict the impact or effect of the independent variables quality perception of ready to cook meal in which we studied taste, freshness, hygiene, storage life, quality of ingredients on the dependent variable i.e. preference to use. Summary The ANOVA table tests the acceptability of the model from a statistical perspective. The table shows that there is no effect of taste on preference to use because the significant value is greater than 0.05. The significant value should be less than 0.05 to accept the model. CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, FUTURE RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION 5.1 Conclusion In the research an attempt was made to examine the quality perception of housewife towards the usage of the ready to cook meals. As the result shows that there is no effect of quality perception in which taste, freshness, storage life, hygiene and quality of ingredients variables were studied, on the preference to use of ready to cook meal. The significant value of all the variables came greater than 0.05 which means there is no impact of independent variables on the dependent variable and all hypotheses has rejected of the research. 5.2 Discussion In this research the women are involved from different areas of the city. Majority of women used the ready to cook meal and agreed to the statement that ready to cook meal makes life easier especially for working women. It was seemed that the common perception among consumers about the ready to cook meal is changing life style. The quality of food considered as the packaging and its appearance of the meal. On the other hand, women also like traditional style of cooking because they think that home cooked meal have a variety of ingredients and they can make their meal by their own style. 5.3 Implication and Recommendation On the basis of this research we came to know that the companies which are producing ready to cook meals are recommended that they should advertise more their products because mostly people know just one or two companies which are producing these kinds of meals. And they should spend more expenses over RD because it was determined during this survey that there is lowest impact of storage life on the preference to use. The companies should go for line extension in ready to cook meal because variety of consumers seems in market. 5.4 Future Research The future research on the effect of housewife quality perception of ready to cook meal on their preference to use will need to take account of the observation that these concepts are strongly related to the safety of food and convenience of time. The other issue on which we can focus in the future study would be that how people from different cultures define the quality of food because every culture has its own style of preparing food, food safety have an impact on purchasing decision, and the brands impact of ready to cook meal on the preference to use.

Dr. Faustus Essay: The Role of Helen of Troy -- Doctor Faustus Essays

The Role of Helen of Troy in Doctor Faustus  Ã‚  Ã‚   To adequately describe the role that Helen plays in Doctor Faustus, it is necessary not only to look at the scene in which she features, but also all the instances that Faustus takes some form of pleasure from physical and sensual things. We need to do this because this is what Helen is symbolic of; she represents the attractive nature of evil in addition to the depths of depravity that Faustus has fallen to. It is fair to say that Faustus represents the quintessential renaissance man - it is his thirst for knowledge that drives him into his pact with Mephastophilis, indeed it is the Evil Angel that best summarises this: Go forward, Faustus, in the famous art, Wherein all nature's treasury is contained: Be thou on earth as Jove is in the sky, Lord and commander of these elements. Scene I, lines 74-77 It is the restless spirit of the renaissance that drives Faustus to seek knowledge. He has already attained what he can through more conventional means, his "bills (are) hung up as monuments", and his "common talk found aphorisms". Faustus compares himself to the most famous figures of the classical period; to Hippocrates, to Aristotle and to Galen. He sees himself as having come to the end of what he can learn through his human tools; he needs something that will allow him to move outside the realm of nature, something supernatural. This is the reason why he came into contact with Mephastophilis, as he sought to use the new power that would come to him to further his own knowledge. It has been said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely - this is what has happened to Faustus. He ceases to become the seeker of knowledge, but become... ...ed in the use of capital punishment as the result of trying to break his end of the bargain. Faustus' rebellion against his deal (a repetition of his body's rebellion against his signing of the contract) is only short lived, and his downfall is assured when Helen arrives. Helen, then, represents the dangerous beauty of evil, the seduction of the past, and the desire for things pleasurable. Faustus' desire for her, for the most beautiful woman who has ever lived, seems understandable (though not reasonable) to us, because we all have a little bit of Faustus in us. It is, however, unlikely that any of us have a sufficiently Faustian nature to sell our soul to the Devil. Works Cited: Marlowe, Christopher. "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 6th ed. Eds. M.H. Abrams et. al. New York: W.W. Norton and Co, 1993.

Low Voltage Effects on Ac Motors

Low Voltage Effects on AC Motors A drop in voltage will result in a proportionate increase in current. If the current exceeds the nameplate rating and is not corrected, this can result in damage to the motor from overheating Nameplate Rating An electric motor will have a nameplate rating for both voltage and amperage. When a load is on a motor, the motor must draw a fixed amount of power. The required power is about equal to volts times amps. Should the voltage fall below the nameplate rating, the amperage will increase. This can result in increased heat that will shorten the motor's life, according to Motorsanddrives. om. Torque The motor is subject to several kinds of torque. The starting or start-up torque is the amount present when the motor is stationary and power is applied. The pull-up torque is the minimum amount necessary for the motor during the starting sequence. Effects of Low Voltage on Torque A reduced amount of voltage will reduce the amount of torque. This can result in difficulty for start loads. A reduction of voltage to 80 percent would result in a torque value of only 64 percent. In light loads, a reduction in voltage may actually be preferable because it will result in increased efficiency.Even a small voltage unbalance will result in large current unbalance during the running of motor by a factor of 6 times. †¢ Negative phase sequence components will lead to heating of motor †¢ Negative phase sequence currents leads to reduction in motor output torque. †¢ Motor is forced to run at higher slip leading to increased rotor loss and reduced efficiency. †¢ Electricity boards should look in to this phenomenon seriously where irrigation pump sets suffer the voltage imbalance, even 1% loss of efficiency for the country like India would mean a great loss. HP irrigation pump sets with a quantity of 6 Lakh approximate, the loss of power would be 22MW and annual wastage of Rs. 47. 5 millions (At 3 Rs/unit, 4 Hrs of Pump working and 6 month’s season Keys to maximize the service life of industrial motors Why do motors fail? Certain components of motors degrade with time and operating stress. Electrical insulation weakens over time with exposure to voltage unbalance, over and under-voltage, voltage disturbances, and temperature. Contact between moving surfaces causes wear.Wear is affected by dirt, moisture, and corrosive fumes and is greatly accelerated when lubricant is misapplied, becomes overheated or contaminated, or is not replaced at regular intervals. When any components are degraded beyond the point of economical repair, the motor’s economic life is ended. For the smallest and least expensive motors, the motor is put out of service when a component such as a bearing fails. Depending upon type and replacement cost, larger motors—up to 20 or 50 horsepower (hp)—may be refurbished and get new bearings, but are usually scrapped after a winding burnout.Still larger and more expensive motors may be refurbished and rewound to extend life indefinitely. An economic analysis should always be completed prior to a motor’s failure to ensure that the appropriate repair/replace decision is made. Extend Motor Life with Improved Bearing Care Bearing failures are the root cause for the great majority of electric motor downtime, repair and replacement costs. Bearing and motor manufacturers are aware of the situation. Motor repair shops can attribute much of their business to bearing failures.And motor users see bearing failure as the fundamental cause of virtually every electric motor repair expense. Studies conducted by the Electrical Apparatus Service Association also demonstrate that bearing failures are by far the most common cause of motor failures. Knowing that shaft bearings are the Achilles’ heel of industrial electric motors is not a new idea in maintenance departments, but what is new is recognizing that something can be done to prevent most motor bea ring failures. Factors Affecting Bearing Life Electric motors actually present a relatively easy duty for shaft bearings.The motor rotor is lightweight, yet because of its large shaft diameter, the bearings are large. For example, the bearings supporting the 140 lb. Rotor for a typical 40 hp. 1800 rpm industrial motor are so large that they have an L-10 minimum design fatigue life of 3000 years, or 10 percent of the bearings are statistically expected to fail from fatigue after 3000 years of operation. Plant operating experience, however, strongly contradicts such optimistic estimates of motor bearing life. In actual industrial environments, bearing failure is rarely caused by fatigue; it is caused by less-than-ideal lubrication.Because of contaminated lubrication, bearings fail well before they serve their theoretical fatigue life. There are many reasons for less than-ideal bearing lubrication. Lubricants can leak out; chemical attacks or thermal conditions can decompose or break d own lubricants; lubricants can become contaminated with non-lubricants such as water, dust, or rust from the bearings themselves. These lubrication problems can be eliminated. Motor bearings can last virtually forever by simply providing an ideal contamination-free, well-lubricated bearing environment.Conventional wisdom teaches that such an ideal motor bearing environment can be provided by using a dry-running lip seal or using sealed (lubricated-for-life) bearings. Indeed, for many light-duty applications, such bearing protection techniques are often sufficient to allow bearings to last as long as the equipment itself. However, these bearing protection methods have not significantly reduced the rate of bearing failure in severe-duty industrial motors. Bearings in industrial applications continue to fail because of inadequate lubrication caused by lubricant loss, contamination, and decomposition and break-down.Lip seals invariably wear out well before the bearing fails, and sealed bearings inherently foreshorten the life of a bearing to the service life of the contained grease (usually only about 3,000 to 5,000 hours for most industrial services). Maintenance professionals may find the following suggestions on how to forestall motor hearing failure obvious, but some new techniques and technologies are available. Lubricate Bearing at Correct Intervals Despite years of warnings from bearing manufacturers, over lubrication continues to plague many motor bearings. Too much grease can cause overheating of the bearings.The lubrication instructions supplied by the motor manufacturer will specify the quantity and frequency of lubrication. Generally, two-pole motors should be greased twice a year, four-pole and slower motors only once a year. Use the Best Available Grease The most commonly used bearing grease is polyurea-based, a low-cost, low-performance, highly compatible lubricant. However, it does not handle water well, a serious drawback for many industrial appli cations. It reacts readily with water and loses its ability to lubricate bearings. Industrial motor bearings should be lubricated with a synthetic-based aluminum complex grease.A high-quality grease pays for its additional cost in reduced motor downtime and repair costs. Keep Out Moisture Unless the motor is being hosed down or it operates in a humid environment, reasonably shielded motor bearings may not become seriously contaminated with moisture while the motor is running. However, when the rotor is shut down, moisture and condensation can collect on the surface of the bearing components. Eventually, this water breaks through the oil and grease barrier, contacts the metal parts of the bearing, and produces tiny particles of iron oxide.These rust particles make an excellent grinding compound when mixed with the grease. resulting in premature failure of the bearing because of surface degradation. Preventing water contamination is a major challenge to bearing housing design. Close s haft-to-endbell clearances cannot stop the movement of humid air. Contact seals will quit contacting, resulting in large gaps that allow movement of air and water vapor across the bearing. Vapor-blocking bearing isolators, such as the one illustrated, are among the more successful devices presently available to prevent water vapor from entering a stationary bearing.When the motor shaft is rotating, the isolator opens, eliminating the possibility of friction and wear. However, when the shaft is stationary, the isolator closes, preventing movement of air or water across its face. With no wear from rotating friction, the seal may last indefinitely, and surely as long as the fatigue-failure life of the bearing. Keep Out Dirt Lip seals, contact seals, and frequent grease replacement help minimize the amount of dirt and other air-borne abrasives that can contaminate bearing lubricant. These solutions, however, have some drawbacks.Lip seals have a short service life, and frequent grease di splacement is expensive and messy. One successful approach to keeping air-borne dirt and liquids out of an operating bearing is to install a labyrinth-type non-contact seal over the bearing housing. These bearing isolators, readily available from suppliers, combine a tortuous labyrinth path with impingement and centrifugal forces to trap and remove air-borne dirt and liquid; virtually no contamination can reach the bearing. Because the bearing isolator is a non-contact device, it will generally be the longest-lasting component of the motor.Although not intended as such, a bearing isolator could serve as an emergency sleeve bearing if the primary bearing fails, possibly preventing damage to the motor’s stator and rotor. In emergency situations, the bearing isolator can allow continued operation for a short time and still prevent the need to rewind the motor when the bearing is replaced. Bearing isolators constructed of bronze or other non-sparking materials also can prevent ha zardous sparks that could otherwise occur when the bearing’s rolling elements fail. Other SuggestionsImproved bearing protection and lubrication will reduce downtime and the maintenance costs of electric motors, but other important motor design features contribute to long service life, including over-sized high quality bearings, high-tech winding insulation, superior fan design, high-performance paint (such as epoxy) and a strong, rigid cast iron frame. These features, usually standard or readily available, are found in most industrial-grade severe-duty electric motors. High-performance bearing protection systems. however, are not universally accepted as essential for long motor life.Specifying permanent bearing protection for new motors, or retrofitting isolators onto existing equipment, usually requires initiative on the part of the user’s maintenance or engineering staff. Permanent, absolute bearing protection has a greater effect on motor life than any other decisi ons made in specifying, equipping, and caring for electric motors. Keeping bearings lubricated with the right amount of clean, uncontaminated, high-quality lubricant allows bearings in most industrial motors to outlast all other motor components.

Black House Chapter Seventeen

17 GEORGE POTTER is sitting on the bunk in the third holding cell down a short corridor that smells of piss and disinfectant. He's looking out the window at the parking lot, which has lately been the scene of so much excitement and which is still full of milling people. He doesn't turn at the sound of Jack's approaching footfalls. As he walks, Jack passes two signs. ONE CALL MEANS ONE CALL, reads the first. A.A. MEETINGS MON. AT 7 P.M., N.A. MEETINGS THURS. AT 8 P.M., reads the second. There's a dusty drinking fountain and an ancient fire extinguisher, which some wit has labeled LAUGHING GAS. Jack reaches the bars of the cell and raps on one with his house key. Potter at last turns away from the window. Jack, still in that state of hyperawareness that he now recognizes as a kind of Territorial residue, knows the essential truth of the man at a single look. It's in the sunken eyes and the dark hollows beneath them; it's in the sallow cheeks and the slightly hollowed temples with their delicate nestles of veins; it's in the too sharp prominence of the nose. â€Å"Hello, Mr. Potter,† he says. â€Å"I want to talk to you, and we have to make it fast.† â€Å"They wanted me,† Potter remarks. â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Maybe you should have let 'em take me. Another three-four months, I'm out of the race anyway.† In his breast pocket is the Mag-card Dale has given him, and Jack uses it to unlock the cell door. There's a harsh buzzing as it trundles back on its short track. When Jack removes the key, the buzzing stops. Downstairs in the ready room, an amber light marked H.C. 3 will now be glowing. Jack comes in and sits down on the end of the bunk. He has put his key ring away, not wanting the metallic smell to corrupt the scent of lilies. â€Å"Where have you got it?† Without asking how Jack knows, Potter raises one large gnarled hand a carpenter's hand and touches his midsection. Then he lets it drop. â€Å"Started in the gut. That was five years ago. I took the pills and the shots like a good boy. La Riviere, that was. That stuff . . . man, I was throwing up ever'where. Corners and just about ever'where. Once I threw up in my own bed and didn't even know it. Woke up the next morning with puke drying on my chest. You know anything about that, son?† â€Å"My mother had cancer,† Jack says quietly. â€Å"When I was twelve. Then it went away.† â€Å"She get five years?† â€Å"More.† â€Å"Lucky,† Potter says. â€Å"Got her in the end, though, didn't it?† Jack nods. Potter nods back. They're not quite friends yet, but it's edging that way. It's how Jack works, always has been. â€Å"That shit gets in and waits,† Potter tells him. â€Å"My theory is that it never goes away, not really. Anyway, shots is done. Pills is done, too. Except for the ones that kill the pain. I come here for the finish.† â€Å"Why?† This is not a thing Jack needs to know, and time is short, but it's his technique, and he won't abandon what works just because there are a couple of State Police jarheads downstairs waiting to take his boy. Dale will have to hold them off, that's all. â€Å"Seems like a nice enough little town. And I like the river. I go down ever' day. Like to watch the sun on the water. Sometimes I think of all the jobs I did Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and then sometimes I don't think about much of anything. Sometimes I just sit there on the bank and feel at peace.† â€Å"What was your line of work, Mr. Potter?† â€Å"Started out as a carpenter, just like Jesus. Progressed to builder, then got too big for my britches. When that happens to a builder, he usually goes around calling himself a contractor. I made three-four million dollars, had a Cadillac, had a young woman who hauled my ashes Friday nights. Nice young woman. No trouble. Then I lost it all. Only thing I missed was the Cadillac. It had a smoother ride than the woman. Then I got my bad news and come here.† He looks at Jack. â€Å"You know what I think sometimes? That French Landing's close to a better world, one where things look and smell better. Maybe where people act better. I don't go around with folks I'm not a friendly type person but that doesn't mean I don't feel things. I got this idea in my head that it's not too late to be decent. You think I'm crazy?† â€Å"No,† Jack tells him. â€Å"That's pretty much why I came here myself. I'll tell you how it is for me. You know how if you put a thin blanket over a window, the sun will still shine through?† George Potter looks at him with eyes that are suddenly alight. Jack doesn't even have to finish the thought, which is good. He has found the wavelength he almost always does, it's his gift and now it's time to get down to business. â€Å"You do know,† Potter says simply. Jack nods. â€Å"You know why you're here?† â€Å"They think I killed that lady's kid.† Potter nods toward the window. â€Å"The one out there that was holdin' up the noose. I didn't. That's what I know.† â€Å"Okay, that's a start. Listen to me, now.† Very quickly, Jack lays out the chain of events that has brought Potter to this cell. Potter's brow furrows as Jack speaks, and his big hands knot together. â€Å"Railsback!† he says at last. â€Å"I shoulda known! Nosy goddamn old man, always askin' questions, always askin' do you want to play cards or maybe shoot some pool or, I dunno, play Parcheesi, for Christ's sake! All so he can ask questions. Goddamn nosey parker . . .† There's more in this vein, and Jack lets him go on with it for a while. Cancer or no cancer, this old fellow has been ripped out of his ordinary routine without much mercy, and needs to vent a little. If Jack cuts him off to save time, he'll lose it instead. It's hard to be patient (how is Dale holding those two assholes off ? Jack doesn't even want to know), but patience is necessary. When Potter begins to widen the scope of his attack, however (Morty Fine comes in for some abuse, as does Andy Railsback's pal Irv Throneberry), Jack steps in. â€Å"The point is, Mr. Potter, that Railsback followed someone to your room. No, that's the wrong way to put it. Railsback was led to your room.† Potter doesn't reply, just sits looking at his hands. But he nods. He's old, he's sick and getting sicker, but he's four counties over from stupid. â€Å"The person who led Railsback was almost certainly the same person who left the Polaroids of the dead children in your closet.† â€Å"Yar, makes sense. And if he had pictures of the dead kiddies, he was prob'ly the one who made 'em dead.† â€Å"Right. So I have to wonder â€Å" Potter waves an impatient hand. â€Å"I guess I know what you got to wonder. Who there is around these parts who'd like to see Chicago Potsie strung up by the neck. Or the balls.† â€Å"Exactly.† â€Å"Don't want to put a stick in your spokes, sonny, but I can't think of nobody.† â€Å"No?† Jack raises his eyebrows. â€Å"Never did business around here, built a house or laid out a golf course?† Potter raises his head and gives Jack a grin. â€Å"Course I did. How else d'you think I knew how nice it is? Specially in the summer? You know the part of town they call Libertyville? Got all those ‘ye olde' streets like Camelot and Avalon?† Jack nods. â€Å"I built half of those. Back in the seventies. There was a fella around then . . . some moke I knew from Chicago . . . or thought I knew Was he in the business?† This last seems to be Potter addressing Potter. In any case, he gives his head a brief shake. â€Å"Can't remember. Doesn't matter, anyway. How could it? Fella was gettin' on then, must be dead now. It was a long time ago.† But Jack, who interrogates as Jerry Lee Lewis once played the piano, thinks it does matter. In the usually dim section of his mind where intuition keeps its headquarters, lights are coming on. Not a lot yet, but maybe more than just a few. â€Å"A moke,† he says, as if he has never heard the word before. â€Å"What's that?† Potter gives him a brief, irritated look. â€Å"A citizen who . . . well, not exactly a citizen. Someone who knows people who are connected. Or maybe sometimes connected people call him. Maybe they do each other favors. A moke. It's not the world's best thing to be.† No, Jack thinks, but moking can get you a Cadillac with that nice smooth ride. â€Å"Were you ever a moke, George?† Got to get a little more intimate now. This is not a question Jack can address to a Mr. Potter. â€Å"Maybe,† Potter says after a grudging, considering pause. â€Å"Maybe I was. Back in Chi. In Chi, you had to scratch backs and wet beaks if you wanted to land the big contracts. I don't know how it is there now, but in those days, a clean contractor was a poor contractor. You know?† Jack nods. â€Å"The biggest deal I ever made was a housing development on the South Side of Chicago. Just like in that song about bad, bad Leroy Brown.† Potter chuckles rustily. For a moment he's not thinking about cancer, or false accusations, or almost being lynched. He's living in the past, and it may be a little sleazy, but it's better than the present the bunk chained to the wall, the steel toilet, the cancer spreading through his guts. â€Å"Man, that one was big, I kid you not. Lots of federal money, but the local hotshots decided where the dough went home at night. And me and this other guy, this moke, we were in a horse race â€Å" He breaks off, looking at Jack with wide eyes. â€Å"Holy shit, what are you, magic?† â€Å"I don't know what you mean. I'm just sitting here.† â€Å"That guy was the guy who showed up here. That was the moke!† â€Å"I'm not following you, George.† But Jack thinks he is. And although he's starting to get excited, he shows it no more than he did when the bartender told him about Kinderling's little nose-pinching trick. â€Å"It's probably nothing,† Potter says. â€Å"Guy had plenty of reasons not to like yours truly, but he's got to be dead. He'd be in his eighties, for Christ's sake.† â€Å"Tell me about him,† Jack says. â€Å"He was a moke,† Potter repeats, as if this explains everything. â€Å"And he must have got in trouble in Chicago or somewhere around Chicago, because when he showed up here, I'm pretty sure he was using a different name.† â€Å"When did you swink him on the housing-development deal, George?† Potter smiles, and something about the size of his teeth and the way they seem to jut from the gums allows Jack to see how fast death is rushing toward this man. He feels a little shiver of gooseflesh, but he returns the smile easily enough. This is also how he works. â€Å"If we're gonna talk about mokin' and swinkin', you better call me Potsie.† â€Å"All right, Potsie. When did you swink this guy in Chicago?† â€Å"That much is easy,† Potter says. â€Å"It was summer when the bids went out, but the hotshots were still bellerin' about how the hippies came to town the year before and gave the cops and the mayor a black eye. So I'd say 1969. What happened was I'd done the building commissioner a big favor, and I'd done another for this old woman who swung weight on this special Equal Opportunity Housing Commission that Mayor Daley had set up. So when the bids went out, mine got special consideration. This other guy the moke I have no doubt that his bid was lower. He knew his way around, and he musta had his own contacts, but that time I had the inside track.† He smiles. The gruesome teeth appear, then disappear again. â€Å"Moke's bid? Somehow gets lost. Comes in too late. Bad luck. Chicago Potsie nails the job. Then, four years later, the moke shows up here, bidding on the Libertyville job. Only that time when I beat him, everything was square-john. I pulled no strings. I met him in the bar at the Nelson Hotel the night after the contract was awarded, just by accident. And he says, ‘You were that guy in Chicago.' And I say, ‘There are lots of guys in Chicago.' Now this guy was a moke, but he was a scary moke. He had a kind of smell about him. I can't put it any better than that. Anyway, I was big and strong in those days, I could be mean, but I was pretty meek that time. Even after a drink or two, I was pretty meek. † ‘Yeah,' he says, ‘there are a lot of guys in Chicago, but only one who diddled me. I still got a sore ass from that, Potsie, and I got a long memory.' â€Å"Any other time, any other guy, I might have asked how good his memory stayed after he got his head knocked on the floor, but with him I just took it. No more words passed between us. He walked out. I don't think I ever saw him again, but I heard about him from time to time while I was working the Libertyville job. Mostly from my subs. Seems like the moke was building a house of his own in French Landing. For his retirement. Not that he was old enough to retire back then, but he was gettin' up a little. Fifties, I'd say . . . and that was in '72.† â€Å"He was building a house here in town,† Jack muses. â€Å"Yeah. It had a name, too, like one of those English houses. The Birches, Lake House, Beardsley Manor, you know.† â€Å"What name?† â€Å"Shit, I can't even remember the moke's name, how do you expect me to remember the name of the house he built? But one thing I do remember: none of the subs liked it. It got a reputation.† â€Å"Bad?† â€Å"The worst. There were accidents. One guy cut his hand clean off on a band saw, almost bled to death before they got him to the hospital. Another guy fell off a scaffolding and ended up paralyzed . . . what they call a quad. You know what that is?† Jack nods. â€Å"Only house I ever heard of people were calling haunted even before it was all the way built. I got the idea that he had to finish most of it himself.† â€Å"What else did they say about this place?† Jack puts the question idly, as if he doesn't care much one way or the other, but he cares a lot. He has never heard of a so-called haunted house in French Landing. He knows he hasn't been here anywhere near long enough to hear all the tales and legends, but something like this . . . you'd think something like this would pop out of the deck early. â€Å"Ah, man, I can't remember. Just that . . .† He pauses, eyes distant. Outside the building, the crowd is finally beginning to disperse. Jack wonders how Dale is doing with Brown and Black. The time seems to be racing, and he hasn't gotten what he needs from Potter. What he's gotten so far is just enough to tantalize. â€Å"One guy told me the sun never shone there even when it shone,† Potter says abruptly. â€Å"He said the house was a little way off the road, in a clearing, and it should have gotten sun at least five hours a day in the summer, but it somehow . . . didn't. He said the guys lost their shadows, just like in a fairy tale, and they didn't like it. And sometimes they heard a dog growling in the woods. Sounded like a big one. A mean one. But they never saw it. You know how it is, I imagine. Stories get started, and then they just kinda feed on themselves . . .† Potter's shoulders suddenly slump. His head lowers. â€Å"Man, that's all I can remember.† â€Å"What was the moke's name when he was in Chicago?† â€Å"Can't remember.† Jack suddenly thrusts his open hands under Potter's nose. With his head lowered, Potter doesn't see them until they're right there, and he recoils, gasping. He gets a noseful of the dying smell on Jack's skin. â€Å"What . . . ? Jesus, what's that?† Potter seizes one of Jack's hands and sniffs again, greedily. â€Å"Boy, that's nice. What is it?† â€Å"Lilies,† Jack says, but it's not what he thinks. What he thinks is The memory of my mother. â€Å"What was the moke's name when he was in Chicago?† â€Å"It . . . something like beer stein. That's not it, but it's close. Best I can do.† â€Å"Beer stein,† Jack says. â€Å"And what was his name when he got to French Landing three years later?† Suddenly there are loud, arguing voices on the stairs. â€Å"I don't care!† someone shouts. Jack thinks it's Black, the more officious one. â€Å"It's our case, he's our prisoner, and we're taking him out! Now!† Dale: â€Å"I'm not arguing. I'm just saying that the paperwork â€Å" Brown: â€Å"Aw, fuck the paperwork. We'll take it with us.† â€Å"What was his name in French Landing, Potsie?† â€Å"I can't † Potsie takes Jack's hands again. Potsie's own hands are dry and cold. He smells Jack's palms, eyes closed. On the long exhale of his breath he says: â€Å"Burnside. Chummy Burnside. Not that he was chummy. The nickname was a joke. I think his real handle might have been Charlie.† Jack takes his hands back. Charles â€Å"Chummy† Burnside. Once known as Beer Stein. Or something like Beer Stein. â€Å"And the house? What was the name of the house?† Brown and Black are coming down the corridor now, with Dale scurrying after them. There's no time, Jack thinks. Damnit all, if I had even five minutes more And then Potsie says, â€Å"Black House. I don't know if that's what he called it or what the subs workin' the job got to calling it, but that was the name, all right.† Jack's eyes widen. The image of Henry Leyden's cozy living room crosses his mind: sitting with a drink at his elbow and reading about Jarndyce and Jarndyce. â€Å"Did you say Bleak House?† â€Å"Black,† Potsie reiterates impatiently. â€Å"Because it really was. It was â€Å" â€Å"Oh dear to Christ,† one of the state troopers says in a snotty look-what-the-cat-dragged-in voice that makes Jack feel like rearranging his face. It's Brown, but when Jack glances up, it's Brown's partner he looks at. The coincidence of the other trooper's name makes Jack smile. â€Å"Hello, boys,† Jack says, getting up from the bunk. â€Å"What are you doing here, Hollywood?† Black asks. â€Å"Just batting the breeze and waiting for you,† Jack says, and smiles brilliantly. â€Å"I suppose you want this guy.† â€Å"You're goddamn right,† Brown growls. â€Å"And if you fucked up our case â€Å" â€Å"Gosh, I don't think so,† Jack says. It's a struggle, but he manages to achieve a tone of amiability. Then, to Potsie: â€Å"You'll be safer with them than here in French Landing, sir.† George Potter looks vacant again. Resigned. â€Å"Don't matter much either way,† he says, then smiles as a thought occurs to him. â€Å"If old Chummy's still alive, and you run across him, you might ask him if his ass still hurts from that diddling I gave him back in '69. And tell him old Chicago Potsie says hello.† â€Å"What the hell are you talking about?† Brown asks, glowering. He has his cuffs out, and is clearly itching to snap them on George Potter's wrists. â€Å"Old times,† Jack says. He stuffs his fragrant hands in his pockets and leaves the cell. He smiles at Brown and Black. â€Å"Nothing to concern you boys.† Trooper Black turns to Dale. â€Å"You're out of this case,† he says. â€Å"Those are words of one syllable. I can't make it any simpler. So tell me once and mean it forever, Chief: Do you understand?† â€Å"Of course I do,† Dale said. â€Å"Take the case and welcome. But get off the tall white horse, willya? If you expected me to simply stand by and let a crowd of drunks from the Sand Bar take this man out of Lucky's and lynch him â€Å" â€Å"Don't make yourself look any stupider than you already are,† Brown snaps. â€Å"They picked his name up off your police calls.† â€Å"I doubt that,† Dale says quietly, thinking of the doper's cell phone borrowed out of evidence storage. Black grabs Potter's narrow shoulder, gives it a vicious twist, then thrusts him so hard toward the door at the end of the corridor that the man almost falls down. Potter recovers, his haggard face full of pain and dignity. â€Å"Troopers,† Jack says. He doesn't speak loudly or angrily, but they both turn. â€Å"Abuse that prisoner one more time in my sight, and I'll be on the phone to the Madison shoofly-pies the minute you leave, and believe me, Troopers, they will listen to me. Your attitude is arrogant, coercive, and counterproductive to the resolution of this case. Your interdepartmental cooperation skills are nonexistent. Your demeanor is unprofessional and reflects badly upon the state of Wisconsin. You will either behave yourselves or I guarantee you that by next Friday you will be looking for security jobs.† Although his voice remains even throughout, Black and Brown seem to shrink as he speaks. By the time he finishes, they look like a pair of chastened children. Dale is gazing at Jack with awe. Only Potter seems unaffected; he's gazing down at his cuffed hands with eyes that could be a thousand miles away. â€Å"Go on, now,† Jack says. â€Å"Take your prisoner, take your case records, and get lost.† Black opens his mouth to speak, then shuts it again. They leave. When the door closes behind them, Dale looks at Jack and says, very softly: â€Å"Wow.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"If you don't know,† Dale says, â€Å"I'm not going to tell you.† Jack shrugs. â€Å"Potter will keep them occupied, which frees us up to do a little actual work. If there's a bright side to tonight, that's it.† â€Å"What did you get from him? Anything?† â€Å"A name. Might mean nothing. Charles Burnside. Nicknamed Chummy. Ever heard of him?† Dale sticks out his lower lip and pulls it thoughtfully. Then he lets go and shakes his head. â€Å"The name itself seems to ring a faint bell, but that might only be because it's so common. The nickname, no.† â€Å"He was a builder, a contractor, a wheeler-dealer in Chicago over thirty years ago. According to Potsie, at least.† â€Å"Potsie,† Dale says. The tape is peeling off a corner of the ONE CALL MEANS ONE CALL sign, and Dale smoothes it back down with the air of a man who doesn't really know what he's doing. â€Å"You and he got pretty chummy, didn't you?† â€Å"No,† Jack says. â€Å"Burnside's Chummy. And Trooper Black doesn't own the Black House.† â€Å"You've gone dotty. What black house?† â€Å"First, it's a proper name. Black, capital B, house, capital H. Black House. You ever heard of a house named that around here?† Dale laughs. â€Å"God, no.† Jack smiles back, but all at once it's his interrogation smile, not his I'm-discussing-things-with-my-friend smile. Because he's a coppice-man now. And he has seen a funny little flicker in Dale Gilbertson's eyes. â€Å"Are you sure? Take a minute. Think about it.† â€Å"Told you, no. People don't name their houses in these parts. Oh, I guess old Miss Graham and Miss Pentle call their place on the other side of the town library Honeysuckle, because of the honeysuckle bushes all over the fence in front, but that's the only one in these parts I ever heard named.† Again, Jack sees that flicker. Potter is the one who will be charged for murder by the Wisconsin State Police, but Jack didn't see that deep flicker in Potter's eyes a single time during their interview. Because Potter was straight with him. Dale isn't being straight. But I have to be gentle with him, Jack tells himself. Because he doesn't know he's not being straight. How is that possible? As if in answer, he hears Chicago Potsie's voice: One guy told me the sun never shone there even when it shone . . . he said the guys lost their shadows, just like in a fairy tale. Memory is a shadow; any cop trying to reconstruct a crime or an accident from the conflicting accounts of eyewitnesses knows it well. Is Potsie's Black House like this? Something that casts no shadow? Dale's response (he has now turned full-face to the peeling poster, working on it as seriously as he might work on a heart attack victim in the street, administering CPR right out of the manual until the ambulance arrives) suggests to Jack that it might be something like just that. Three days ago he wouldn't have allowed himself to consider such an idea, but three days ago he hadn't returned to the Territories. â€Å"According to Potsie, this place got a reputation as a haunted house even before it was completely built,† Jack says, pressing a little. â€Å"Nope.† Dale moves on to the sign about the A.A. and N.A. meetings. He examines the tape studiously, not looking at Jack. â€Å"Doesn't ring the old chimeroo.† â€Å"Sure? One man almost bled to death. Another took a fall that paralyzed him. People complained listen to this, Dale, it's good according to Potsie, people complained about losing their shadows. Couldn't see them even at midday, with the sun shining full force. Isn't that something?† â€Å"Sure is, but I don't remember any stories like that.† As Jack walks toward Dale, Dale moves away. Almost scutters away, although Chief Gilbertson is not ordinarily a scuttering man. It's a little funny, a little sad, a little horrible. He doesn't know he's doing it, Jack's sure of that. There is a shadow. Jack sees it, and on some level Dale knows he sees it. If Jack should force him too hard, Dale would have to see it, too . . . and Dale doesn't want that. Because it's a bad shadow. Is it worse than a monster who kills children and then eats selected portions of their bodies? Apparently part of Dale thinks so. I could make him see that shadow, Jack thinks coldly. Put my hands under his nose my lily-scented hands and make him see it. Part of him even wants to see it. The coppiceman part. Then another part of Jack's mind speaks up in the Speedy Parker drawl he now remembers from his childhood. You could push him over the edge of a nervous breakdown, too, Jack. God knows he's close to one, after all the goin's-ons since the Irkenham boy got took. You want to chance that? And for what? He didn't know the name, about that he was bein' straight. â€Å"Dale?† Dale gives Jack a quick, bright glance, then looks away. The furtive quality in that quick peek sort of breaks Jack's heart. â€Å"What?† â€Å"Let's go get a cup of coffee.† At this change of subject, Dale's face fills with glad relief. He claps Jack on the shoulder. â€Å"Good idea!† God-pounding good idea, right here and now, Jack thinks, then smiles. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and more than one way to find a Black House. It's been a long day. Best, maybe, to let this go. At least for tonight. â€Å"What about Railsback?† Dale asks as they clatter down the stairs. â€Å"You still want to talk to him?† â€Å"You bet,† Jack replies, heartily enough, but he holds out little hope for Andy Railsback, a picked witness who saw exactly what the Fisherman wanted him to see. With one little exception . . . perhaps. The single slipper. Jack doesn't know if it will ever come to anything, but it might. In court, for instance . . . as an identifying link . . . This is never going to court and you know it. It may not even finish in this w His thoughts are broken by a wave of cheerful sound as they step into the combination ready room and dispatch center. The members of the French Landing Police Department are standing and applauding. Henry Leyden is also standing and applauding. Dale joins in. â€Å"Jesus, guys, quit it,† Jack says, laughing and blushing at the same time. But he won't lie to himself, try to tell himself he takes no pleasure in that round of applause. He feels the warmth of them; can see the light of their regard. Those things aren't important. But it feels like coming home, and that is. When Jack and Henry step out of the police station an hour or so later, Beezer, Mouse, and Kaiser Bill are still there. The other two have gone back to the Row to fill in the various old ladies on tonight's events. â€Å"Sawyer,† Beezer says. â€Å"Yes,† Jack says. â€Å"Anything we can do, man. Can you dig that? Anything.† Jack looks at the biker thoughtfully, wondering what his story is . . . other than grief, that is. A father's grief. Beezer's eyes remain steady on his. A little off to one side, Henry Leyden stands with his head raised to smell the river fog, humming deep down in his throat. â€Å"I'm going to look in on Irma's mom tomorrow around eleven,† Jack says. â€Å"Do you suppose you and your friends could meet me in the Sand Bar around noon? She lives close to there, I understand. I'll buy youse a round of lemonade.† Beezer doesn't smile, but his eyes warm up slightly. â€Å"We'll be there.† â€Å"That's good,† Jack says. â€Å"Mind telling me why?† â€Å"There's a place that needs finding.† â€Å"Does it have to do with whoever killed Amy and the other kids?† â€Å"Maybe.† Beezer nods. â€Å"Maybe's good enough.† Jack drives back toward Norway Valley slowly, and not just because of the fog. Although it's still early in the evening, he is tired to the bone and has an idea that Henry feels the same way. Not because he's quiet; Jack has become used to Henry's occasional dormant stretches. No, it's the quiet in the truck itself. Under ordinary circumstances, Henry is a restless, compulsive radio tuner, running through the La Riviere stations, checking KDCU here in town, then ranging outward, hunting for Milwaukee, Chicago, maybe even Omaha, Denver, and St. Louis, if conditions are right. An appetizer of bop here, a salad of spiritual music there, perhaps a dash of Perry Como way down at the foot of the dial: hot-diggity, dog-diggity, boom what-ya-do-to-me. Not tonight, though. Tonight Henry just sits quiet on his side of the truck with his hands folded in his lap. At last, when they're no more than two miles from his driveway, Henry says: â€Å"No Dickens tonight, Jack. I'm going straight to bed .† The weariness in Henry's voice startles Jack, makes him uneasy. Henry doesn't sound like himself or any of his radio personae; at this moment he just sounds old and tired, on the way to being used up. â€Å"I am, too,† Jack agrees, trying not to let his concern show in his voice. Henry picks up on every vocal nuance. He's eerie that way. â€Å"What do you have in mind for the Thunder Five, may I ask?† â€Å"I'm not entirely sure,† Jack says, and perhaps because he's tired, he gets this untruth past Henry. He intends to start Beezer and his buddies looking for the place Potsie told him about, the place where shadows had a way of disappearing. At least way back in the seventies they did. He had also intended to ask Henry if he's ever heard of a French Landing domicile called Black House. Not now, though. Not after hearing how beat Henry sounds. Tomorrow, maybe. Almost certainly, in fact, because Henry is too good a resource not to use. Best to let him recycle a little first, though. â€Å"You have the tape, right?† Henry pulls the cassette with the Fisherman's 911 call on it partway out of his breast pocket, then puts it back. â€Å"Yes, Mother. But I don't think I can listen to a killer of small children tonight, Jack. Not even if you come in and listen with me.† â€Å"Tomorrow will be fine,† Jack says, hoping he isn't condemning another of French Landing's children to death by saying this. â€Å"You're not entirely sure of that.† â€Å"No,† Jack agrees, â€Å"but you listening to that tape with dull ears could do more harm than good. I am sure of that.† â€Å"First thing in the morning. I promise.† Henry's house is up ahead now. It looks lonely with only the one light on over the garage, but of course Henry doesn't need lights inside to find his way. â€Å"Henry, are you going to be all right?† â€Å"Yes,† Henry says, but to Jack he doesn't seem entirely sure. â€Å"No Rat tonight,† Jack tells him firmly. â€Å"No.† â€Å"Ditto the Shake, the Shook, the Sheik.† Henry's lips lift in a small smile. â€Å"Not even a George Rathbun promo for French Landing Chevrolet, where price is king and you never pay a dime of interest for the first six months with approved credit. Straight to bed.† â€Å"Me too,† Jack says. But an hour after lying down and putting out the lamp on his bedside table, Jack is still unable to sleep. Faces and voices revolve in his mind like crazy clock hands. Or a carousel on a deserted midway. Tansy Freneau: Bring out the monster who killed my pretty baby. Beezer St. Pierre: We'll have to see how it shakes out, won't we George Potter: That shit gets in and waits. My theory is that it never goes away, not really. Speedy, a voice from the distant past on the sort of telephone that was science fiction when Jack first met him: Hidey-ho, Travelin' Jack . . . as one coppiceman to another, son, I think you ought to visit Chief Gilbertson's private bathroom. Right now. As one coppiceman to another, right. And most of all, over and over again, Judy Marshall: You don't just say, I'm lost and I don't know how to get back you keep on going . . . Yes, but keep on going where? Where? At last he gets up and goes out onto the porch with his pillow under his arm. The night is warm; in Norway Valley, where the fog was thin to begin with, the last remnants have now disappeared, blown away by a soft east wind. Jack hesitates, then goes on down the steps, naked except for his underwear. The porch is no good to him, though. It's where he found that hellish box with the sugar-packet stamps. He walks past his truck, past the bird hotel, and into the north field. Above him are a billion stars. Crickets hum softly in the grass. His fleeing path through the hay and timothy has disappeared, or maybe now he's entering the field in a different place. A little way in, he lies down on his back, puts the pillow under his head, and looks up at the stars. Just for a little while, he thinks. Just until all those ghost voices empty out of my head. Just for a little while. Thinking this, he begins to drowse. Thinking this, he goes over. Above his head, the pattern of the stars changes. He sees the new constellations form. What is that one, where the Big Dipper was a moment before? Is it the Sacred Opopanax? Perhaps it is. He hears a low, pleasant creaking sound and knows it's the windmill he saw when he flipped just this morning, a thousand years ago. He doesn't need to look at it to be sure, any more than he needs to look at where his house was and see that it has once more become a barn. Creak . . . creak . . . creak: vast wooden vanes turning in that same east wind. Only now the wind is infinitely sweeter, infinitely purer. Jack touches the waistband of his underpants and feels some rough weave. No Jockey shorts in this world. His pillow has changed, too. Foam has become goosedown, but it's still comfortable. More comfortable than ever, in truth. Sweet under his head. â€Å"I'll catch him, Speedy,† Jack Sawyer whispers up at the new shapes in the new stars. â€Å"At least I'll try.† He sleeps. When he awakens, it's early morning. The breeze is gone. In the direction from which it came, there's a bright orange line on the horizon the sun is on its way. He's stiff and his ass hurts and he's damp with dew, but he's rested. The steady, rhythmic creaking is gone, but that doesn't surprise him. He knew from the moment he opened his eyes that he's in Wisconsin again. And he knows something else: he can go back. Any time he wants. The real Coulee Country, the deep Coulee Country, is just a wish and a motion away. This fills him with joy and dread in equal parts. Jack gets up and barefoots back to the house with his pillow under his arm. He guesses it's about five in the morning. Another three hours' sleep will make him ready for anything. On the porch steps, he touches the cotton of his Jockey shorts. Although his skin is damp, the shorts are almost dry. Of course they are. For most of the hours he spent sleeping rough (as he spent so many nights that autumn when he was twelve), they weren't on him at all. They were somewhere else. â€Å"In the Land of Opopanax,† Jack says, and goes inside. Three minutes later he's asleep again, in his own bed. When he wakes at eight, with the sensible sun streaming in through his window, he could almost believe that his latest journey was a dream. But in his heart, he knows better.