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El libro La muerte de Arturo (a veces publicado con el nombre, en francés medio, de La Morte d'Arthur o Morte Darthur y aparecido en su primera publicación y en algunas ediciones modernas como La mort d'Arthur) es la versión de sir Thomas Malory sobre la historia del rey Arturo y los Caballeros de la Mesa Redonda, basada en varias leyendas  inglesas y francesas.

Algunas partes del libro son material original de Malory, mientras que otras son las interpretaciones que Malory dio a historias anteriores. El libro fue publicado por primera vez en 1485 por William Caxton. Aunque no se trata de la obra más antigua sobre el género artúrico, La muerte de Arturo se cuenta entre las más conocidas. Ha inspirado obras como la novela de John Steinbeck Los hechos del rey Arturo y sus nobles caballeros, y sobre todo la muy influyente pentalogía The Once and Future King (1938-1977), titulada en español Camelot, de T. H. White; de ella derivan películas como Excalibur, de John Boorman, o, indirectamente, La espada en la piedra de Disney, entre otras obras; asimismo, J. K. Rowling ha reconocido el influjo que sobre ella ejerció la obra de White.

Antecedentes de la obra

Las historias del rey Arturo y los caballeros de la mesa redonda son ampliamente conocidas en el mundo, en gran medida gracias a los trabajos de los románticos ingleses del siglo XIX y a la obra de Richard Wagner. Estos trabajos están basados en las obras escritas que surgieron en Europa entre los siglos XII y XVI; los cuales a su vez se inspiraron en las historias que oralmente formaban parte del folclore medieval. Aunque el nombre de Arturo y referencias a su reinado se encuentran en antiguos manuscritos del siglo XI y principios del XII, los historiadores reconocen que la primera obra escrita donde aparecen personajes artúricos de una manera completa es la Historia Regum Britanniæ, escrita entre 1130 y 1136 por el historiador galés Godofredo de Monmouth. Es probable que el escritor francés Chrétien de Troyes se haya inspirado en esta obra para sus relatos, que incluyen también a personajes artúricos. Entre las diversas obras de Troyes, la más famosa es probablemente la inconclusa Perceval, el Cuento del Grial. Troyes murió en 1190. A finales del mismo siglo, Robert de Boron escribió la trilogía Li livres dou Graal, donde las aventuras del rey Arturo y los caballeros de la mesa redonda alcanzan una configuración definitiva.

En el siglo siguiente, concretamente entre 1200 y 1210, Wolfram von Eschenbach retomó al caballero Perceval, para usarlo como personaje protagonista de su poema épico Parzival. Hacia 1230, las leyendas artúricas fueron recopiladas en La Vulgata, también conocido como Lanzarote-Grial o Pseudo-map. El anónimo compilador de este ciclo afirma que se trata de testimonios recogidos de un manuscrito propiedad del rey Arturo, con las historias contadas tal y como las habían vivido sus protagonistas. La Vulgata es un extenso ciclo de más de 2800 páginas, que ocupa cinco volúmenes. Durante los siguientes doscientos años, las pocas obras nuevas sobre las leyendas artúricas alcanzaron escasa relevancia histórica, con excepción de menciones por Dante y Bocaccio.

La identidad de Malory

Existe incertidumbre acerca de la verdadera identidad de Thomas Malory. La hipótesis generalmente más aceptada es que se trataba de Thomas Maleore, de Newbold Revell en Warwickshire, nacido a principios del siglo XV, quien sirvió con el conde de Warwick y luchó en Calais en 1436. De acuerdo a esta hipótesis, Malory pasó los últimos veinte años de su vida en prisión, condenado por varios asesinatos, o por un intento de asesinato y violación. Se cree que fue en prisión donde Malory escribió su obra literaria, aunque a los historiadores les resulta difícil vincular una personalidad literaria tan refinada y caballeresca con la de un presunto asesino y violador. Otra hipótesis sugiere que Malory vivía en Yorkshire, pues el lenguaje con el que la obra fue escrita sugiere que el autor era del norte de Warwickshire.

Si las diferentes interpretaciones de la vida de Malory coinciden en algo, es en que Malory era un aristócrata que lamentaba el fin de las era de la caballería y que efectivamente pasó un tiempo en prisión, donde probablemente escribió La muerte de Arturo. Si Malory estuvo en servicio militar en Francia, es probable que su obra fuera escrita cuando Malory fue capturado por Jacques d'Armagnac, quien poseía una vasta biblioteca sobre temas artúricos.

Malory nunca vio su obra publicada, pues murió catorce años antes de que Caxton la imprimiera por primera vez. De hecho, en el colofón de La muerte de Arturo Malory solicita a los lectores que recen por su pronta liberación si es que aún no ha muerto; o que recen por su alma en caso contrario.

Diferentes ediciones a través de los siglos

Primera impresión de la obra
William Caxton imprimió la obra de Malory por primera vez en 1485. Al morir Malory, la obra se encontraba sin revisar, por lo que Caxton fue la primera persona que se encargó de hacer la revisión inicial, y la organización del texto. La edición fue tan popular que, con algunos cambios y añadiduras, fue reimpresa en 1498, y de nuevo en 1529 por Wynkyn de Worde, el sucesor de Caxton en la misma imprenta.

Malory escribió su obra en forma de un ciclo bajo el título The hoole booke of kyng Arthur & of his noble knyghtes of the rounde table ('El libro completo del rey Arturo y sus nobles caballeros de la mesa redonda', en inglés del siglo XV). El título La muerte de Arturo, se refería únicamente al último episodio del conjunto. Al imprimirlo y publicarlo, es probable que Caxton malinterpretara las intenciones del autor. Caxton dividió la obra en veintiún libros con un promedio aproximado de veinticuatro capítulos por libro, dando un total de 504 capítulos. Al inicio de cada capítulo y al final de cada libro, Caxton añadió también rúbricas que describían la acción. Además escribió una introducción que justificaba la publicación y describía la organización de la obra.

Sobreviven dos ediciones originales del texto de Caxton, una está alojada en la biblioteca John Rylands de la Universidad de Mánchester en Inglaterra; y la otra se encuentra en la biblioteca Pierpont Morgan de Nueva York.

Reimpresiones hasta el siglo XIX
Durante los siguientes dos siglos, diferentes imprentas hicieron tres nuevas ediciones de la obra de Malory, en 1557, 1585 y 1634. En cada una de ellas se hicieron adiciones, se corrigieron errores previos, y también se incorporaron nuevos errores. Posteriormente, el libro fue relegado a un segundo plano hasta que el romanticismo del siglo XIX revivió el interés por los temas de la edad media. En 1816, hubo dos publicaciones independientes, ambas basadas en el texto publicado en 1634, conocido como la edición de Stansby. A partir de ese momento, se utilizaron mezclas de la edición original de Caxton con la de Stansby en las reediciones que precedieron al descubrimiento del manuscrito de Winchester.

El manuscrito de Winchester
Al catalogarse la biblioteca del Colegio de Winchester, en 1934, se descubrió un manuscrito que había permanecido oculto en el acervo. A la postre, este manuscrito resultó ser uno de los hallazgos más importantes hechos en el siglo XX sobre literatura medieval. El manuscrito de Winchester es una versión de La muerte de Arturo que se considera más cercana al arquetipo o trabajo original de Malory que el texto de Caxton, aunque ambas obras derivan de forma independiente de una copia más antigua. Los exámenes microscópicos que fueron practicados al manuscrito mostraron que este provenía del taller de Caxton, ya que tenía restos de copias de algunas páginas impresas en el tipo de letra que Caxton utilizaba. A diferencia de la edición de Caxton, el manuscrito de Winchester no está dividido en varios Libros y capítulos (de hecho, Caxton se atribuye tal división, en el prefacio del libro).

Eugène Vinaver, profesor de Lengua y Literatura Francesas de la Universidad de Mánchester, dio a conocer en 1947 una edición en tres volúmenes de la obra de Malory fundada en el manuscrito de Winchester. Vinaver acompañó la edición con el argumento de que Malory no había escrito una sola obra, sino que en realidad había reunido una serie de aventuras artúricas independientes que no necesariamente debían ser coherentes en conjunto y entre sí. Vinaver llamó a su edición Los trabajos de Sir Thomas Malory, aludiendo expresamente a esa teoría de las múltiples obras que habían sido reunidas por iniciativa de Caxton.

La hipótesis de Vinaver explicaba las discrepancias que había entre las diferentes secciones del texto de Caxton y que antes habían causado inquietud entre los estudiosos. Sin embargo, el asunto de la cohesión de las partes nunca ha sido resuelto a satisfacción. De cualquier modo, el texto del manuscrito de Winchester hizo más asequible la obra, por lo que muchas de las publicaciones modernas se fundan en el texto de Winchester y no en el de Caxton. John Steinbeck, ganador del premio Nobel de literatura en 1962, manifiesta que, aunque el primer libro que tuvo en su vida fue una copia de la edición de Caxton, al conocer el manuscrito de Winchester décadas después prefirió usar este último como fuente para su obra artúrica:

Características
El papel de la caballería en las batallas había decaído desde los siglos XII y XIII, pero fue tras las de Crécy y Agincourt, durante la Guerra de los cien años, cuando los caballeros pasaron a ser protagonistas más frecuentes de la vida cortesana y no de la militar. Malory fue uno de varios autores que intentaron rescatar la imagen de los caballeros a partir de numerosas fuentes medievales, principalmente textos franceses. La nostalgia y la idealización de la época caballeresca es notoria en toda la obra, pero la característica distintiva de La muerte de Arturo es una prosa precisa, breve y escueta, que se aleja de las ideologías y las alegorías místicas y morales que predominan en otros textos artúricos. Partiendo de un material tradicional rico en historias entrelazadas y alegorías religiosas, Malory creó una historia más ágil y dinámica en la cual predomina el realismo, y los pasajes mágicos son solo un complemento de la trama. Los detalles terrenales tienen más relevancia, hasta el punto de que Malory consigna incluso el costo de las expediciones y de las aventuras de los caballeros. Esto último, junto con otros detalles que pueden parecer prosaicos, recuerdan que Malory era un militar instruido y piadoso, pero no un docto estudioso de la leyenda artúrica.

Uno de los factores que más contribuyen a su relativo éxito es el estilo moderno utilizado para recontar el ya avejentado material clásico, o, según Vinaver, el uso del misterioso poder del estilo, el único mérito inmortal en el mundo de los libros. Malory prescinde de largas disquisiciones; es sencillo y rápido al describir y conciso en su narración, concentrando el impacto dramático en los diálogos. Esto representa una gran diferencia respecto a los textos artúricos disponibles en esa época. La mayoría eran textos franceses en verso, que sirven a Malory solamente como fuentes de información, y así lo reconoce Caxton en su prefacio. En diversos pasajes de La muerte de Arturo, Malory advierte que tomó alguna información de lo que él llama "el Libro francés". No se ha precisado si esta alusión es a una fuente única o más bien a una colección de libros en francés que le sirvieron de fuente, muy probablemente las obras de Chretién de Troyes.

Es claro que, cuando Malory recopiló información de diversas fuentes, intentó conciliar las versiones, a veces encontradas, sobre algunos detalles de la leyenda. Sin embargo, su logro fue solamente parcial, pues son notorias varias inconsistencias relativas a detalles sobre los personajes, su interrelación y los acontecimientos que los rodearon. En algunos casos, los estudiosos atribuyen estos errores a malinterpretaciones de Malory en la traducción. En otros se trata probablemente de confusiones del autor al manejar la vasta cantidad de material disponible. Entre otros ejemplos, está el de Bagdemagus, un personaje que en el Libro II es primo de Arturo. En el Libro VI, Lanzarote del Lago lucha por Bagdemagus, pero en el Libro X existe un odio no explicado entre ambos personajes. Posteriormente, la tumba de Bagdemagus es descrita en el Libro XVII, pero en el Libro XX, el caballero aún se encuentra vivo, aconsejando a Lanzarote como un amigo. Ejemplos como éste se repiten a lo largo de la obra.

Influencia

La muerte de Arturo es, en palabras de L. D. Benson, la única obra literaria inglesa escrita entre Chaucer y Shakespeare, que aún hoy en día es leída con renovado fervor y placer. Esta obra ha sido, como muchas otras del género artúrico, reinterpretada y utilizada como fuente por artistas de diversas nacionalidades en siglos posteriores. Pasajes de La muerte de Arturo fueron reinterpretados por Lord Tennyson en su obra victoriana Idilios del rey en 1859; aunque, consecuente con su momento histórico, Tennyson presenta a la leyenda del rey Arturo dominada por una visión moralista que está muy lejos del tratamiento de Malory. Por esto, los Idilios del rey no es normalmente considerada como un fruto directo de La muerte de Arturo.

Más adelante, dos autores del siglo XX intentaron recrear el trabajo de Malory, pero con renovado estilo y un humor más moderno: John Steinbeck y T. H. White, quienes abiertamente reconocen en Malory su fuente de inspiración para sus obras artúricas. Además, algunos estudiosos han notado la influencia de Malory en autores como C. S. Lewis, autor de las Crónicas de Narnia; y T. S. Eliot, ganador del premio Nobel de Literatura en 1948.

Aunque las leyendas artúricas han aparecido en el cine numerosas veces, dos películas reconocen haberse inspirado directamente en La muerte de Arturo. La primera, Los caballeros del rey Arturo, fue rodada en 1953 por Richard Thorpe. La segunda, de 1981, es Excalibur, de John Boorman. De manera indirecta a través de la obra de T. H. White, La muerte de Arturo fue reflejada en otras dos películas: la película animada de Disney La espada en la piedra, dirigida por Wolfgang Reitherman, de 1963; y Camelot, de 1967, dirigida por Joshua Logan.

Sinopsis de La muerte de Arturo
Esta descripción de la obra sigue la división hecha por William Caxton en la edición de 1485. Los nombres de los lugares y personajes han sufrido algunas transformaciones con el tiempo y las traducciones a otros idiomas. Salvo indicación en contrario, este artículo utiliza los nombres empleados en la traducción al español de F. Torres Oliver, en la edición de La muerte de Arturo de Ed. Siruela, 1999. Al final de esta sección se ofrece una tabla con los nombres originales de los personajes y sus equivalentes en otras fuentes.

Prefacio de William Caxton a la edición original
William Caxton escribió un extenso prefacio, explicando su intención al imprimir La muerte de Arturo, y describiendo la organización en que el lector encontrará la obra. La presentación de Caxton es una alabanza al rey Arturo, al que glorifica mencionando su lugar entre los Nueve de la Fama, los personajes más destacados de la historia humana. Este grupo de personajes consiste en tres paganos (Héctor de Troya, Alejandro Magno y Julio César), tres judíos (Judas Macabeo, David y Josué), y tres cristianos (Carlomagno, el rey Arturo y Godofredo de Bouillón). Caxton opina que, de entre los nueve, Arturo es el que merece más atención, por ser el único nacido en este reino, y de quien menos se ha ocupado la historia, ya que existen numerosas obras que cuentan las hazañas de los otros ocho. Además, lamenta que la fama del rey Arturo haya alcanzado las tierras de ultramar más contundentemente que en las islas británicas, pues ya en esa época, era posible "encontrar más libros en neerlandés, italiano, español y griego, así como en francés". Caxton encuentra que esta omisión es grave, pero que se debe quizás a que el pueblo inglés nunca había tomado en serio la existencia de Arturo y lo había creído un ser mítico.

Adicionalmente, Caxton justifica la obra impresa aduciendo un encargo de varios nobles y aristócratas anónimos que, conociendo el trabajo previo del impresor, le solicitaron "al instante" que editara la reseña de Arturo, sus nobles caballeros, el Santo Grial y la muerte de Arturo; y que esta historia era más digna de ser impresa que aquella de Godofredo de Bouillon o, para el caso, cualquiera de los otros ocho hombres magníficos. A continuación se describen brevemente los 21 libros, que son reunidos en cuatro grupos por la temática abordada y los periodos históricos relatados; aunque Caxton en ningún momento hace la distinción.

Libros I al IV, Historia del Rey Arturo
En estos cuatro libros, también llamados Tale of King Arthur (Historia del Rey Arturo), se narra un período de aproximadamente 20 a 25 años, y en ellos se sientan las bases para el resto de la obra. Malory vierte aquí la mayoría de los conceptos que giran alrededor de las leyendas artúricas, y que utilizará en el resto de la obra.

En el Libro I, compuesto de 27 capítulos, se relatan los orígenes de Arturo, su conversión en caballero, su coronación y su relación con otros reinos vecinos. El Libro I, por su importancia en sentar los cimientos del resto de la obra, tiene un lugar destacado. A continuación se expone el detalle de los hechos narrados en el libro mencionado.

Ya de entrada en el primer capítulo, se relata la guerra que Uther Pendragon, a la postre padre de Arturo, sostenía con el Duque de Tintagel en Cornualles. La fecha de los eventos no se menciona con precisión, simplemente se menciona que la acción transcurrió "en los días del rey Uther Pendragon, cuando este era rey de toda Inglaterra". En el transcurso de la guerra, ambos personajes se entrevistaron un día, y Uther se enamoró de Igraine, la esposa del Duque de Tintagel. La pareja, al enterarse, decidió huir de la corte de Uther y refugiarse en el castillo de Tintagel. Uther Pendragon los siguió hasta allí, y, a través de Sir Ulfius, un caballero de su corte, buscó la ayuda de Merlín para "yacer con la duquesa". Merlín accedió a ayudar a Uther, con la condición de recibir a la criatura que sería engendrada de la unión entre Uther Pendragon y la Duquesa de Tintagel. Entonces, Merlín profirió un encanto que transformó la apariencia de Uther Pendragon en el Duque de Tintagel; y la apariencia del mismo Merlín y de Sir Ulfius en dos caballeros cortesanos de Tintagel. Los tres personajes disfrazados cabalgaron diez millas hasta el castillo donde se encontraba la Duquesa. Mientras llegaban a su destino, el verdadero Duque de Tintagel murió en una batalla al salir de su castillo, y tres horas después Uther Pendragon consiguió su objetivo, engendrando a Arturo. Cuando Igraine supo de la muerte de su marido, se preguntó quien había podido tomar su lugar esa noche. Uther le confesó la verdad y la llevó a su corte. Igraine fue de este modo reina de Inglaterra. Cuando Arturo nació, fue entregado a Merlín, quien a su vez lo entregó a Sir Héctor y su esposa para que lo criaran.

Tras la muerte de Pendragon, la incertidumbre dominó al país al estar vacío el trono. A través del Arzobispo de Canterbury, Merlín convocó a todos los Señores y Caballeros del reino, a que acudieran a Londres en Navidad, cuando se les revelaría un milagro divino que señalaría al justo heredero del trono. En la iglesia más grande de la ciudad apareció entonces la mítica espada en la piedra que solamente podía ser extraída de su base por aquel destinado a ser el rey de Inglaterra. Arturo fue quien consiguió extraer la espada, casi casualmente, en el día de año nuevo, cuando se realizaba un torneo en las cercanías donde participaba Sir Kay, hermanastro de Arturo.

El Libro II se enfoca en las aventuras de Sir Balin, un caballero de la corte de Arturo, desde su participación en la batalla del Castillo de Terrabil (donde Arturo consolidó su dominio sobre el país), hasta su muerte junto con su hermano Balan. El Libro II consta de 19 capítulos. En el Libro II, Malory menciona por primera vez a Camelot y a la Mesa Redonda por sus nombres; y por primera vez en la obra aparecen la Dama del Lago, Sir Lanzarote del Lago y Sir Tristán. También en este libro, Arturo recibe a Excalibur, como un regalo de la Dama del Lago, quien a continuación es decapitada por Sir Balin, debido a una disputa familiar. En el Libro III, compuesto de 15 capítulos, el rey Arturo decide tomar una esposa, para lo cual escoge a Ginebra. El Libro narra la boda, y la constitución formal de los Caballeros de la Mesa Redonda, que en ese momento suman veintiocho. En el mismo Libro, Gawain y Tor son también ordenados caballeros. En el Libro IV, Merlín es sepultado vivo por Nimue, una Damisela del Lago. Arturo se enfrenta por primera vez a la Reina Morgana, quien aparece cuando Merlín ya no está presente. El Libro IV está compuesto de 28 capítulos.

Libros V al XII
El Libro V comienza unos 15 a 20 años después del final del Libro IV. Se cree que el Libro V fue el primero que escribió Malory. Compuesto únicamente de 12 capítulos, este libro dibuja a Arturo como un heroico personaje militar de grandes proporciones, pues lo confronta directamente con el Imperio romano. El resultado de esta confrontación es la conquista de Roma por parte de Arturo.

Al comenzar el libro, el emperador Lucius envía a doce embajadores a la corte del rey Arturo, para exigirle sumisión a Roma, tal y como habían hecho sus antecesores en el trono. Los embajadores amenazan con la guerra, en caso de que Arturo rehúse. Una vez a solas con sus Caballeros de la Mesa Redonda, Arturo decide enfrentar militarmente a Roma, y comienza a reunir un ejército para marchar hacia Italia. En su ausencia, dejó a Sir Constantine y a Sir Baudwin a cargo del reino. Arturo desembarcó en Flandes, y sostuvo varias batallas con los romanos en territorio francés. En París, el rey Arturo se enfrentó finalmente con Lucius. El ejército inglés derrotó al romano, que estaba apoyado por un ejército de sarracenos, y después el rey y el emperador se enfrentaron personalmente. En el combate, este último llevó la peor parte, muriendo tras un golpe de la espada Excalibur. Tras vencer a Lucius, Arturo entró en Roma y se hizo coronar emperador por el Papa.

El Libro VI es también conocido como "La noble historia de Sir Launcelot", y relata, en 18 capítulos, las aventuras de Lanzarote del Lago. El caballero salió de la corte un día con el propósito de buscar aventuras, acompañado de Sir Lionel. Después de un tiempo no especificado donde participa en torneos, mata gigantes y auxilia damiselas en desgracia; Sir Lanzarote vuelve a Camelot dos días antes de la fiesta de Pentecostés, y relata sus aventuras. Gracias a esas aventuras, Lanzarote gana renombre como el más grande caballero en el mundo. El Libro VII, conocido como "La historia de Sir Gareth", consta de 35 capítulos. El libro relata las aventuras de un aventurero sin nombre que se presentó a la corte del rey Arturo, donde fue llamado Beaumains por Sir Kay, quien lo empleó como ayudante de cocina en la corte. Después de un año, una damisela acudió a la mesa redonda, pidiendo el auxilio de un caballero. Beaumains fue armado caballero por Sir Lanzarote, y partió con la damisela, quien tardó en tomar en serio al caballero recién armado, por su pasado como ayudante de cocina. Tras diversas aventuras, Beaumains revela su verdadero nombre, Sir Gareth de Orkney, y es admitido como un caballero más de la mesa redonda.

El Libro VIII, podría ser una obra independiente por sí misma. Relata, en 41 capítulos, la historia de Sir Tristán de Liones, desde su nacimiento hasta su matrimonio con La Beale Isoud. Fragmentos de esta historia reaparecen en la ópera Tristán e Isolda, de Richard Wagner, aunque ésta no fue su fuente primaria de inspiración. El hecho de que Tristán ya hubiera aparecido como adulto en los libros II y VII no parece afectar la fluidez de la narración.

La corte del rey Arturo vuelve a ser el escenario principal en el Libro IX, que divide a sus 43 capítulos para narrar las aventuras de Tristán, Sir Palomides y Breunor le Noire, apodado La Cota mal Cortada. La acción del Libro X arranca inmediatamente después de los hechos narrados en el libro predecesor; durante un torneo organizado por Arturo, donde Sir Tristán lucha con un escudo que obtuvo como regalo de Morgana. Con 88 capítulos, el libro X es el más largo de todos, y dedica también parte de sus páginas a Sir Palomides y Sir Lanzarote.

Los Libros XI y XII, ambos de 14 capítulos cada uno, giran alrededor de Sir Lanzarote, y los años que pasó en el castillo del rey Pelles. Durante esos años, Elaine, la hija de Pelles, engaña con magia a Lanzarote, y conciben a Galahad, quien estaba destinado a tener un lugar más prominente en la caballería que el de su padre. Por primera vez, se habla a detalle del Santo Grial (Sangrail), el cual estaba en custodia de Pelles, quien era pariente de José de Arimatea. Pelles permite que Lanzarote vea al Grial y se beneficie de sus poderes curativos. Sin embargo, Lanzarote no puede tocar al Grial, ya que ese honor estaba reservado para un caballero más puro que él. Lanzarote se retira a vivir a la Isla Gozosa cambiándose el nombre por Le Chevaler Mal Fet. Acompañado por Elaine y un séquito de veinte doncellas, Lanzarote permanece en el exilio varios años (toda la infancia de su hijo) hasta que Ginebra lo manda buscar, a través de Sir Perceval y Sir Héctor de Maris.

Libros XIII al XVII, la Demanda del Santo Grial
Estos cinco libros relatan la búsqueda del Santo Grial, propiamente dicha; la cual dura aproximadamente cinco años. Hasta este momento, el Grial ha aparecido en la narración como un objeto misterioso y prácticamente inaccesible, el cual fue visto por Sir Lanzarote brevemente en el pasado. Es hasta el Libro XIII, de 20 capítulos, que la aventura de encontrar el Grial es formalmente emprendida por los caballeros de la mesa redonda. En este libro, Galahad ha cumplido quince años, y es armado caballero por su padre. Ambos se reúnen con la corte del rey Arturo, y Galahad ocupa el asiento peligroso en la mesa redonda.

Cuando Arturo vio que el asiento peligroso había sido ocupado sin que el ocupante muriera, entendió que había llegado el momento de buscar el Santo Grial. El rey convocó entonces a un torneo en Winchester para celebrar el comienzo de la aventura. En las justas que sostuvo en el torneo, Galahad venció a todos los caballeros, con excepción de Perceval y Lanzarote. Tras el torneo, la Demanda del Santo Grial comenzó con los votos que cada caballero hizo de no volver sin haber encontrado al Grial. Galahad obtiene un escudo que perteneció a José de Arimatea, y Lanzarote tiene una visión donde aparece el Grial.

El Libro XIV, de diez capítulos, narra las primeras aventuras de Sir Perceval, tras haber emprendido la Demanda del Grial. En el bosque, Perceval está cerca de caer en el pecado al ser seducido por una aparición del diablo. Sin embargo, su conciencia lo salva de pecar en el último instante. Los seis capítulos del Libro XV, y los 17 del Libro XVI, relatan las aventuras de varios caballeros; entre ellos Lanzarote, Gawain, Bors y Lionel.

El Libro XVII, que consta de 23 capítulos, representa la culminación de la Demanda del Santo Grial. Tras haber seguido diversas aventuras cada uno por separado, los caballeros Perceval, Bors y Galahad se encuentran dentro de un barco que los lleva a la tierra de Logres; y ahí abordan un segundo barco, con la guía de la hermana de Perceval. Una vez a bordo, supieron que la nave había sido construida siglos antes por el rey Salomón, quien dejó la espada de David en su interior, aguardando al último de su linaje. El barco los lleva a tierras no especificadas, donde los tres caballeros, siempre acompañados por la hermana de Perceval, corren varias aventuras en bosques y castillos. La hermana de Perceval muere desangrada en una de tales aventuras, y Galahad reencuentra a su padre Lanzarote. Padre e hijo se separan nuevamente para continuar con la búsqueda del Grial, que se encuentra en Carbonek, castillo del rey Pescador. Lanzarote es el primero en llegar al castillo, y después de ver brevemente al Grial, cae en estado de inanimación durante veinticuatro días, por lo que se lo cree muerto. Al recobrar la conciencia, Lanzarote regresa a Logres, pues antes de perder el conocimiento, una voz le había dicho que no le estaría permitido acercarse más al Grial.

Galahad, Perceval y Bors llegaron a Carbonek cuando Lanzarote ya había partido. En el castillo, los tres caballeros se alimentan del Santo Grial. Galahad sana al rey Tullido, siguiendo las instrucciones de José de Arimatea, quien aparece en forma de visión. Al volver al barco de Salomón, encuentran dentro al Grial nuevamente, y son trasportados hasta la tierra de Sarras. Allí, Galahad fue coronado rey, y ante otra visión, esta vez del hijo de José de Arimatea, Galahad decide entregar su alma, que es recogida por ángeles y llevada al cielo. Tras lamentar la pérdida de su compañero, Perceval deja las armas y se convierte en ermitaño en Sarras, donde muere un año después. Sir Bors regresa entonces a Camelot para relatar la historia, y poner fin a la Demanda del Santo Grial.

Libros XVIII al XXI
Los libros finales de la obra, relatan la caída final del reino. La acción del Libro XVIII comienza casi inmediatamente después del retorno de Sir Bors y Sir Lanzarote, y el regocijo causado en la corte por el hallazgo del Santo Grial y el fin de la aventura. En seguida, Sir Lanzarote cae enamorado nuevamente de la reina Ginebra, esta vez con más fervor que antes. Los 25 capítulos del libro narran las hazañas de Lanzarote, incluyendo el cómo salva a la reina Ginebra de ser ejecutada, acusada de traición y asesinato. En el Libro XIX, Ginebra es capturada por Sir Meliagaunt cuando aquella salió a recoger flores. Meliagaunt sentía amor por la reina desde hacía años, pero nunca se había atrevido a acercarse por temor a Lanzarote, el Caballero de la Carreta. Aunque Ginebra salió escoltada por diez caballeros de la mesa redonda, los caballeros de Meliagaunt los duplicaban en número, así que son capturados junto con Ginebra. Sir Lanzarote es quien llega a rescatar a la reina, matando a Meliagaunt. El Libro XIX consta de trece capítulos.

En los dos libros finales, el reino ha entrado en la espiral de su destrucción. En los 22 capítulos del Libro XX, Sir Agravain, hijo de la hermana de Arturo, Morgawse, y Lot de Orkney, apoyado por Sir Mordred, hijo incestuoso de Morgawse y Arturo, manifiesta su descontento por el adulterio vivido entre la reina y Lanzarote. Agravain habla al respecto con Arturo, y le propone emboscar a Lanzarote para encontrarlo en flagrancia. Así lo hicieron, sorprendiendo a Lanzarote y a la reina en pleno "acto amoroso". Lanzarote se armó para combatir con lo que tenía a disposición, consiguiendo matar a Agravain y a doce caballeros. Sir Mordred consiguió escapar, herido. Al llegar Mordred a Camelot, relató al rey la suerte de Agravain y los demás, y de la traición de Ginebra y Lanzarote. Arturo entonces declaró la guerra en contra de Lanzarote, y llevó a su ejército a asediar el castillo de su enemigo. El Papa intercedió en el conflicto, y Lanzarote partió a Francia acompañado de numerosos caballeros, entre ellos sus primos Sir Bors y Sir Lionel. Arturo fue en su persecución, dejando a Mordred a cargo del reino, con el título de gobernador principal de toda Inglaterra.

Mordred aprovecha la oportunidad para usurpar el trono, y al principio del Libro XXI, hace correr el rumor de que Arturo había muerto en combate. En consecuencia, hizo nombrar a un parlamento nuevo, y se hizo elegir rey. Después, intentó casarse con la reina Ginebra, aunque esta consiguió escapar para refugiarse en la Torre de Londres. Cuando Arturo se enteró de lo que Mordred hacía en su reino, se vio obligado a retirarse de la guerra que sostenía contra Lanzarote. Mordred lo aguardó en Dover para evitar que desembarcara; los ejércitos se enfrascaron en una batalla donde murió Sir Gawain, sobrino de Arturo. Mordred y su ejército huyeron a Canterbury. Mientras Arturo lo buscaba infructuosamente, Mordred reclutó muchos caballeros. Los dos personajes se encontraron en Salisbury, donde tuvo lugar la batalla final entre ambos. La noche anterior a la batalla, Arturo había soñado que Gawain le pedía no luchar con Mordred, pues ello le traería su propia muerte. En ese sueño, Gawain le aseguró que Mordred sería derrotado por Lanzarote en un mes, y Arturo recobraría su reino. Arturo pactó entonces una tregua con Mordred, y se reunió para debatir con él. Desafortunadamente, uno de los caballeros que atestiguaban la reunión, desenvainó su espada para matar una víbora. Las huestes de ambos lados pensaron que esa era una señal para el comienzo de la lucha, y se lanzaron a la carga, desencadenando la batalla no deseada por el rey. En el combate final del rey Arturo, éste atraviesa el cuerpo de Mordred con su lanza. Mordred, agonizante, avanza sobre la lanza y consigue asestar un golpe mortal al rey. Con la ayuda del caballero Sir Bedevere, el moribundo rey Arturo envía la espada Excalibur al fondo de un lago, donde la mano de la Dama del Lago surge del agua y recibe la espada. En seguida, Bedevere sube al rey a la barca en la que va Morgana, ahora arrepentida de todo lo malo que hizo por el rey, que lo transportará a la isla de Avalón, donde intentarán sanar su herida. Más tarde, Sir Bedevere encuentra una tumba sin nombre cerca de Glastonbury, y sospecha que quien allí está enterrado es el rey Arturo.

El libro termina relatando el destino de Ginebra, quien antes de morir, se retira a un convento; y el de Lanzarote, quien retorna a Inglaterra para enterarse de lo sucedido, y se convierte en ermitaño. El Libro XXI está dividido en trece capítulos.

Los personajes
En la tabla siguiente se listan algunos de los personajes principales de La muerte de Arturo, así como los nombres equivalentes que han sido utilizados en diversas obras artúricas.

Solamente se listan aquellos de gran relevancia, o aquellos cuyos nombres pueden dar lugar a confusiones.

Algunas obras literarias inspiradas en La muerte de Arturo
 Steinbeck, John. The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights: From the Winchester Manuscripts of Thomas Malory & Other Sources. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1993. ISBN 0-374-52378-9
 White, Terence Hanbury The Once and Future King. Ace, 1994. ISBN 0-441-62740-4.
Traducciones al español
 Steinbeck, John. Los hechos del rey Arturo y sus nobles caballeros. Editorial Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 1999. ISBN 950-07-1601-1
 White, Terence Hanbury. Camelot: la leyenda del rey Arturo. Debate, Madrid, 1989. ISBN 84-7444-354-7

Bibliografía
En español
 Alvar, Carlos. Breve diccionario artúrico. Colección el Libro de Bolsillo BT-8703. Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1997. ISBN 84-206-3636-3
 Anónimo. Demanda del Santo Graal. Editora Nacional, Madrid, 1982. Traducción y edición de Carlos Alvar. ISBN 84-276-0513-3.Primera traducción moderna al español de Queste del Saint Graal, cuarto volumen de La Vulgata.
 Malory, Sir Thomas. La muerte de Arturo. Basada en la edición de William Caxton. Traducción de F. Torres Oliver, prólogo de C. García Gual; traducido a partir de la edición inglesa preparada por Janet Cowen. Ediciones Siruela. Biblioteca medieval, 2 vol., Madrid, 1999. ISBN 84-7844-485-8.
 Disponible en Wordpress

En inglés
 A companion to Malory (Arthurian studies). Archibald, E., Edwards, A. S. G. (eds.). D. S. Brewer, Ed., Londres, 2000. ISBN 0-85991-520-4.
 Svogun, Margaret. Reading romance: literacy, psychology and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Peter Lang Pub. Inc., 2000. ISBN 0-8204-4522-3
 Vinaver, E. Malory. Oxford University Press, Inglaterra, 1929. ISBN 0-19-811583-0.

Reproducción de la edición de William Caxton, en inglés medio
 Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte D'Arthur. Edición preparada por Janet Cowen. Penguin Classics, 2 vol. Londres, 1986. ISBN 0-14-043043-1.

Manuscrito de Winchester, ediciones en inglés medio
 The works of Sir Thomas Malory. Ed. preparada por Eugène Vinaver, 3 vol. Clarendon press, Oxford, Inglaterra, 1947.
 Works (Of) Malory. Ed. preparada por Eugène Vinaver, 2.ª ed. 1 vol. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1971. ISBN 0-19-254163-3

Notas

Enlaces externos

 Texto de Le Morte Darthur, en Project Gutenberg. Texto adaptado en 1998 al inglés moderno
 Enlace con reproducción del libro original de Caxton, conservado en la Pierpont Morgan Library, Nueva York
 Enlace con la biblioteca John Rylands, de la Universidad de Mánchester
 Texto inglés con ortografía modernizada, en Wikisource.
 Bajar texto en español
Adaptaciones cinematográficas de La muerte de Arturo

Libros de 1485
Obras literarias de la materia de Bretaña en inglés medio
Obras literarias adaptadas al cine
Inglaterra en el siglo XV
Literatura carcelaria


Academic Challenge is a competition much like the game show Jeopardy, but competition occurs in a team format rather than individually. Academic Challenge is open to all students (Grades 9-12) from all ability levels. Please feel free to see Mr. Bach for more information about joining the team.


text:
All Songs » Kaiser Chiefs Tabs
The Kaiser Chiefs are an English Indie/Pop band from Leeds, formed early in 1997 under the moniker Parva. After reinventing themselves as the Kaiser Chiefs in 2003 the band made a strong impact on the British music scene, culminating in winning three Brit Awards for 'Best Group', 'Best British Rock Act' and 'Best Live Act' in 2006
Prior to 2003 the members of the band had been a garage rock group called Parva (before that having been known as Runston Parva). However, after being dropped by their label, the band went back to their roots and adopted a more britpop sound, helping the band reach their current popularity within the UK and beyond. Ricky Wilson's first band was actually called the LadderCoins, which he formed as a funk band at the age of 16.
Several members of the band are ardent fans of the English football team Leeds United. The band was named after the South African Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, the former team of long-serving former Leeds captain Lucas Radebe.
On 18 February 2005 the Kaiser Chiefs were the opening act at the NME Awards show and won the Philip Hall Radar Award.
The band re-released the single 'Oh My God' on 21 February, which charted at #6. The debut album Employment was released on 7 March 2005 and entered the charts at #3 that week. Despite becoming favourite after being shortlisted, the album failed to win the 2005 Mercury Music Prize.
A DVD release, entitled Enjoyment, was released in November 2005. The basis of the DVD is a ...
I Predict A Riot
By Kaiser Chiefs

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Welcome to the Winter edition of Commercial eSpeaking. In this issue we highlight some key points in the government's May Budget which will affect all New Zealanders, as well as articles that will be useful to you in your day-to-day business dealings.
To talk further with us on any of the topics in this e-newsletter, or on any other legal matter, please be in touch. Our contact details are above.
There are few surprises in the government's 2018 Budget presented on 17 May, the first from Minister of Finance, the Hon Grant Robertson.
Treasury has forecasted economic growth of about 3% per year on average to June 2022, with our economy projected to grow at a rate faster than that expected for New Zealand's major trading partners.
The Minister has played safe with cautious spending in key sectors, buoyed by its inheritance from the previous government of a strong fiscal position.
Operating from a healthy economy, the government has focussed its spending in the health, education and housing sectors.
Significantly more funding for the district health boards to help rebuild ageing hospital and health infrastructure. There is particular emphasis on core services such as maternity services, disability support, air ambulances and bowel cancer screening.
Free GP visits will be extended from those under 13 years old, to cover those under 14 years. This will be available from December.
Community Service Card holders will get cheaper visits to their GP.
Eligibility is to be extended for the Community Services Card to include anyone living in state housing, receiving the accommodation supplement or income-related rent subsidy.
There is new funding of $395 million over the next three years for new schools and hundreds of additional classrooms. Christchurch gets a considerable chunk of this with $62 million being allocated to the rebuilding of its schools.
The Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) and other learning support initiatives for students who have very high and/or complex learning needs are to receive a funding boost.
Early childhood education gets more funding to meet the increasing demand of New Zealand's growing population.
The government has indicated a significant investment in public housing.
More than 6,000 state houses will be built over the next four years.
Funding will be provided to implement the Healthy Homes Guarantee Act 2017 that will regulate healthy home standards such as heating, ventilation, draught stopping, drainage and moisture.
A new four-year programme has been established, to be known as Warmer Kiwi Homes, to help make the homes of lower-income New Zealanders warmer and drier. The first year of the programme will focus on ceiling and underfloor insulation. From 1 July these lower-income home owners can access grants to cover up to two-thirds of installation costs. The second year grants will cover the installation of a heating device.
The business sector will benefit from $1 billion that will be available over the next four years for tax rebates from the R&D tax credit (12.5 cents/dollar which was announced in April). This will be available from 1 April 2019.
The Budget holds few tax initiatives. Rather, the government is relying on the anticipated findings of the Tax Working Group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen which is reviewing the current tax regime. It's expected the Group's recommendations will be available by the end of this year, with any new major tax policies being part of the government's 2020 election manifesto.
Already signalled by the government is the so-called 'Amazon tax' where overseas businesses that ship goods valued at less than $400 to Kiwis will need to pay GST.
For property investors, the government has already indicated it will ring fence investors' tax losses on rental properties; this is expected to net significant tax revenue. Earlier this year, the government announced the extension to the bright-line text, see more on that on page 4.
The Minster for Revenue, the Hon Stuart Nash, says that the government is committed to a tax system that is simple, balanced and fair.
To read the Minister's presentation of the Budget to the House, go here.
We acknowledge the source of some of this material from The Treasury's Budget-at-a-Glance document.
Compensation awards for employees who have suffered emotional harm in the workplace have traditionally been low, which has been favourable for employers facing claims by employees.
Recently, however, compensation amounts have increased and are achieving greater consistency for employees. Employers now, more than ever, need to treat their employees properly to ensure they do not face significant compensation awards for personal grievance claims.
The Employment Relations Act 2000 allows the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) or the Employment Court to award compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings, where an employee has a personal grievance. This is almost always claimed by employees who say they have been unjustifiably dismissed or otherwise disadvantaged in their employment.
The power to compensate an employee for this type of emotional harm exists alongside that to compensate them for lost wages and benefits resulting from their dismissal. Emotional harm has always been difficult to measure as it is subjective and it relates to the employee's feelings.
Most awards over the past 25 years have been for under $10,000. Although a few higher awards have been made (such as $35,000, $40,000 and $50,000), these were rare and generally involved well-resourced public sector and large corporate employers.
There is now, however, a change in the air. In a 2015 case, the Employment Court said that although there needed to be consistency across awards, there was danger in keeping them at an artificially low level. In 2016, the court said that while awards should not be over-generous, they should nevertheless be fair, realistic and not miserly.
Band 3 – high level loss/damage.
This case involved a nurse, whose conditions of work had changed without proper consultation, and she was required to spend up to 30% of her time travelling. When the nurse refused to accept the new requirements she was made redundant. The court awarded her $20,000, saying that her level of harm fell within the middle of Band 2.
The court did not specify the amounts that would apply for each band. In one subsequent case, however, the ERA interpreted the decision as theoretically justifying awards of between $1 to $13,333 for Band 1, $13,334 to $26,666 for Band 2, and $26,667 to $40,000 for Band 3.
A taxi driver who had her hours changed from a day shift to a late shift without proper consultation and without her consent. She was awarded $15,000.
An employee who was constructively dismissed from her job as a head chef was assessed as being entitled to an award of $20,000. This award was reduced to $8,000, however, because of contributing behaviour on her part.
A cleaner who was unjustifiably dismissed was awarded $15,000.
A sales consultant who was unjustifiably dismissed was awarded $20,000, even though she had only been employed for six weeks. Her employer had also posted adverse comments about her online following the dismissal; this had continued and escalated the harm.
A store manager who was constructively dismissed from her job was assessed as being entitled to an award of $25,000. However, as she had only claimed $10,000, the award was limited to that amount.
An employee who worked for a funeral business was unjustifiably dismissed by her employer who used a 90-day trial period clause in her employment agreement (which was held to be invalid). She was awarded $15,000.
Emotional harm awards of about $20,000 may become the new normal. It's also worth noting that over and above the compensation award given, an employer may face possible penalties and legal costs, as well as additional awards for lost wages and benefits for unjustified dismissal cases. Only time will tell if this will increase the number of employment claims.
We recommend that all employers should ensure their actions and processes with their employees pass muster. If you're in any doubt, don't hesitate to contact us – it's better to be safe than sorry.
Is your business infringing existing intellectual property rights? Do your homework.
A trade mark can be a valuable asset which can help your business to develop a reputation in the market and distinguish your goods and/or services from others. It's risky, however, to not consider existing third party intellectual property rights before you start to trade.
There would be nothing worse than finding the perfect location, deciding on a business name and launching into trading, only to receive a letter six months later to say that your business is infringing existing third party intellectual property rights, and that you must stop using it immediately. In most situations the only way forward is to re-brand and potentially lose your existing goodwill and customer recognition.
To avoid the cost, delay and potential market confusion that this situation could cause, we recommend that you complete a 'freedom to operate' search before you open for business. This will involve searching for existing registered and unregistered intellectual property rights. Registered intellectual property, such as trade marks, can be searched on the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) website registers here. Existing unregistered intellectual property rights can be identified using Google or any other search engine.
If your intended name, logo or slogan is not already a registered mark, or not already used in trade by another business, you can apply for registration under the Trade Marks Act 2002. Registration of the trade mark will protect your ownership right in that mark and give you exclusive rights to use and manage the mark in New Zealand.
Medical grounds for terminating employment – what is the process?
When your employee becomes ill, or has an injury, with long-term effects, it takes not only a toll on them of course, but also on you as their employer as there is sometimes quite a disruption to your business.
How long must you wait for your employee to return to work? Answering this question is not straightforward. Every situation will have its own unique circumstances that will influence timeframes around your staff member returning to work.
If your staff member is unlikely to return within what you consider to be a reasonable time, or is taking long periods of leave for similar reasons, you may be considering terminating their employment. Before making this decision, it's essential that you undertake a fair and reasonable enquiry – both from a legal standpoint and also to simply be a fair and reasonable employer.
Providing an opportunity for your employee to respond.
Once you have the above information, you should liaise with your employee to establish whether they can return to work full-time or on reduced, light or alternative duties. If, after hearing their response, you believe there is no suitable alternative to termination, you need to provide appropriate termination notice to them.
Your employment agreements should address the entire process from the first sick day to the notice of termination. If they don't, or if you are unsure, we recommend you talk with us before making any move to talk with your employee.
You are probably now well aware that the bright-line test has been extended to five years.
If you own a residential rental property or a holiday home, changes to the bright-line test may mean you have to pay more tax. The current law came into effect 1 October 2015 and states that if any residential rental property, or a holiday home, is sold within two years of being purchased, you have to pay tax on any profit from the sale. This timeframe has now been extended to residential rental property sold within five years for property purchased on or after 29 March 2018. There's more detail on how this will work here.
Former residential property purchased for the purposes of running a business may be exempt from the bright-line test if it's no longer considered to be residential property. If, however, you buy residential property and then convert it into your business premises within the bright-line test period, it may be deemed a sale from you to your business and subject to this tax on that basis.
The bright-line rules are complex and strictly enforced by Inland Revenue. If you're in any doubt about what to do, please contact us.


The Central Bank of Barbados is reminding Barbadians that the two percent (2%) fee on foreign purchases and payments made using credit, debit and travel cards goes into effect from Friday, September 1, 2017.
The Foreign Exchange Fee (FXF) is applicable to purchases made while overseas, as well as to items purchased from companies outside of Barbados, e.g. Amazon.
However, if transactions are cancelled, the fee is refundable.
The Bank explained that the fee will be calculated on the Barbados value of the transaction using the exchange rate on the date that the transaction was processed, not on the date that the bill is paid and will be applied even if customers choose to be billed in Barbados dollars. This is because whether the transaction charge is executed in Barbadian or foreign currency, it is ultimately settled using foreign currency.
The FXF, which Finance Minister (sic), Christopher Sinckler, announced during the 2017 Financial Statement and Budgetary Proposals has been in effect on cash, bank drafts and wire transfers since mid-July. The Foreign Exchange Fee does not affect one's annual foreign currency allowance.
For more information about the Foreign Exchange Fee, please click here.


text:
Connecticut Health Investigative Team (https://c-hit.org/2020/03/24/pandemic-brings-new-set-of-challenges-for-home-health-aides-and-clients/)
Pandemic Brings New Set Of Challenges For Home Health Aides And Clients
By Cara Rosner | March 24, 2020
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Social distancing is one way to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but for health care workers who provide care in people's homes, especially for the elderly, that type of care brings heightened risks, experts say.
Home health workers assist clients with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, toileting, walking and transferring out of bed; all things that require them to be extremely close to those they serve. In many cases, they also shop for groceries and pick up prescriptions and other necessities.
It's a challenging time, but home health workers are committed to delivering quality care, said Pedro Zayas, spokesman for the SEIU Healthcare 1199 NE, which represents more than 5,000 independent personal care attendants.
"Our providers are people who went into this field because they like caring for others," he said, adding that caregivers are diligent about self-monitoring for fever and other symptoms.
Cases of the highly contagious coronavirus continue to spike in Connecticut and nationally, with elderly people being particularly susceptible. To prevent the spread of the virus, health care experts recommend that people practice social distancing, staying 6 feet apart.
Dr. Mary Tinetti, chief of geriatrics at the Yale School of Medicine, said seniors using home health care should consider whether they can temporarily go without some services.
"There's no question prevention is all about social distancing and washing. Both those things are a little difficult when you have home health aides coming in. This might be a time to look into what direct care is needed. For instance, people may not need to bathe every day. That's going to be very direct contact. Maybe they can go down to a couple of times a week."
— Dr. Mary Tinetti
Lynette Dockery of Meriden, a home health aide who works six days a week, is diligent about washing her hands, wearing gloves and masks, and using hand sanitizer. She says, however, supplies are getting low.
"We don't have supplies. I have a few masks. We're asking the state for more supplies," said Dockery, a home health aide for nearly 20 years. "I don't know what else we can do. It's a really hard situation right now. It's getting worse and worse every day."
She worries about getting her client sick or becoming sick herself, as social distancing is impossible in her work. One of her clients is on dialysis and has a stent in her chest.
"We can't stay 6 feet away from our consumers," she said. "I have to bathe her. I have to do all her personal care. I make her dinner, get her dressed."
Nationwide, there were about 12,200 home health agencies, employing the equivalent of 145,000 full-time workers in 2016, the most recent year for which data is available. In addition to daily care, about 96% provided some therapeutic services, while 83% provided social work services, according to a 2019 study by the National Center for Health Statistics.
An increasing number of Connecticut residents receiving Medicaid rely on in-home care, according to a 2019 Department of Social Services study that projected 82% of long-term care enrollees will use home care by 2040, up from 68% in 2017.
Linda Grigerek, president of Companions & Homemakers, which has 11 Connecticut locations, said, "Our caregivers have really stepped up. Caregivers are self-reporting any potential exposure to the virus and other illnesses, and self-quarantining to protect clients," she said. Some who provide live-in care have sacrificed previously planned time off to instead stay with clients.
Grigerek's agency has directed all caregivers to adhere to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines during the pandemic.
Nonessential Care Sidelined
Home health care workers have already started to see decreased demand for their services as worried seniors forego services.
"A lot of our clients who receive nonessential care, most of those people are just canceling," Grigerek said, predicting business likely will dwindle to only serving clients who need essential services. "Those are the people that we're worried about."
As elderly clients scale back on services, home health workers, who make minimum wage or close to it, could have trouble making ends meet, Zayas said.
"These workers don't have sick leave. If you don't show up, you don't get paid. And if you get sick, you don't have sick pay." As income dries up, more aides could struggle to pay for hand sanitizer, masks and other supplies. "Inventory is not even available. Those are huge concerns."
— Pedro Zayas
About 80% of home health aides are women, Zayas said. Some are single parents who are trying to balance work with caring for their out-of-school children and now face the possibility of reduced or no income.
Dockery, who lives with her 20-year-old son, is the sole breadwinner in her home.
Tinetti said seniors who have aides in their homes should remind them to wash their hands before and after each encounter and to disinfect surfaces repeatedly.
"We all need reminders to do it," she said. "Older adults should feel empowered to remind them."
Seniors also can ask care workers for suggestions to creatively engage with them from a safe distance, Tinetti said. For example, taking a walk outside, singing or dancing. Also, those who receive care from multiple aides can ask if just one aide can serve them for now.
"If it's scary for us [aides], I can only imagine what it's like for them," Dockery said of seniors receiving in-home care. "When you're in a home setting, they depend on you to lift their spirits and take care of them."
Dockery said her job is "God's work."
"If I don't go [to work], how's she going to get to dialysis?" she said. "That's life-saving; that has to get done."
For Older Hypertension Patients, An Unwelcome Tradeoff
Seniors who take blood pressure medications have a greater risk of falling and suffering hip fractures and other injuries, a new Yale School of Medicine study shows. Though the drugs help to lower the risk of strokes and heart attacks, the reduction in risk may be offset by an increased risk of serious injuries from falls, said Dr. Mary Tinetti, chief of geriatrics at Yale School of Medicine and an author of the new study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
2 thoughts on "Pandemic Brings New Set Of Challenges For Home Health Aides And Clients"
Franklin White on July 21, 2020 at 4:58 pm said:
I am glad that home health care workers are so determined to provide their clients with quality care. I imagine that right now during the COVID-19 pandemic it will be a little difficult to do. However, I know people still need that home health care service so hopefully, they can still get it despite social distancing.
Eleanor Gaccetta on November 25, 2020 at 8:06 pm said:
Hi Cara, I completely agree with what you have written. I hope this post could reach more people as this was truly an interesting post. Please see my blog,Pandemic Caregiving for Elder Family Members Hope this will also help. Thank you!


This summer I had the pleasure of traveling abroad to Oxford, UK with SJC by accident. I had signed up for a history class at the last minute without knowing it involved traveling abroad. It wasn't until a couple of days before class had started that I found out I was not only going to learn about the city of Oxford, but I would soon be walking along its streets.
While in Oxford were able to visit famous museums such as The Ashmolean, The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, The Pitt Rivers, The History of Science Museum and my personal favorite: The Salisbury Museum.
It was fascinating being able to absorb the development of different cultures and to experience major historical objects with our own eyes. However, taking advantage of Oxford's museums was only a small part of our trip. We also had the experience of walking along the same streets that inspired writers such as J.K. Rowling, C.S. Lewis, J. R.R. Tolkien, T.S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll and numerous other authors. Our two-week adventure also included day trips to London as well as a visit to the historical phenomenon at Stone Hedge.
What I enjoyed most about this trip was how flexible it was. We had the advantage of having classes in the morning and then free time to explore for the rest of the day. We were able to create our own agendas, which made this trip feel more like an educational journey.
Traveling has always been a main part of my life, and I believe that it is fundamental in personal growth. However, out of all the places I've seen, I don't believe I have grown anywhere as much as I have grown while in Oxford, UK. The environment within the city is so inspiring. It's no wonder so many influential people have come out of this city.
My visit to Oxford has helped me develop a deeper hunger for learning. It has aided my ability to develop more profound ways of thinking and I hope to apply my knew skills into a successful future. I am grateful to have been able to share this life changing experience with such a wonderful group of people!
Why the Study Abroad Program?
I was all wrong about England. I had spent the first half the summer backpacking through Eastern Europe before I landed in Heathrow International for my last two weeks of my summer travels. I must admit as I flew into London from Prague, I anticipated these last two weeks to be a bit dull in comparison. I had worried since it was a school-led function the class might not have much time to mingle and explore on our own. In addition, with the bulk of my travels being behind me in what I viewed as much more exotic countries, England would have a hard time measuring up to the hype of what I had just experienced on the main land- I couldn't have been more wrong.
For so many reasons England shattered my expectations. I can easily say my two weeks spent at Oxford wound up being among the most interesting and rewarding weeks of my trip.
While traveling on my own the first month of the summer it took a tremendous amount of work for me to orchestrate tours, transportation and lodging. My travel buddy and I were frequently getting lost and while it was an incredible adventure, it's hard to plan a trip to a country where you have never been before. What a breath of fresh air it was to have two professors [Wendy Turgeon, Ph.D. and James Blakeley, Ph.D.] who were so well versed in the area able and willing to do all of the booking.
From the sights they selected for our daily itinerary, to the hotels we would stay at when venturing off campus, the trip was masterfully planned. The level of relaxation that accompanies this release from responsibility was for me one of the highlights of my Oxford experience. It allowed me so much more time to simply take in the beautiful surroundings and enjoy myself.
Photos by Wendy Turgeon, Ph.D.
The group fell together almost immediately, as if we had been old friends all along. Even Dr. Blakeley and Dr. Turgeon would accompany the crew out to dinner on occasion.
In addition, before my time in Oxford I didn't know a single person in the class. Being that we had gone an entire semester of weekly meetings leading up to the trip itself without much bonding, as is any class at a commuter school like St. Joe's, I didn't exactly have a high expectations of everybody hanging out when we would all arrive together. I was wrong again. The group fell together almost immediately, as if we had been old friends all along. Even Dr. Blakeley and Dr. Turgeon would accompany the crew out to dinner on occasion. I don't think there was a single student who had ever felt they were traveling alone on that trip.
Many days after lunch the class had the whole rest of the day to strike out on our own to explore the beautiful and ancient town. Whether we were climbing the great church spires or bouncing about from pub to pub, it was both a great learning and bonding experience for all. Several weeks have gone by now and many of us still talk almost daily.
If you want a stress-free trip to a new country, guided by an exceptional faculty, or if you would simply like to get to know your fellow St. Joe's students better in an exciting and historic setting, then the study abroad program is most definitely for you.
Interested in studying abroad at St. Joseph's College? Check out our Office of Global Studies and set a course for international learning!
For more reactions from this summer's Oxford Experience, check out the blogs of students Amanda Marie and Taisha Brutus, and SJC faculty member Wendy Turgeon, Ph.D.
"The Oxford Experience 2016- the Liberal Arts live" • Blog of Wendy Turgeon, Ph.D.


Jasper County NEEDS VOLUNTEERS to do lookups. If you own or have access to any Jasper County reference books (such as census, cemetery, marriage, obituaries, newspaper abstracts, etc.) and would be willing to do lookups for other Jasper County researchers, then please contact me.
"[email protected]" (without the quotes) that contains only the word "subscribe" in both the subject line and in the body of the message (without the quotes).
After sending your subscription request to the list you will receive a message with the subject of "Complete your Subscription to IL-JasperCo-Roots-L" letting you know that we received a request to subscribe your email address to the mailing list and asking you to click on a link that will lead you to the confirmation page. The confirmation page has two options, "Cancel my subscription request" and "Subscribe to list IL-JasperCo-Roots-L". On this page you also have the choice of selecting whether you would like to receive digests.
Jasper County was formed in 1831 from Clay and Crawford counties and approved on December 19, 1834. It was named after American Revolutionary War hero Sergeant William Jasper from South Carolina. In 1776 (in the defense of Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina) when the staff of the American flag was shot away, Sgt. Jasper erected a temporary staff, and waved the flag at the British until a new staff could be erected. He later was killled at Savannah in 1779. He also saved American prisoners of war from certain death at the hands of British soldiers.
At the time Jasper County was formed, it was primarily an agricultural community, and it remains so today. As of January, 1996 there were 772 farms (average farm size is 334 acres). Crops are primarily corn, soybeans, and wheat. Other agricultural pursuits include beef cows, dairy cows and hogs/pigs. Jasper County has an area of approximately 508 square miles, and its shape is almost square.
The average yearly temperature is 53 degrees; the warmest month is July; the coldest month is January. Jasper County receives approximately 42" of rain per year and about 15" of snow each winter. As of the 1990 census, the Jasper County population was 10,561.
Newton is the largest and oldest town in Jasper County. Because it was located in the center of the county, it was named the county seat in 1835. It was named after Sergeant Newton, who was also a defender of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. As of the 1990 census, the population of Newton was 3,141. Other towns in Jasper County are Advance, Bogota, Boos, Brookville, Falmouth, Gila, Hidalgo, Hunt City, Island Grove, Latona, Lis, Plainfield, Point Pleasant, Rafetown**, Rose Hill, Ste. Marie, Shamrock, West Liberty, Wheeler, Willow Hill and Yale. (If you know of any that I've missed, please let me know so that I can add them).
** Rafetown was originally known as Embarrasville. It was then renamed for Dr. Jacob Raef. Somehow in the 1960's, the spelling became "Rafetown". On June 25, 2009, the US Board on Geographic Names officially approved the changing/spelling of the name to RAEFTOWN.
If you know of anything that is genealogy-related that you would like included here, please contact me. This means genealogy workshops, genealogy seminars, family reunions, school reunions, family anniversaries (particularly 25th and 50th anniversaries), church picnics, genealogy software classses, (anything related to genealogy), genealogy society meetings, genealogy software user group meetings, historical tours, etc.
Submit Queries -- In addition to submitting a query here, you may find it helpful to post your query to the Jasper County Mailing List (see instructions above). Subscribers to this mailing list will receive your posting minutes after you hit "send". This may give you a faster response. Your query will be posted to the GenWeb page when I do the next update. You will note that the queries are dated from January 2007 to present (when I resumed administering this county). Older queries were not able to be edited for change of email address, etc. If you had a query dated prior to January 2007, please resubmit your query with current information so that I can post it.
Submit Surnames -- If I am notified that an email address associated with a surname is no longer a valid address, I will remove the entire surname entry. If you find that this has happened, you must resubmit your surname with a current email address.
Reference & Lookup Volunteers Information about the Jasper County Clerk's office is included in this section.
Facts - Findings An Alphabetical List of Cemeteries (including nearest town and the township); Tips and Hints to Make Your Research Easier; Meanings of Old Tombstone Carvings; Importance of Military Records, etc.) This section includes the new list of Civil War veterans (both North and South) that are buried in Jasper County.


This, from a government highlighting all OH&S violations weekly? This, from a government from which the lone and most important news release Tuesday was about a Saskatoon moose-poaching case?
After the Toronto Star-led investigation Monday, there was no public news release or ministerial press conference.
The pompous Saskatchewan Minister of Bad Ideas, serving under the skillfully bad leadership of Premier Brad Wall, has asked people who've lost bus service, to just stop hitchhiking, because he doesn't like to see it.
"People have always hitchhiked, and we don't like to see that and hopefully they'll stop doing that," said Hargrave.
Next he may suggest, if it wouldn't be a bother, could they crawl into a hole and die somewhere out of sight too?


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Furthermore, they break their services down into subcategories, so a client can get help with what they specifically need. For example, let's say you didn't need someone to write your whole thesis, but you did need assistance with dissertation abstract or dissertation methodology. PaperHelp can write just these sections for you, and you will be charged only for what they write.
Another unique aspect of PaperHelp.org is that they offer special discounts to clients from the United States. For example, when you place an order with them for the first time, they automatically upgrade you to VIP customer service at no additional charge. Additional discounts are offered to clients who make bulk purchases.
If you are looking for the best college paper writing service in town, then Essaypedia.com may offer the answer you seek. The ordering process is simple and straightforward. Payments are processed through a secure third party provider, and clients are able to communicate with the writer of their paper via the site's instant messaging system.
What makes Essaypedia.com one of the top writing services online is their focus on customer satisfaction. After you have received the first draft of your paper from a writer, you have the option of requesting up to three revisions of your paper – absolutely free, we wrote about it in our Essaypedia.com review. Revision requests may even be made after you have approved the final draft of the paper. After the text has been approved, you have up to 14 days to request that additional edits or revisions be made. This level of customer service is almost unheard of, and it is just one of many examples of how Essaypedia.com goes above and beyond the standard.
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PaperDueNow.com stands head and shoulders above their competition for their prices. Currently, their prices begin at only $9.97 a page, which is considerably cheaper than other best online writing services. To make the price of your paper even more affordable, discounts are offered to clients.
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text:
Top 5 City Convertibles
The dashing chaps at the Classic Car Club discuss the best convertible cars for whizzing around town during a perfect British summer's afternoon... With summer just around the corner our thoughts turn to al fresco motoring. There is nothing that us Brits love more than jumping in the car, dropping the roof and going for a drive. All we need is for the temperature to be slightly above freezing and for the rain to stop for five minutes and we're away. Even though the sun hasn't quite got its act together yet, it got us thinking about the best convertibles you can lay your hands on. Here is our pick of the best cars to hit the city streets in this summer.
© photobeppus
1. Alfa Romeo Spider
When Steve McQueen reviewed the Alfa Spider for Sports Illustrated in 1966 he felt it was underpowered. What won him over was the handling and the style. He could picture himself driving it through the narrow, city streets of Italy. The Spider was and is a car that takes you to another place and if it's good enough for McQueen, it's good enough for us.
© Charles01
2. The Peugeot 504
When it was launched the 504 convertible was within the reach of the average man or woman. And yet it was the kind of car you could imagine picking up Jean Seberg in. Ready to make you look more French than Alain Delon humming the La Marseillaise while smoking a packet of Gitanes.
© PA
3. Lotus Elan M100
A wedgy classic from the boys at Lotus. It is quick, reliable and handles as well as anything they ever built. It is an under-rated motor which means you can pick these up for under £10k. The perfect impulse buy for the summer.
© Karya Sendiri
4. The Mazda MX-5
The MX-5 may not be the fastest car on the road, but what it lacks in grunt it makes up for in charm. A modern day Lotus Elan if you will. Only it will be easier to live with day-in, day-out. This is summer on four wheels.
© Nigel Case
5. The Austin Healey Frogeye Sprite
For our money the Frogeye Sprite offers just about the most fun you can have in the city with your clothes on. An open topped sportster that doesn't hit 60mph until around the twenty second mark and tops out at just over 80mph. This is a car for meandering through the city in the sunshine. A total joy. Visit The Classic Car Club for plenty more driving advice and vintage vehicle hiring enquiries... Even though you may not be darting down the motorway, inviting the wind to toy with your hair - be sure to keep your summer hairstyle looking as stylish as the vehicle you're driving with the following essentials...


text:
Cambridge City restaurant employee worked while sick with hepatitis A
Wayne County health officials did not state how many people are believed to have dined at the restaurant during that span.
Cambridge City restaurant employee worked while sick with hepatitis A Wayne County health officials did not state how many people are believed to have dined at the restaurant during that span. Check out this story on pal-item.com: https://pinews.co/2wuqfWs
Mickey Shuey, Richmond Palladium-Item Published 5:54 p.m. ET Aug. 31, 2018 | Updated 2:54 p.m. ET Sept. 1, 2018
Vials of a hepatitis A vaccine sit on a table inside the Wayne County Health Dept.'s multipurpose room before they are administered during a clinic on Thursday, July 19, 2018.(Photo: Mickey Shuey/Palladium-Item, )Buy Photo
CAMBRIDGE CITY, Ind. – A worker at a local restaurant handled food while infected with hepatitis A, local health officials said Friday.
An employee at No. 9 Grill, 27 W. Main St., Cambridge City, was diagnosed with hepatitis A after working while ill from Aug. 17 to 21, the Wayne County Health Dept. said in a news release Friday.
County health officials did not state how many people are believed to have dined at the restaurant during that span.
While noting it is rare for those who consume food prepared by an infected individual to contract the virus, the health department advised those who did eat at No. 9 Grill on those dates to be vaccinated by Tuesday, Sept. 4 to prevent potential illness.
In addition to receiving a vaccine, those who consumed food made at the restaurant between the provided dates are being advised by the department to do the following:
Monitor for up to 50 days their health, checking for symptoms of hepatitis A;
Wash their hands with soap and warm water frequently and thoroughly — including under the fingernails — especially after using the bathroom and before preparing food;
and stay at home and contact their primary care provider immediately if symptoms of hepatitis A infection develop.
Due to a tight window in which infected individuals are still able to be effectively vaccinated, the Wayne County Health Dept. is not expected to offer a clinic with free vaccinations. Inoculations are generally supposed to be administered within two weeks of an individual being exposed.
The department offered such a clinic in the case of a mid-July hepatitis A incident at Casey's General Store in Centerville; it did so because it had more time to obtain enough vaccines quickly enough from the Indiana State Dept. of Health to offer such a program.
The shots are generally available at local pharmacies with a vaccinating pharmacist, walk-in clinics and primary care doctors offices. Hepatitis A vaccines are generally covered, in whole or in part, by major medical insurers, as well as Medicare and Medicaid programs, according to local health officials.
Neither the county health department nor the restaurant are expected to be made financially responsible for the cost of vaccinations, based on previous situations involving other restaurants locally and around the state.
The Wayne County Health Dept. is working with No. 9 Grill to keep any new reports of hepatitis A from arising as a result of the case. Restaurant management told the department the employee did not work after notifying the business they were infected, according to the release.
In a statement posted on the restaurant's Facebook page late Saturday morning, the business acknowledged the situation and said it excused the employee from work as soon as symptoms started to show. It also stated the hepatitis A case was an "isolated incident."
"We are aware of the Wayne County Health Department's article stating a No. 9 Grill employee tested positive for Hepatitis A. We take food handling and health regulations very seriously and let our track record of nearly 6 years attest to that. The identified employee was held out and excused from work as soon as symptoms began. As the report states, it is very rare for a person who consumes food prepared by an infected individual to contract the virus.
We hold ourselves and our employees to high standards. We feel this is an isolated incident and all measures are being taken to protect both our employee and patron's health. We take pride in being one of the cleanest and safest places to eat in Wayne County. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding the report please feel free to contact the Wayne County Health Department or your personal physician. We thank you for your patronage and look forward to serving the Wayne County and surrounding areas for years to come."
Tyler Fortman, one of the grill's owners, declined to offer any additional comment when reached Saturday by the Palladium-Item.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
►Aug. 24:Wayne County among national leaders for hepatitis A
►Aug. 17: Wayne County still a leader in hepatitis A cases
►Aug. 12:Incidents of liver-affecting virus not slowing down
►Aug. 3: Local hepatitis A cases nearly double in two-week span
►July 25: Why has Wayne County had so many cases of hepatitis A?
►July 24:WCHD continues offering inoculations for hepatitis A
►July 19: County health department anticipates more vaccinations
Hepatitis A, which in extreme cases affects the liver to a fatal degree, is generally contracted through fecal-oral contamination. Symptoms can lie dormant in an infected individual for up to seven weeks after they contract the virus.
Symptoms of the infection includes loss of appetite, nausea, tiredness, fever, stomach pain, brown-colored urine and light colored stools; yellowing of the skin or eyes — jaundice — can also appear.
Hepatitis A usually spreads when a person unknowingly ingests the virus from objects, food, or drinks contaminated by small, undetected amounts of stool from an infected person. The virus spreads when an infected person does not wash his/her hands adequately after using the toilet or engages in behaviors that increase risk of infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention generally advises the following "at-risk" populations to receive a vaccination, whether or not they believe they've been exposed to the virus:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a hepatitis A vaccination for the following groups:
All children, at 1-year-old
Travelers visiting countries with high-rates of hepatitis A
Family members and caregivers of recent adoptees from countries where the infection is common
Men who have sexual contact with other men
People who use injection and non-injection illegal drugs
People with chronic (lifelong) liver diseases, such as hepatitis B or hepatitis C
People who are treated with clotting-factor concentrates
People who work with hepatitis A infected animals or in a hepatitis A research laboratory
The No. 9 Grill hepatitis incident comes amid the area's continued struggles with the disease's spread. At least 94 cases have been reported in Wayne County since the start of the year, as part of a 10-state outbreak that has infected thousands, hospitalized hundreds, and left dozens dead.
Wayne County is the state leader in cases for the year, and is also among the Top 10 counties nationally for instances of hepatitis A since the outbreak began.
So far, Wayne County health officials have distributed more than 1,450 vaccinations for the virus.
Mickey Shuey is the business reporter at the Palladium-Item. Contact him at (765) 973-4472 and at mshuey@gannett.com. You can follow him on Twitter (@MickeyShuey) or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/MickeyShuey).
Read or Share this story: https://pinews.co/2wuqfWs
Chamber sharpens future focus, presents awards
New RPD officer excited to serve his hometown
Lifelong Richmond resident joins Chamber staff
5 bills to watch from Wayne County's lawmakers
New filing sets up first contested primary race
WWII Marine to be buried April 18 in Richmond


If you love cars and not just driving them but also taking care of them, then this article is something that you might find interesting to you. There are many things that you need to keep in mind when you make the decision to open a car wash. It is not just an opportunity for you to see nice vehicles; you actually have to be responsible. Therefore, if you make the decision to start a car wash there is a certain degree of responsibility on you. It is not like working at one, owning one is a whole other story. Here are some tips you may find useful.
The most important thing is that you need to compartmentalize the area of the car wash. You can use things like a proper poster rolls cut up to identify the areas so that it is easy. Not only will this be easy for you, but it will be easier for the customer and the employees to figure out the space as well. The main importance of compartmentalizing is because of the various things you have to do at a car wash. Therefore, ensure that you do this.
If you want your car wash to be famous and want a lot of business, then you have to definitely advertise visibly. It is important that you use things like opening soon signs prior to even starting the car wash so that people driving past will notice it and then keep in mind that there is a car wash opening in the area. This is how you build a customer base and therefore, ensure that you do this properly.
The best location for a car wash would be on the side of the road. This is because; vehicles can then come and go easily and you will not have to worry about anything. If you have the car wash down a road, or if the road leading to your car wash is not clean then you might have a problem of attracting customers. Therefore, ensure that you find a good location.
It is also important that you charge appropriately for the services you offer. It is not an easy thing to take care of cars and therefore, you should make sure that you pay your employees well too. Therefore, ensure that you think about things like payment of rent and payment for the products you use and charge appropriately from the customers. This way you will be able to sustain your business as well.
How To Make Sure Your Startup Is Successful?


I recently gave the following advice for making file limits for Animated GIFs. I any one has better technique or suggestions I sure would like to hear them.
Make copies of grouped layers. Open the new grouped layer, turn off all other layers and combine visual for each frame you need.
Once you have (no more than 5 frames) for animation re-save file as a different name.
Delete all layers except the animation frames.
Open window - animation-Timeline. Make timeline frames of layers.
Arrange in the order you need. Set time on each frame sequence. Set to Forever.
Change image type to gif.
Colors, The more colors the larger the file size, reduce to required size.
Change to diffusion - Dither, Just reducing this by 2-3% usually makes file much smaller.
As you make changes to the options above you may be able ti increase for optimization or need to decrease to make file size requirements. There is a file size indicator in the lower left hand corner to see how the changes effect file size.
Save Images Only, Back round Image.
Sometimes, depending on the image, you will still see some dithering problems, People here kinda understand the file size restrictions and don't beat you up too badly.
If this still is too large after all that... Go to original PSD, change image size to something that is still large enough to get a good view of your animation. Then Change canvass size to 550 wide by 450 tall. Add white fill layer under all layers before combining for sequence frames. This white fill will not make you file size any larger and will not show in the contest page even though your "Sequence" images are smaller than required.
Open window - "animation", then toggle to "animation frames", then "make frames from layers"
This last one believe it or not is 550 x 413 px. 425 Kb. and 114 frames at top optimization ... downloaded it,open it up in image ready and check it out for yourselves!
I'm Like you, didn't know you could animate in PS , I use flash for commercial stuff, banners, headers to websites.
Your gifs are very well done.
I just looooooooove sweet giffy magic!
Now that's what I'm talking about!That's giffin' for ya!Thanks for sharing Brad...you rock! .Hope the weather's clearing up.Heard it's been pretty bad down there.Just chill out in the meantime.
This thread's got me all excited. Might have to chop something!
If all these gifs I see are 125k, there are some secrets that need to be shared, methinks.
Nicely done. Very impressed and inspired by all of these.
Man I love Gifs! might have to make one tomorrow if I get the time!
I have Advantage and still can't load more than 125, must be doing something wrong.
I might have to make some time to create a .gif or two. Below are some of my better ones. I had fun making them.
I haven't chopped in a while. Might as well resume with a .gif.


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Direct experience in multicultural community is essential to motivating and supporting multicultural leadership development.
Mosaic Makers Conference is a dynamic gathering and learning community for teams from congregations deeply engaged in the work of building intentional multicultural community. These congregations, as identified by UUA national and regional staff, gather together in spiritual community for two and a half days of workshop, experiential learning, and community building around the theme of strengthening the fabric of UU multicultural ministries.
The conference is a part of the Multicultural Leadership Institute and grew out of the 2011 Multicultural Growth Consultation that brought together congregational leaders from eight UU congregations deeply committed and invested in multicultural ministry to share and learn and journey together.
Multicultural ministries is not about "browning the pews;" it's about ministering in the context of a larger multicultural community—class, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation/identity, gender and gender expression, and ability and the intersections of these (social) identities.
Additionally, multicultural ministry is not a solo act. This is not a job that the staff or volunteers can do apart from each other. Multicultural Ministry is shared ministry/team leadership. Commitment is needed from staff and lay leaders.
You can learn more about Mosaic Makers on our fact sheet (PDF).
Want more? Ask your regional lead if you're interested in having a Regional Mosaic Maker Event!
Mosaic Makers 2012:The first Mosaic Makers took place in February 2012 in partnership with All Souls Church, Unitarian in Washington, DC. Read more about Mosaic Makers 2012 (PDF)!
Mosaic Makers 2013: A second Mosaic Makers was held in November 2013 in partnership with All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK. Our 2013 keynote speaker was Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, author and speaker on the intersections of religion, ethics, race, class, and gender and Professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies at the Iliff School of Theology. Macky Alston, Auburn Seminary Media Director, also offered his inspired media training for religious professionals. Read more about Mosaic Makers 2013!
Did you attend Mosaic Makers? Visit Building on Mosaic Makers Learnings for recommended next steps and resources to take your learnings forward!
Mosaic Makers 2017: Our third national Mosaic Makers was held October 2017 in partnership with First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego, CA. Dr. Takiyah Nur Amin of Black Lives Unitarian Universalist (BLUU) was the keynote (view her presentation). Dr. Mark Hicks and Chris Crass also provided stellar sessions to deepen our work.
Mosaic Makers 2015 at General Assembly: Mosaic Maker: Leading Vital Multicultural Congregations community gathered at General Assembly 2015 in Portland, OR for an all-day Mosaic track of workshops on developing, nurturing, and expanding multicultural sensibility and community. Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre, Professor of Social Ethics and Latino/a Studies at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado and Executive Officer for the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion, offered a a keynote during Thursday's General Session.
Rev. Dr. Miguel De La Torre presents a keynote during General Session at UUA GA 2015.
Members of First Parish in Cambridge (UU) present at Mosaic Makers 2013.


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Q: Allocate each five elements of an array to a block I have 15 elements in an array and I want to allocate each five of them to a block respectively. The elements are:
elements=["a",'b','c','d','e','f','g','h','i','j','k','l','m','n','o']

I wanted to say first 5 elements are belonged to block#1, second five are belonged to block#2 and so on. I need to do it in a loop structure as later on, I need to use the information of each block for a special task. As I am new to python I don't know how to write it. Any advice will be highly appreciated.

A: You can simply use list comprehension for that:
result = [elements[i:i+5] for i in range(0,len(elements),5)]

which will generate:
>>> result
[['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'], ['f', 'g', 'h', 'i', 'j'], ['k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o']]

Or more generic:
def blockify(elements,n=5):
    return [elements[i:i+n] for i in range(0,len(elements),n)]

and then call it with blockify(elements,5).
What we do is we create a range that ranges from 0 to the len(elements) (length of the elements), and makes hops of 5 (or n in the generic case). Now for each of these steps, we add a slice elements[i:i+5] to the result.

A: Loop through all and divide index by 5 (floor division operator //)
The result of dividing is number of group.

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