Word: beginnings
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...play begins innocently enough: on a sleepy day in Bug River, a respectably-dressed stranger, William Hard, visits a mother, Dora, and daughter, Susannah, to deliver a message about their father, the amiably named Ray. The mystery of the stranger and the contents of the letter, however, gradually give rise to a series of colorfully existentialist and epistemological revelations, odd cultic rituals involving trousers and the moon, and a great deal of hemming and hawing over both. One could describe the plot--basically, Ray is actually a duplicate husband, mildly deviant, that William Hard must replace...
...suppose our studying habits shouldn't vacillate with the seasons. Reality is, however, far from ideal. This is the one way to make us enthusiastic about the start of finals. If we ruminate long enough about impending doom, sooner or later we'll begin to wish for it to be over...
Perhaps most difficult of all is to lapse into self-motivated study after working under time pressure the entire year. Once you begin to function working only on what is due the next day and struggling to finish that, it is difficult to motivate yourself towards long-term goals. Any respite, even of a day, is welcome. That first week of reading period is just too far off from finals period...
...growing number of employers and managed-care companies are trying to reach these recalcitrant workers. Most, like the city of Birmingham, begin with a mandatory screening that allows them to identify who is at greatest risk of developing health problems. Many use positive incentives--the proverbial carrot--to promote healthy habits. Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Cincinnati, Ohio, for example, offers its plan participants $240 a year in extra benefits, like additional vacation days, if they get good scores on five out of seven categories of health-related behavior...
...course, Disney's Mary Poppins and the character in the Travers books are two entirely different beings. The latter is somewhat fierce, somewhat formidable and perennially unfair. The point about the Mary Poppins of the books is that although wonderful things begin to happen when she arrives, she's not very nice to be around...