Under a franchise arrangement, a person or company purchases the ability to run a local business under a larger company's brand. Depending on the franchise arrangement, the local party may have to meet certain standards established by the larger company and purchase products from the larger company as well.
Half-cock is when the position of the hammer is partially but not completely cocked.
Good indication of therapeutic half-life is how often you have to take them - if it's every 3 hrs, then they're obviously metabolised fairly quickly, if only once a day, less so. I'd leave at least 24h after the last dose before you start doing contra-indicated things.