PART 2.

Oh how Colombians love their music. The type of music coming from the smoothie vendor boom-boxes always seemed to set the distinctive tone of that town. They always played the music that was popular in that particular area. Whether it was “Salsa”, “Costeño”, or whatever type, it was always pure Colombian music.

As we were waiting for our smoothies, my eyes began to wander. I started to take in the sights and sounds of that little village in the mountains. I saw two soldiers who looked about seventeen years old standing across the street in front of a small cafe. They were holding machine guns, and giving me the eye. These were Colombian Government soldiers who were stationed in little towns like this to keep them out of the control of Leftist Guerillas who live in the jungles that surround them.

Some of those remote Colombian towns have an aura of unrest, and that one was definitely one of them. I dared not pull out any cameras at that moment. The last time I decided to videotape in a town like that, I was immediately approached by two soldiers and promptly escorted away. I thought I would never be seen again. Lucky for me, my wife’s brother-in-law was with us at that time. He happened to be a Colonel in the Colombian Military, so he interceded on my behalf. He explained to them that I was just some “crazy Gringo” who was in Colombia to visit his wife’s relatives, and to surf the waves that Colombia had to offer. They released me to the good Colonel, and I promptly put my cameras away. Apparently, Guerillas have been known to come into town and videotape the soldiers and the police. Then they hand the footage over to hired assassins who slip into town soon afterwards and kill them. I can understand the soldier’s apprehension with cameras. After that incident, my M.O. on the trip was to stay low-key, and not draw attention to myself.

My wife and I were getting some evil stares from several local folks that were wandering around the streets. I wanted so badly to pull my cameras out and pass the time documenting everything we were experiencing, but I could not risk it. Soldiers are not the only ones I needed to worry about. Being kidnapped by Guerillas was always in the back of my mind. Although I was able to get a lot of great footage and photos along the way (when it was permissible), my memory was my camera most of the time.

It was going to be dark in a couple of hours. We did not want to be in that village after dark. I would much rather have been viewing that town from the safety of a bus seat just passing through, but sometimes you have to stop to change busses. In that case, the bus we were waiting for was running late, thus the unscheduled and excruciatingly long delay.

As I was thinking about how glad I was going to be to get back on one of those colorful busses, a crusty old man on a Burro walked past us and gave me the stink eye. I tried to ignore it as I turned my glance upward and away from him. I began to stare at the thick mountain foliage that
surrounded that little town. It was still a very wild and untamed country out there. Civilization barely had a foothold. I could see how maintaining control would be difficult for the Colombian Government.

Suddenly, I received a tap on my back and I jumped as if I had been electrocuted. It was the smoothie guy, letting me know our freshly blended fruit smoothies were ready. He handed them over to us, and we paid him with a few Colombian coins that equaled about ten cents in American money. The smoothies on that trip tasted better than anything you could ever buy in the United States. The milk they used was so fresh it seemed like it was squirted straight from the cow into the blender. They also blended in all kinds of exotic tropical fruits with names like “zapote”, “tomate de árbol”, and “maracuyá”, all of which are incredibly delicious and can be found growing wild in the areas around the towns we visited. Those smoothies were like something a Slurpee aspires to be in it’s wildest dreams.

As we were enjoying our smoothies, another local man walked up to us and made a sales pitch for a very interesting product; dried iguana eggs. He had several strings of them hanging around his neck like necklaces of giant white pearls that were about the size of quail eggs. His semi-white tee-shirt had a sweat stain from his neck down to his belly that had a brown border of dirt gathered on the edge of it. It was really hot out there, but he did not seem to mind. His face and hands told the story of a man who had worked hard his whole life in the South American sun. He was probably only about fifty years old, but his skin was wrinkled beyond it’s years. This man claimed that the iguana eggs provided magical powers of fertility and sexual stamina to anyone who eats them. He then looked at me and winked. I could not help but wonder at that moment how many kids this iguana egg vendor had back at home. My wife and I chuckled at his bold claim, and politely declined his offer. As my wife turned away for a moment to find something in her backpack, I quickly handed the man several crumpled up bills on the sly. He then winked at me again, and handed me two strings of iguana eggs, which I promptly concealed in my day-pack. I figured I may be able to use these eggs on a romantic moonlit night in beautiful Tayrona, after a long, arduous journey.

Copyright 2006. Michael P. Connelly-

Gibraltar Holidays

Situated on the southern edge of the Spain, the famed and picturesque island, Gibraltar is basically an overseas of the United Kingdom. It is typically positioned at the western entrance of the Mediterranean Sea. The British claimed the island in 1973 and presently it is an international port and hot tourist spot, famous for holidays, short city breaks and as weddings & honeymoon destination. There are many travel agents offering cheap flight to Gibraltar. Book a cheap flight and hotel package for your next holidays in Gibraltar. But before that lets play around the island.

Rock Of Gibraltar

The main tour attraction in Gibraltar is “The Rock” and its pleasant whether. The Rock of Gibraltar is a considerable theme for botanists and bird watchers but also endow tourists with sightseeing actions such as the prominent semi-wild apes, caves, tunnels, large military guns and many more sites of historical and geological interest. It has a very famous tunnel popular as “labyrinth”. Cable Cars are used to reach on the top of the rock.

Gibraltar Hotels

Gibraltar has a diverse range of cheap and luxurious hotels, offering best services to their guests. You can get very cheap and discounted rates for some of the best and hotels in Gibraltar for your short city break at “Gibraltar4less.co.uk”. They have contracted rates for most of the Gibraltar hotels and claims to offer the most cheapest rates than any else. The most privileged hotels in Gibraltar are: The Rock Hotel, The Eliott Hotel, The Caleta Hotel, The Bristol Hotel, The Queen Hotel, The Continental Hotel and The Cannon Hotel.

Duty-Free Shopping In Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a famous destination of shopping as it one among the few VAT free shopping destinations in Europe, offering its visitors a varied range of tax free goods. The best thing about shopping in Gibraltar is that you don’t even have to change currency to shop so no fiddling around with foreign coins! With exactly the same value, the Pound Sterling and the Gibraltar Pound are both acceptable forms of payment at all retail outlets. So shop out the island on your next Gibraltar holidays.

Gibraltar Sightseeing Tour

The places that you must see on your Gibraltar holidays are The Rock, Europa Point, Sailing Trip, Cable Cars, Dolphin Safaris, Botanical Gardens, City Gates and Fortifications, Catalan Bay. Those who are interested in natural history related to the sea, rock, land or plant, will enjoy a feast at Gibraltar as the island is very rich of such things all through the year. For the convenience of the visitors, some travel agents arrange for the Gibraltar day tours that include short visit in minimum time by taxi or by the coach so that the tourists can spend their maximum time to look around the plenty of places.

Gibraltar Attractions

There are the certain native areas like Rock Apes, dolphins excursions in the Bay of Gibraltar, and other marine mammals which include the Pilot Whales of the Strait, that always attracts the tourists and worth a visit on a Gibraltar holiday. For bird lovers and bird-watchers there are several different species including prey, storks, vultures, songbirds and seabirds. In spring season there are beautiful butterflies, emerging making the island a pretty paradise of the natural wild life. There is a lot to see in Gib while you spend your holidays in Gibraltar. The Botanical garden is the combination of the aesthetic beauty, a very silent area filled with the colourful fountains, ponds and waterfalls. There is a Catalan Bay, a small village on the eastern side of the rock where you can enjoy the traditional boating and fishing. Though a village but Catalan Bay has beach, pubs and restaurants etc.

Gibraltar Flights

With airlines commencing new routes to Gibraltar, there is now a good choice of cheap flights to Gibraltar. Book online your Gibraltar holidays with http://www.gibraltar4less.co.uk, and receive access to extremely competitively low priced Gibraltar flights and hotel packages along with a £5.00 per person discount! Look out for regular free night offers and other money saving offers when you book online! Plan your holidays in Gibraltar now whilst air fares are still low and the city remains unspoilt before the hoards of tourists and stags discover this latest new destination.

One of a plethora of blockbuster regular series inextricably linked to the 1980s decade, The A-Team is an action series with an unending number of bombs, bazookas, and machine guns, where inexplicably no one ever dies! Code for “Alpha Team,” The A-Team is a Vietnam War-era special ops commando unit wrongfully accused of robbing a bank in Hanoi. The four man team of Hannibal, “Face”, B.A., and Murdock, escape from a maximum security prison and survive underground by doing good deeds for those in need of their solider skills. With the federal government hot on its trail, The A-Team hides out in the general area of Los Angeles County…

The A-Team (Season 2) DVD features a number of action-packed episodes including the season premiere “Diamonds ‘N’ Dust” in which The A-Team is hired to transport explosives to a diamond mine in Zimbabwe after the owner of the mine is murdered in his attempt to deliver them himself… Other notable episodes from Season 2 include “The Taxicab Wars” in which a small, family-run taxicab company hires The A-Team to help them ward off the strong-arm tactics of a ruthless competitor, and “The White Ballot” in which Face’s attempt to run against a corrupt sheriff tips off the government in regard to the whereabouts of The A-Team…

Below is a list of episodes included on The A-Team (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 15 (Diamonds ‘N’ Dust) Air Date: 09-20-1983

Episode 16 (Recipe for Heavy Bread) Air Date: 09-27-1983

Episode 17 (The Only Church in Town) Air Date: 10-11-1983

Episode 18 (Bad Time on the Border) Air Date: 10-18-1983

Episode 19 (When You Comin’ Back, Range Rider? Part 1) Air Date: 10-25-1983

Episode 20 (When You Comin’ Back, Range Rider? Part 2) Air Date: 10-25-1983

Episode 21 (The Taxicab Wars) Air Date: 11-01-1983

Episode 22 (Labor Pains) Air Date: 11-08-1983

Episode 23 (There’s Always a Catch) Air Date: 11-15-1983

Episode 24 (Water, Water Everywhere) Air Date: 11-22-1983

Episode 25 (Steel) Air Date: 11-29-1983

Episode 26 (The White Ballot) Air Date: 12-06-1983

Episode 27 (The Maltese Cow) Air Date: 12-13-1983

Episode 28 (In Plane Sight) Air Date: 01-03-1984

Episode 29 (The Battle of Bel-Air) Air Date: 01-10-1984

Episode 30 (Say It With Bullets) Air Date: 01-17-1984

Episode 31 (Pure-Dee Poison) Air Date: 01-31-1984

Episode 32 (It’s a Desert Out There) Air Date: 02-07-1984

Episode 33 (Chopping Spree) Air Date: 02-14-1984

Episode 34 (Harder Than It Looks) Air Date: 02-21-1984

Episode 35 (Deadly Maneuvers) Air Date: 02-28-1984

Episode 36 (Semi-Friendly Persuasion) Air Date: 05-08-1984

Episode 37 (Curtain Call) Air Date: 05-15-1984

hear it all the time, the tone of semi disappointed do it yourselfers after they spend countless hours on their refinishing project “it doesn’t look like we hoped it would.
Like so many other times in life, when good folks find themselves disappointed.
It really isn’t their fault at all, all they did was read the brochure, and then the theater of the mind took over. I hear them say, “we followed the instructions to the letter, so why does it not look at all like we were hoping?”

Here is why, Restoration by the very definition of the word, requires that the restorer understand from what condition the original finish has fallen. To put it another way, if you don’t know what it was, how can you know what it should be?
So it’s another situation of not even knowing what questions to ask because the idea of there being some other way isn’t even there.

It is true that some furniture is finished with a really simple process, perhaps a coat of stain and then three or four coats of polyurethane, and for home woodworking projects and other simply functional stuff that will do, but if you have a nice medium, or high-line piece and you expect it to look as spectacular as it did when it first came to your home using a simple one or two step treatment, you may not know it now, but soon you will, it’s not going to look anything like you are expecting. Where the harsh reality and the hoped for dream collide, that is where disappointment lives.

What you were hoping for was something a little more. For example, the finish that one would expect to find on furniture from a company like Baker, Henredon ,Drexell or Gramco, is really, really sophisticated. It is done by Master finishers with decades of experience. Even the apprentices in an environment like this possess knowledge of the ways of the “force”. Artistic finishes like this sometimes require as many as twenty or more steps to achieve the depth and richness that people have come to expect from top drawer brands like these. When you see the fantastic catalogues and well lit showrooms it may be hard to imagine that even though there are many layers of finish, sealer, glaze, cow tails, spattering, brush-graining and finally several coats of topcoat hand rubbed to a deep rich glow, it is still quite thin. That is what gives the furniture that really refined classic look. When you compare the two different methods you begin to see that there is no comparison at all.
On one hand the single step stain followed by multiple coats of oil-cured polyurethane you end up with a monochromatic, thick, plastic finish, the one up side to all the mill thickness is that these oil-cured poly finishes are pretty durable.

However, if you are looking to achieve a finish that has real depth and character, one that people look at, and just get lost in, that will require a lot more, a whole lot more. At a minimum, A base dye of the required intensity, followed by a wash coat of sealer, hand rubbed then glazed, followed by another wash, rubbed again, then add the light distressing and rag work, wash coat and rub once again, followed by gun shading and highlighting. All that by hand free form to match a specified sample before the first application of topcoat is applied. That process is not one that comes off the shelf. It is derived from a lifetime of touching the wood, looking at how the light dives into the wood and knowing what comes next, it is the difference between a pop tart and a fine French pastry.
Refinishing furniture can be a really exciting and fulfilling thing to do when all goes well and the results are what you were expecting, but when it does not it can be a bad way to spend your vacation time. So next time you are thinking about taking on a refinishing project do your homework before you begin, ask for professional advice. If all the lights are green, go. If not, and you still want to go for it, maybe you should consider an apprenticeship in our restoration shop, who knows in four or five years you too may be a member of this quirky band of brothers known as Wood finishers.

This article is also available on our website: PROACTION – Generating Best Practices. It is an excerpt of a paper originally written by George Miller, Founder of PROACTION. It has been modified and updated by Paul Deis, PROACTION CEO.

Introduction

Some pundits have opined that ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or ERM (Enterprise Resource Management) is dead and that Lean replaces it. That’s like saying that the car chassis is replaced by the new engine. ERP is the backbone system of a modern enterprise. Lean is a management philosophy, with supporting tools and techniques to run a business much faster, cheaper—better. They are NOT mutually exclusive, but Lean ERP must differ from the traditional approach. The chassis needs some design changes.

Is ERP Obsolete? Points to be Made:

• ERP has evolved considerably and has almost ceased to exist as we knew it years ago

• Lean and newer ERP can coexist

• Lean still needs an IT infrastructure- ERP can help provide it

• ERP is compatible with Lean, but software vendors need to improve lean features

• Industry needs to learn to use ERP better to support Lean

Contents

• Lean ERP: Not an Oxymoron

• ERP Definitions and Evolution

• EPADSIG Body of Knowledge Areas

• Lean Definitions

• What are Customers Looking For?

• Lean Aerospace Initiative

• Lean Principles

• ERP Weaknesses

• ERP/Lean Enterprise

• Summary Functional Requirements

• Conclusions

DEFINITIONS

The evolving definition of ERP …

“An accounting-oriented information system for identifying and planning the enterprise-wide resources to take, make, ship and account for customer orders. An ERP system differs from the typical MRP II system in technical requirements such as graphical user interface, relational database, use of fourth-generation language, and computer-aided software engineering tools in development, client/server architecture, and open system portability.”
– APICS Dictionary 8th Ed

I always thought that was a very poor definition. Don Frank agreed with me and offered a better one at an EPADSIG (APICS Engineered Products and Aerospace/Defense Specific Interest Group) presentation. It was subsequently adopted in newer APICS dictionaries.

APICS newer definition of ERP:

A method for the effective planning and controlling of all the resources needed to take, make, ship and account for customer orders in a manufacturing, distribution or service company. – APICS Dictionary 10th Ed.

That definition is very valid for a Lean environment. What isn’t valid is the design of most ERP software and management systems to utilize it.

Lean Definition 1:

Lean Production—A philosophy of production that emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all the resources (including time) used in the various activities of the enterprise. It involves identifying and eliminating non-value-adding activities in design, production, supply chain management, and dealing with the customers. Lean producers employ teams of multiskilled workers at all levels of the organization and use highly flexible, increasingly automated machines to produce volumes of products in potentially enormous variety. It contains a set of principles and practices to reduce cost through the relentless removal of waste and through the simplification of all manufacturing and support processes. Syn: lean, lean manufacturing. – APICS Dictionary, 9th Ed.

Lean Definition 2:

A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection. – The MEP Lean Network

Lean Definition 3:

Perform in the Optimum Value-Added Manner Each Step of the Delivery Process for a Product or a Service to Optimize the Total Value Chain.” – Dr. Dan Shunk, ASU

Lean Definition 4:

Set Up and Run Processes to Minimize Defects, Time, Cost/Investment, While Optimally and Profitably Serving Target Markets. – George Miller, PROACTION

Lean is a business philosophy, not just techniques. Lean means doing things as simply and cheaply as possible, while providing superior quality and very quick service. An old joke about this is that you can pick any two. But, that’s no longer acceptable. The organization needs to absorb thinking Lean to be Lean. It needs to embed it in its culture, metrics, policies, procedures and finally, its tools.

Some worry that Lean can’t be built upon ERP. The real problem is that the vast majority of companies have not even successfully embraced ERP yet, so they would be building on very shaky foundations. I smile to myself after visiting some company claiming to have a “certified Class A ERP system.” Then I talk to the workers and start hearing the real story, namely that the Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes at most of these companies. Some companies may try to leapfrog ERP, but they will first need to master the basic disciplines of an organized system. No shortcuts there.

LEAN CHANGES TO ERP

While our fathers’ ancient MRP-centric ERP is largely obsolete, an evolving Enterprise System approach definitely lives on, mutating and adapting to a new world of shrinking: cycle times, budgets, non-value-added activities and headcounts.

Some companies are implementing Lean tools manually. Some are modifying ERP software, or incorporating third party Lean add-on software/systems to enhance functionality. An isolated few are still trying to do homegrown applications. Cultural change, education and leadership are also needed to help alter how organizations are run. Lean tools are gradually being incorporated into standard ERP offerings, but are lagging behind the pace of the overall Lean movement. Some ERP vendors are now addressing it more through white papers than product development. As mentioned previously, third party vendors are helping to fill the gap. Some of these may be ultimately acquired by the enterprise software vendors.

Some vendors, to differentiate themselves (and confuse us all) are now referring to themselves as “Supply Chain,” “eBusiness” or even ERPII suppliers.

Major things needing to be incorporated into most current ERP systems to improve Lean support:

• Rapid system implementation

• Flexible business modeling and system configuration

• Very simple operation

• Built in process mapping, help and training

• Very rapid response processes, from marketing, proposals and design, through order processing, planning, procurement, production and shipping.

• Strong quality assurance support

• Tools to slash administrative, material and production costs

• Facilitate integration with other systems- internal and external

• Fast and simple information visibility

• True built-in constraint management

• Integrated product and process design management tools

• Lean accounting and administration

Some Lean tools needed by many businesses:

• Flow scheduling

• Cellular/focus factory support

• KanBan, consignment, point-of-use inventory

• Rapid supply chain management

• Supplier management, VMI,

• Near real time, flexible scheduling

• Six-sigma tools for quality planning, monitoring, improvement

• Standardization/group technology

• Project management for production, capital and development projects

• “Control panel” metrics

Although some of these can be supported by software, these approaches first need to be built into an organization’s overall management system. Even if software was ready for Lean, we still need to get most companies’ management, employees and implementation support ready for it. The rarest and most important resource needed for changes of this magnitude is still executive leadership and management support—it’s not really about software.

LEAN OBJECTIVES

To understand what Lean is about, we first need to fathom what it is supposed to accomplish.

To understand what Lean attributes we need or don’t need in ERP, first start with stakeholder expectations ….

What Are Customers Looking For?

• Fast Turnaround, for inquiries, order processing and delivery, changes, information requests, new designs, engineering changes and other great customer service.

• High Quality- very low defects in product, process and administrative activities.

• Good Price- Not just low unit price, but low total cost, considering unit price, other landed cost factors, cost of quality, cost of development, changes, maintenance, support, procurement-related costs.

• Easy to Work With- Simple, straightforward service, no endless waiting on hold and convoluted voice mail menus, no runaround,

What Are Stockholders Looking For?

• Profits- Competitive return on investment.

• Equity Growth- Short/Long term.

• Security of Principal

• No Legal, Ethical Hassles- No “Enrons.”

What are Employees Looking for?

• Security of employment, income, benefits

• Interesting, worthwhile work, sense of purpose

Lean Aerospace Initiative Objectives, as promoted by The Lean Aerospace Initiative:

• Promote a lean leadership at all levels

• Continuously focus on the customer

• Development relationships based on mutual trust/commitment

• Optimize capability and utilization of people

• Make decisions at lowest possible level

• Nurture a learning environment

• Implement Integrated Product/Process Development (IPPD)

• Identify and optimize enterprise flow

• Ensure process capability and maturation

• Maintain the challenge of existing processes

• Assure seamless information flow

• Maximize stability in a changing environment

Lean Principles (Generic):

We put these together based on experience and exposure to Lean thinking:

• Identify Product Value Stream

• Rapid Response to Customer Needs, Competition, New Tools and Technology

• Flow- Single Piece

• Pull

• Eliminate Waste

• Lean Product and Process Design

• Responsiveness to Change

• Continuous Improvement

• Elimination of Defects

• Standardize- Eliminate Process Variation

• Visual Management/Control Systems

WHAT’S WRONG

What “They” Hate About Traditional ERP

Those who badmouth ERP raise some valid points which must be addressed. Here are the most common complaints we have heard.

• Proliferation of Screens, Transactions

• Cumbersome Transactions/Release Procedures

• Batch Process Orientation

• Fixed Lead Times, In Day or Longer Increments

• Poor Constraint Planning/Management- Set-Piece MRP, with Disconnected Resource Planning for Multiple Constraints

• Failure to Manage Non-Recurring & Non-Production Activities

• Weak Document Management

• Hard to Extract Information

• Weak, Inflexible Workflows

• Lack of Lean tools such as KanBan, VMI, etc

Earlier ERP approaches had additional problems, somewhat better addressed now, such as:

• Lack of financial systems integration

• Lack of support features, such as maintenance, QA

• Lack of project management integration

What Have Vendors Done About This?

In our experience, software usually lags the development of new business philosophies and techniques by a number of years. It took an infuriatingly long time for even very basic JIT concepts to percolate down into business software and corporate practices. The job still isn’t complete. Newer Lean concept implementation is still lagging. It takes years for new ideas to be understood and accepted. Then companies need to insist on their adoption and organize planning and implementation activities. Software companies need to discern customer requirements, even anticipate them, then provide software tools and support services for them. Finally, industry needs to learn and effectively implement the new tools.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT

More proactive companies aren’t waiting for software vendors. They’re devising manual approaches or writing their own software. Some are advising their software vendors on what they need. A new sub-industry of dedicated Lean software tools has also emerged.

Don’t wait for the ideal software. Move ahead to develop and implement cost effective approaches early. Your ERP system can be extended by manual procedures, interfaces with other systems, home-grown software, third party add-on software and/or enhanced functionality from ERP suppliers. Early attempts can serve as prototypes for more elegant ERP enhancements later on. Try to develop add-ons and modifications in a way that will not harm maintainability and upgradeability of ERP software later on. Some of the add-on application vendors will ultimately be swallowed up by the enterprise software suppliers, when they finally see how important these applications are becoming.

In selecting ERP software, add-on software or undertaking your own projects, look for the following …..

What to Look For (High Level):

• Embedded Business Philosophies (Lean, Six Sigma, TOC, JIT, etc.)

• Flexible, Rapid

• Technology/Platforms (Open, flexible, low cost)

• E-Business/Web-Enabled

• Ease of Integration

• Support Lean Operations

• Support Lean Finance/Costing

• Support Lean Product/Process Development

• Support Industry Oriented Application Savvy

What to Look For (General):

• Easy to Set Up, Flexible to Change

• Basic Structure/Discipline

• Simple to Extract, Process Data

• Able to Define and Control Straightforward Processes

• Supports Needed (and Required) Business Processes

• Simple as Possible to Learn and Use

• High Quality Software, Documentation, Support

• Strong Future Product Plan to Stay Competitive

• Best and Better Practices

What to Look For (Set-Up, Implementation):

• Rapid Implementation Tools

• Guided, Template Set-Ups

• Vertical Market (A&D) Versions

• Model Implementation Plans/Set-Ups

• Simple Table/Parameter Setups

• Template Data Maintenance

• Simple, Flexible Report/Inquiry Writing

• On-Line, Context-Sensitive Help, Tutor

• Easily Customized Workflow, Screens, Options

What to Look For (Operations):

• Flow Manufacturing

• Cellular/Line Support/Line Balancing

• Kanban/Pull

• VMI (Vendor-Managed Inventory)

• Minimal Transactions Needed, Simple Data Entry

• Near Real Time Scheduling

• Cycle Time Management

• Exception Management

• Quality/Process Management

• Constraint Management

• Cross-Contract Planning (with Soft Pegging/Allocation)

• Non-Recurring and Recurring Activities

• Rapid/Efficient Transaction Input, Defaults, Automation

• Interface/Integration With Process Control Systems

What to Look for (in More Detail):

Engineering/BOM/Routing:

• Coding to Promote Group Technology/Sourcing

• Model the Manufacturing/Service Process

• Facilitate Alternate Config.’s, Process Def.’s

• Reduce Defects Through Accurate, Timely Configuration and Process Spec.’s, Release and Change Management.

• Manage Documents, Workflow

Program/Contract Management:

• Support Timely, Accurate Estimates

• Support Competitive, Profitable Pricing

• Record, Flow Down, Contractual Commitments

• Tight Tie-in To Program Schedules

• Operations, Finance Integration

• Comprehensive Budget Definition and Tracking

• Timely Identification/Correction of Problems

• Ensure that Proper Configuration Used

• Efficient Transaction Processing for High Volume Environments

Planning:

• Group Requirements- Same, Similar

• Consume Excess, Alternates, Substitutes

• Time-Phase—Granular

• Optimize Constraints- Time, Material, Labor, Equipment, Manpower, Technical

• Respond, Adapt Quickly

• Reduce Related Administrative/Indirect Costs

• Ensure Proper Configuration Used

• Help Manage Inventory, Production Resource Usage and Disposition

Procurement:

• Improve Sourcing

• VMI, POU (Point Of Use), KanBan, E-Business

• Speed Up Procurement Process

• Highlight Requirements, Specs.

• Facilitate Competitive Pricing

• Reduce Defects Through Sourcing, Requirements, Metrics, Communication

• Administer PO’s, Contracts, Releases, Outsourcing, Processing

• Reduce Related Administrative Costs

• Help Manage Supplier Partnerships, Including Supplier Certification/Evaluation

Quality Management:

• Define/Deploy Quality Requirements, Quality Plan

• Support/Track Certs., Inspection

• Track all Defects, Reduce Process Variation

• Quickly Identify and Highlight Actionable Exceptions, Highlight Corrective Action

• Ensure that Tooling, Personnel Qualifications, Documentation, Materials, Processes, are Correct

• Maintain Traceability, Accountability

Operations:

• Schedule, Control Activities

• Accurately, Efficiently, Track Material Movement, Storage, Usage- VMI, POU, KanBan, E-Business

• Help Ensure That Proper Items/Configuration are Used

• Help Manage Release, Issue, Staging, Management of Work Flow and Needed Resources (Material, Labor, Equipment, Tooling, Documentation/Specs./Instructions)

• Record Work Performed, Configuration, Processes Used.

• Record Costs, Variances

Financial/HR:

• Manage Funding, Billing, Collection, Disbursement

• Keep Timely, Accurate Books—Enterprise, Business Unit, Cost Center, Program, Project, Part, Cost Element, for Budget and Actual

• Quickly, Efficiently, Track Costs and Variances for Products and Processes

• Manage Assets, Cash, Investments—Improve Cash Flow

• Manage Human Resources- Skills, Benefits, Payroll- Improve Employee ROI, Employee Satisfaction

Universal Requirements:

• Effective Leadership, Commitment

• Effective Plan

• Data Integrity

• Excellent Education, Training, Support, for Qualified, Motivated People

• Effective “Upstream” Systems: Forecasting, Engineering, Sales

• Streamlined, Flexible Processes

• Metrics

IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS

Software is maybe 20% of the equation. A “system” is an organized way of accomplishing and objectives and may consist of:

• Mission

• Leadership

• Goals, Objectives

• Metrics

• Organization/people

• Policies

• Procedures

• Education

• Training

• Tools, such as software, hardware and other technologies

Successful Lean implementation often requires all of the above for success, although some success can result with only some of it. Many Lean improvements can be accomplished without any software and computers, but these are required for best results and integration with other systems in more complex environments. In the meantime, significant improvements can be made through adoption of Lean philosophies and techniques, with manual or semi manual systems. But if a company’s competitor already has Lean IT systems and the company doesn’t, it’s like knives vs. guns. An outstanding knife fighter may prevail over an inept gunslinger, but why risk it?

Other Points

The sun does not rise and set on Lean. Although its principles are widely applicable, they tend to revolve around operational matters. Marketing, Development, CRM and Human Resources are equally pressing areas needed for success.

Lean is simplicity. It is much less complicated than almost any other philosophy of running a business. Yet some people, more specifically, certain vendors, consultants and academics, are trying to make it more complicated. They are developing complex new algorithms, new terms and techniques at a dizzying rate, in a frantic attempt to gain “traction” and visibility. Resist this. Keep it SIMPLE, keep it LEAN.

This article is based upon a presentation first given at Tools For Business Survival- St. Louis MO, APICS SIG Conference, April, 2002 (www.apics.org)

While sextoys have been around for most of the twentieth century (thousands of years really) they have been surging in popularity over the past 20 years, and making inroads into the bedrooms of many homes all around the world.

In the past, some items used for self pleasure were simply homemade sex toys cobbled together from items and object found around the home, like the humble cucumber. In these cases, an object used as a sex toy might lie out in the open until it was used, because it was just a harmless household object used for insertion.

Modern devices like women’s vibrator sex toys or a man’s pocket pussy are hard to mistake for anything else – people instantly know what they are, and since they are objects used for sexual intimacy and masturbation, our natural instinct is to keep these objects out of site and away from prying eyes.

Many people who have experimented with sex toys have more than one in their sextoy collection, almost like a hobby. Just like with any kind of hobby equipment or supplies, it’s good to keep your goodies in one place and well organized.

In movies, tv shows and adult films, you’ll often see a vibrator being taken from a drawer beside the bed when the fun starts. This is usually one of the worst places you can keep adult toys. Drawers often have nasty things in them – like dust, spores, lint, dirty pocket change and other undesirable elements.

You want to keep your sex toys away from dust and dirt that could be transferred to you body. Dust and spores can also lead to the sex toys themselves becoming contaminated with unpleasant bacteria or molds.

If you insist on keeping your sex toy(s) in a drawer, make sure they have a clean storage box or container within the drawer that’s for your intimate items only. The size of your toy collection and drawer will decide what’s most practical in this case.

If you have a larger collection of sex-toys, having a clean box to keep them in is a great way to allow you to keep your toys in the closet or under the bed.

For either example, follow the instructions below for a simple storage solution.

Simple Sex Toy Storage

Keeping in mind the size of your sex toy collection (which might grow?) and the area you’d like to keep it in – go to a department store and find yourself a good quality plastic storage box with a snap on lid of some kind. Containers made by Rubbermaid™ or Sterilite™ are perfect for this, and come in a wide range of sizes. Look for one with a rubbery feeling, semi flexible lid that can be cut easier than hard plastic. You know what size you need better than anyone, so choose carefully.

Once you’ve brought your adult toy storage box home, I’d recommend you cut a couple of small holes or slits in an area on the lid of the container. This is done to allow some air to get into the box, and allow moisture vapor left over from washing your sex toys to escape from the box and evaporate.

Two or three holes the size of a dime, fairly close together is ideal. You might want to trace a couple of dimes for this, and be careful when cutting.

Next, on the inside of the lid I recommend you tape a layer of coffee filter paper or paper towel, or even thin fabric over the holes. This is to filter dust and other foreign objects or critters from getting into your box, while still allowing the air and moisture to move in and out.

If you are fairly crafty you can cut some nice looking holes in a pattern, or cut little stars instead of round holes, and you could get creative with a glue gun to apply some nice filter fabric.

From there you can decorate your box with whatever you like, or leave it in stealth mode. You could even put a boring label on it, like “papers to sort”.

Inside your sex toy box, you might want to use a small / cheap hand-towel as a liner for the bottom, and have another towel to put on top. This works well as camouflage for transparent and translucent containers, as well as providing an easy to wash liner. If you have a collection of vibrators you can roll them up in a clean towel inside your box.

If you have more than one vibrator with cords or wires, it’s a good idea to either wrap the cords around something like a paper towel roll, or separate the corded sex toys using layers of towel – to prevent tangling.

You should always clean sex toys before putting them away, and put them away as dry as you can, using a towel other than the ones used in the box as liners.

Your sex toy box should be cleaned fairly regularly with some soap and water.

Even though you’ve washed your sextoys after using them and put them away properly, it’s still a good idea to at least rinse them well in warm water before using them again.

If you love horses, it doesn’t get any better than this: sea, sun, and a steady mount, a vision of pleasure and relaxation. In fact, there’s virtually no limit to the horse-drawn daydream you can bring to life in Costa Rica. Perhaps an afternoon ride alongside a clear mountain stream, the morning mists retreating to reveal a majestic vista of valley and volcano. Or how about a brisk beach ride in the cool of a coastal morning, greeted by the booming hoots of the howler monkeys and the splash of diving pelicans as you veer into the shade of a giant ceiba, the Mayan tree of life. There’s no doubt that if you are so inclined, much of your exploration of this beautiful country can best be done on horseback.

Horse lovers will find many Costa Ricans who share their persuasion, and no small wonder. Horses have played a central role in Costa Rican history and culture since the arrival of the first Spanish settlers in the 16th century. From coastal towns to cloud forest passes, you are sure to notice that horses continue to be a principal means of transportation for quite a few Costa Ricans. Even among those with more frenetic modern schedules, sentimental ties to the horse remain strong. Many urban and semi-urban Costa Ricans whose families have long left the farm nevertheless keep a steed in a stable to saddle-up in their spare time.

Costa Rica’s frequent fairs and festivals typically feature several horse events, the most popular of which is undoubtedly the tope (literally, the “bump”), a rollicking horse parade in which horse lovers of all stripes, from country cowboys to city slickers, can don their fanciest duds and prance stirrup-to-stirrup through the streets. The comfort and ease with which rich and poor “bump” and mingle en masse reflects not only Costa Rica’s relative social equality but also the ongoing cultural emphasis on honoring agricultural traditions. It is the same impulse to hold the land and those who work it close to their hearts, to remain humble regardless of station, which prompts even wealthy Costa Rican families to take their youngsters to pick coffee at least once a year.

Costa Ricans’ reverence for the horse is also reflected in national musical tastes, among which the ranchera is a perennial favorite. The traditional music of the mounted campesinos (country folk) from the deserts of northern Mexico to the Argentine pampas, ranchera music punctuates its stories of valor and betrayal with surging horns, enthusiastic vocal whoops, and exaggerated sobs. With songs such as “My Shining Cinnamon Steed” and “The Famous Black Stallion,” ranchera music is more likely to be an ode to a favorite horse rather than a paean to romantic love. Costa Rica counts among its native-born one of the few women superstars of the genre, the gun-toting, cigar-smoking Chavela Vargas, a close friend of Frida Kahlo who, after decades of success throughout Latin America, finally made her 2003 Carnegie Hall debut at age 83. Anyone interested in understanding ranchera’s popular appeal should attend one of the several ranchera festivals Costa Rica hosts each year throughout the country, delightful showcases of stirring music, superb singing, and impressive horsemanship.

Some who are choosing Costa Rica as “the” place to live are drawn precisely because of its horse-friendly ways. “We have noticed an increase in inquiries from people looking for horse properties,” says Pamela Wright, co-owner with her husband, Terry, of Beach Properties of Costa Rica. Just why that might be Tanya Herrington, owner of the Finca Más Tranquila (No Worries) horse farm outside Quepos, is quick to explain: “You really bond with nature riding in the countryside here. There’s nothing like it!” Tanya designed her wide-windowed home to sit atop the stables, allowing her to keep close watch on her horses and take best advantage of a great view.

Ray and Elizabeth Moss of Nosara say that Costa Ricans’ boundless enthusiasm for horses helped convince them to relocate here from the wine country of California, bringing their three horses with them (see “Journeying With Horses to Nosara” in current issue). “Everywhere I ride, people just come on over to chat and check out the horses,” says Elizabeth. “They love them…it’s just a horse-crazy country.”

Those who decide to buy their horses here will find a healthy and varied market, with prices beginning at only a few hundred dollars for horses that elsewhere would be worth much more. Indeed, it seems that the world is discovering what Costa Ricans have long known, that the country’s native Iberoamerican breeds are strong, beautiful, and spirited. Demand is growing both domestically and internationally, and top prices can reach $35,000. Sign of the growing reputation of this breed is the fact that singer Vicente Fernández, the Mexican king of ranchera music, traveled to Costa Rica to bring home a Costa Rican Iberoamerican to his ranch in Mexico, a fitting tribute to a worthy horse.

Riding is easy to arrange, no matter where you are. It is safe to say there is not a town or hamlet throughout this horse-loving nation without opportunities for recreational riding. More formal equestrian clubs featuring horse-boarding, riding lessons, and training and competitions in dressage and jumping have long been in existence throughout the Central Valley, and are now to be found in Guanacaste and other areas as well.

For suggestions on horse-riding options and properties suitable for horses in your area of interest Contact http://www.intl-investorsgroup.com.

With sound advice from the Intl-Investors Group, you’ll be able to ride off into the sunset—every day of the week!

The electric guitar was invented by a very talented man who when by the name of Adolph Rickenbacker. The first complete setup was back in the 1930’s, which was only a mere 70 years ago. On the other hand, the Classical guitar and the Acoustic Guitar have been around for many centuries. There is evidence that dates back to 1800 B.C., that shows the presents of guitars, or similar instruments. There is really no comparison between todays electric guitars and the past. The evolution of electric guitars has been nothing short of amazing. This article will give you a brief history of the electric guitar.

Adolph Rickenbacker manufactured his fist electric guitar in the early 1930’s, and equipped it with tungsten pickups. These pickups would sense the vibrations from the strings and convert them into electrical currents. The currents are relayed into the amp and produces sound.

Semi-hollow body are what the older guitars were know as. They were called this because they had sound holes in the body of the guitar. This style of guitar is still very popular today.

As the Big Band era approached in the 30’s and 40’s, the use of electric guitars became more popular. Plugging the guitar into an amplifier would give the much needed sound levels to be heard over the loud surroundings of the bands.

A guy by the name of Les Paul is an excellent musician, but if for some reason you don’t know this name, he is the inventor of the solid body electric guitar. Les Paul invented the fist solid body in 1941.

This type of guitar is made of one piece of wood and has no sound holes. You are able to simply plug into an amplifier and start thrashing. Paul’s first original guitar he made was nothing to brag about. It consisted of nothing more than a rectangular body attached to the neck and six steel strings. However, a modern day Les Paul is simply a thing of beauty.

It was in the 50’s that Gibson hooked up with Les Paul and presented the Gibson Les Paul to the world. From that day there was no turning back. The Gibson Les Paul has been a major success for over 50 years, and is considered the most popular selling electric guitar on the market. One guy very partial to the Gibson is Slash from Guns n’ Roses.

Leo Fender soon became the next big thing in solid-body guitars. Leo invented the Fender Broadcaster in the late 40’s. The Broadcaster was introduced to the public in 1954, but instead of Broadcaster, it was named the Fender Stratocaster or Fender “Strat”. The Fender Strat guitar was very different from the Gibson in the fact the the Strat had a different body shape, used different hardware, and was much lighter. Despite these differences, the Fender has become the second favorite guitar among musicians. Musicians such as Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and many others play the Fender Stratocaster.

Today, there are many other guitar manufactures that produce solid-body guitars. Here are a few:

1. Washburn
2. Ibanez
3. ESP
4 .Jackson
5. Paul Reed Smith
6. Kramer
7. Dean
8. Epiphone
9. Peavy
10. Schecter

For some reason most of we Americans who have never visited Spain think of this country as a small one and it comes as a shock to find that of all of our States only Texas is larger than she.

Possibly our ignorance of Spain is due to the fact that few members of this generation have visited Spain. This is due in large part to the many wars that have ravaged Spain. After World War II Spain was virtually ignored for years.

Tourists were coming to Europe as never before, but the main points of interest were further north, England, France, Switzerland, Italy. In 1947 only 3,700 of our countrymen entered Spain and the figure only slightly more than doubled in 1948.

But finances have been chaotic since the war and everywhere prices have literally zoomed. France, once a bargain paradise, became as expensive as the United States, or nearly so. And Switzerland and Italy trailed not far behind. Rumors began to drift up from the south that Spain was still operating at pre-war prices. That you could travel in Spain at a fraction the price in the more popular tourist countries, or could retire on a pittance.

And nothing spreads so fast in the traveling set, and those who live permanently, or semi-permanently abroad as such rumors. Thousands began to drift into Spain, and then tens of thousands, until at this writing at least a quarter of a million Americans visit Spain each year, and thousands have become permanent residents.

Of course, just because a country is cheap is no reason to retire there. Possibly the cheapest place I have ever been is the interior of Turkey. I would estimate that given the current black market rate of exchange, you could live there like a pasha for $50 a month for a couple. But what would you do? What would you see? Who would you talk to? You might live in a palace and have a swarm of servants on $100 a month in one of the smaller towns of inland Turkey – but you’d probably go stark raving mad after a couple of months or so.

But Spain offers a good deal more than economy. Her scenery is varied, her climate probably the best in Europe, with the possible exception of the Greek islands, there is a wide Anglo-American population which guarantees companionship if you cannot find it among the Spaniards, and the luxuries as well as the necessities of life are available.

There is one thing that you are undoubtedly going to resent in Spain and I might as well state it bluntly. In spite of the fact that Uncle Sam is currently playing footsie with Franco, in return for military bases, this country is a police state and everywhere you see signs of it. In no country in Europe, even behind the Iron Curtain, have I seen so many armed police and soldiers continually patrolling the streets and roads, two by two, machine guns slung over their backs. Spain has one of the largest standing armies in Europe, and have no doubt about it, it is not because Franco’s state fears invasion – the army and police are there to protect the state from the Spanish.

However, as far as you, personally, are concerned you are not apt to be touched by this situation. Foreigners, and particularly Americans, bring foreign exchange into the country so largely they are left alone. Spain is a beautiful country, her people wonderful people. If you are not depressed by her social system you will probably love her.

Bombardier Beetle

One of life’s little riddles is the bombardier beetle. As far as evolution is concerned, it’s a tough nut to crack. This small insect has a very imposing chemical defense system. When threatened, it aims it’s two abdomen tubes at its adversary, often an ant or spider. Then the bombardier fires off a series of miniature explosions peppering its victim with boiling acid. It is quite effective at keeping predators at bay.

What makes it work? The defense weapon is made of two storage glands, a combustion chamber, a couple of machine-gun type of swivel tubes, and of course the bombardier’s expertise and instinct for using it. The chemicals are stored separately and are combined when used.

When combined, the toxic mixture is 25 percent hydrogen peroxide, 10 percent hydroquinone, water, and free oxygen plus enzymes which detonate the explosion. Of course, all of these chemicals must be stored, combined, and used in the right places, amounts, and concentrations. Otherwise, this little bug could easily blow itself into extinction or boil itself alive. The fact that it doesn’t do either shows how well this insect is put together.

The bombardier controls, aims, and fires its chemical weapon through a series of specialized nerves and muscles. Each rapid explosion is heard as a “pop.” Oxygen spews out a hot jet of steam and quinone solution under high pressure. It is a well-coordinated delivery system for firing droplets of boiling, burning acid at anyone who dares bother the bombardier beetle.

How did such an elaborate defense system come about? Every minute detail of it had to be programmed in the DNA.

Consider what is involved here: Storage compartments, combination chamber, separate chemicals and enzymes, the intake of exact amounts of water and oxygen, plus hundreds of nerves, muscles, and fibers intricately woven into a working system. All of these items are coded and integrated into the bombardier’s DNA.

To say that this extraordinary defense system resulted from a series of errors is not a reasonable conclusion. It’s on the same level as saying a jig-saw puzzle of a thousand pieces happened, by sheer accident, to fit together perfectly forming a complete mosaic.

That’s asking too much of an accident or any series of accidents. Someone with intelligence put the puzzle together; likewise, Someone with intelligence put together the bombardier beetle.

There is another reason for doubting the evolution of such a complex defense system. Predators would not have allowed it. Can you imagine ants, spiders, and praying mantis idly standing by for millions of years patiently waiting for mutations to gradually perfect the bombardier’s defense? No?

Given the opportunity, you can be sure, predators would have devoured this otherwise helpless little bug into extinction. Thus we are compelled to say, the bombardier’s chemical defense system in all of its complexity had to come onboard, intact as a single unit. It was designed.

Millipede Apheloria Corrugata

What’s true of the bombardier is also true of the millipede Apheloria corrugata who shoots hydrogen cyanide at its enemies. Again incremental steps are not practical. The only reasonable explanation for these complex, integrated chemical defenses is design – design by Someone with an in-depth knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, and microbiology.

Darwin Quote on Eye and Natural Selection

Next let’s consider the eye. Here is where the rubber meets the road. This is the acid test for evolution. Darwin recognized the problem and mentioned it in the Origin of the Species: “To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.”

Who can argue with that?

Vision

This is what we know about human vision: Light enters the eye through the transparent window called the cornea which covers the pupil. The pupil is an opening in the iris, the colored part of the eye. Light continues through the aqueous humor, a watery substance, until it lands upon the lens. The lens in turn focuses the light on the retina.

On the way to the retina, light must travel through the vitreous humor, a transparent jelly which fills out the center of the eye, helping it to keep its shape. When light hits the retina, it stimulates up to 137 million specialized cells know as rods and cones. (Cones are the color detectors; rods are the black and white detectors.)

Both rods and cones are chemical switch receptors. Light triggers these miniature on-off buttons generating as estimated one billion nerve impulses per second. The mass of electrical impulses is forwarded to the cerebral cortex via the optic nerve and a complex nerve network.

The cerebral cortex is equipped with a visual processing center which integrates data from both eyes and inverts the upside down image. That provides us with our three-dimensional right-side-up picture. Exactly how the brain interprets those electrical impulses and turns them into a picture is still a mystery.

Eye Components and Functions

Just how complicated is the eye? Each human eye contains over 137 million essential working parts. Can you imagine a machine that complex? Let’s take a look at some of these components and their functions.

The outside layer is called the sclerotic layer. It’s white, semi-rigid, and gives the eyeball its basic shape and provides a measure of protection as well.

The middle layer is called the choroid layer. It’s a dark pigment containing numerous blood vessels. Its job is to prevent light from reflecting within the eye.

The inner layer is called the retina. It contains 130 million rods which see in black and shades of gray, and 7 million cones which provide sharp, clear color vision. Each cone is sensitive to only color: red, green, or blue light. Rods and cones are actually photoreceptor cells connected to sensory neurons. The retina changes light into electrical nerve impulses.

Conjunctiva – A mucous membrane which lines the inner surface of the eyelid and the exposed surface of the eye and lubricates both.

Cornea – A uniformly thick, transparent nearly circular disc covering the lens. It serves as a window letting light into the eye, and it also protects the lens.

Aqueous humor – A clear, lymph-like fluid between the cornea and lens.

Iris- The color-pigmented membrane separating the cornea from the lens. It adjusts the size of the pupil regulating the amount of light admitted to the eye.

Pupil – The black circular hole through which light enters the eye.

Ciliary muscles – Controls the shape of the iris which in turn adjusts the size of the pupil.

Lens – A transparent part of the eye that focuses light to form an image of the retina.

Vitreous humor – The transparent substance which fills the eye.

Eye muscles – Six muscles attached to the eye which provide movement.

Tear ducts and glands – A system for lubricating and protecting the eye.

The eye also has a few accessories:

Eyelashes and eyebrows – Both assist in keeping out debris. Each serves as a defense mechanism for the eye.

That is a remarkable number of parts working together for a common purpose. Don’t forget that each of these items must be coded into the DNA at its appropriate location to integrate and coordinate with all the other eye features. It has all the appearances of design. It’s difficult to see how it could be anything else. The same thought occurred to Charles Darwin. The eye “with all of its inimitable contrivances” gave him second thoughts about his natural selection theory.

Television Analogy

Have you ever looked inside of a television set? Inside you find a number of panels with numerous miniature parts seemingly all mixed together in a hodge-podge collection. But that is not really the case. Those panels are circuit boards. And on those circuit boards are carefully positioned transistors, capacitors, resistors, conductors, transformers, and other electronic parts all creating an image on the picture tube.

Each tiny part is exactly the correct type, size, and strength needed for that particular spot on the circuit board. If anything is out of line, chances are you will not get a picture. Just as in the eye, all parts are essential.

We know that television didn’t just happen. It took some intelligent people a good number of years to figure out the technology and put it into place. The eye is considerably more complicated than any TV. It has far more parts to harmonize than even the most expensive television set. All indications are that the human eye was put together by Someone whose intelligence and technology are vastly superior to our own. In Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin seems to agree.

Evolutionists’ Explanation for Vision

How do evolutionists account for eyesight? They believe that the eye began as a light-sensitive spot on a cell. Step-by-step, random mutation after mutation, light-sensitive cells folded inward to form a retina. Somehow mutations made the skin on the surface transparent, part of which turned into a lens focusing light on the newly formed retina.

Again, random mistake after mistake after mistake added parts to the eye which in time became the fully functional, complex, detailed organ we have today. Evolutionists arrange a series of compound eyes from different creatures which they claim show the evolutionary steps leading up to the human eye.

What’s wrong with the evolutionist’s story? Quite a bit. The speculation about a gradual mutation-led construction of the eye is just that – speculation. There are no partially formed eyes in the fossil record. Different types of eyes? Yes,. But they are all complete, fully functional systems with every component in place and accounted for.

Furthermore, the eye by itself does not give us vision. The optic nerve, the thalamus, and a series of nerves linking the eye to the brain are all required. And there’s more. The brain has a primary visual cortex and a visual association cortex set up to decode and interpret the incoming information.

See how complex it is? The eye, the optic nerve, the thalamus, the nerve network, and the brain’s visual processing centers all had to be in place and fully operational before sight was possible.

How do evolutionists account for these extra components in our visual system? They don’t. They ignore them. Evolutionists can only say, “Mistake after mistake in the DNA must have produced these essential ingredients.” Incremental evolutionary steps is not a reasonable explanation for sight. Furthermore, observation and dissection of plants and animals have not revealed any developing incomplete organ of any type presently in nature. And the fossil record has yet to show any developing, incomplete organ of any type in the past.

Color Vision

Color vision, says biologist Michael Pitman in his book Adam and Evolution, presents yet another problem for the evolutionists. Most creatures don’t have it. Only several bony fishes, reptiles, birds, bees plus other assorted insects, and primates see in color. Yes, that does leave out other mammals such as cats, dogs, horses, and bulls, all of which see in black, white, and shades of gray.

That’s just an interesting quirk of nature unless, of course, you are a protozoa-to-man evolutionist. Then you have a problem. You find yourself defending the following proposition: Fish evolved retinal cones allowing color vision.

Evolving into amphibians, color vision was somehow lost, only to resurface (maybe we should call it re-evolve) in certain birds and related reptiles. But when it came to mammals color vision was lost again. However, color vision did another about-face and reemerged in primates. How’s that for a twisted story?

Two Eyes Standard

If you were to line up every amphibian, reptile, bird, and mammal, and look each one squarely in the face, what would you see? About the same as you see when you look at your own reflection in the mirror. You find a balanced symmetrical face: two ears – one on each side, two eyes overlooking a single nose in the center with a mouth directly below. Species after species fit that general description including the vast majority of fish too.

But why two eyes? Evolutionists have an answer: “Three dimensional vision was essential for our ancestors swinging through the trees.” Using our imagination, we can see luckless one-eyed primates banging into trees due to their lack of depth perception.

With their extinction only the two-eyed types were left to carry on. Even if we accept natural selection’s bias against one-eyed tree swingers, that still does not explain all of those other two-eyed amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and fish who never had to contend with tree swinging.

For all practical purposes, one eye should suffice. Think of all it takes to make one eye work. Well over a hundred million individual parts must work in unison – with each other and with a nerve network and a specialized optic nerve section of the brain. When the whole system is in gear and producing – you have vision.

It’s next to impossible to see how evolution’s haphazard errors could ever accidentally conjure up one eye. Even so, that’s far more feasible than two eyes emerging from such a questionable source. One-eyed creatures, however, are nowhere to be found – in or out of the fossil record.

Of course two eyes are better than one. They cover a wider territory, and you have a built-in spare should one go bad. Depth perception does assist predators in pinpointing their prey, and it helps the prey to avoid the predators. But if we start considering evolutionary advantages, why not three eyes instead of two? Wouldn’t that be even better? Sure, why not four or five eyes while we are at it?

And how many times has a predator slipped up on the back of as unsuspecting prey? If the prey had an eye or two in the back of its head, wouldn’t it be a leg up in the evolutionary sweepstakes?

Yet no amphibian, reptile, bird or mammal has opted for either the evolutionary shortcut of a single eye or the evolutionary advantage of more than two eyes.

If the only thing at work here is random, haphazard, off-the-wall mutations, those persistent two-eyed creatures extending back millions of years make no sense at all. On the other hand, if those amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals were designed, there is a logical explanation for the consistent pattern. The designer liked the two ears, two eyes, single nose and mouth look. And that’s the way he made them.

Ear Components and Functions

Turning our attention to the ear, we find a repeat of the eye story. The characters are different, but the theme is the same. The outer ear, ear canal, eardrum, eustachian tube, hammer, anvil, stirrup, cochlea, cochlear nerve, and the auditory center of the temporal lobe – all work in harmony for a common purpose. Actually, ears serve two purposes: hearing and balance.

Here is how the ear works: The outer ear collects sound and funnels it into a one-inch irregularly shaped ear canal. The canal acts as a filter. Numerous hairs plus four thousand wax-producing glands keep out foreign particles and provides a constant moist temperature for the delicate middle and inner ear.

The eardrum is located at the end of the ear canal. Sound vibrations are passed from the eardrum to a trio of linked bones in the middle ear. They are named for their shapes: the hammer, anvil, and stirrup. These three tiny bones amplify the sound into the inner ear. Air pressure is equalized on either side of the eardrum by a vent leading from the middle ear to the throat. It’s called the eustachian tube.

In the inner ear, we find what appears to be a small snail shell. This little device is the cochlea. The cochlea is only about the size of a hazelnut, but it has a big job. It is usually compared to one of two things. Some say it is similar to a telephone system with enough circuits to service a good-sized city.

Others liken the cochlea to a piano keyboard with twenty thousand or so different keys. Either way, you get the idea; it is a very small but extraordinarily complex structure.

Incoming sound frequencies which have been amplified by the hammer-anvil-stirrup combination, vibrate hair-like sensory cells in the cochlea. The cochlea’s job is to translate sound waves into nerve impulses. Varying sound frequencies strike different sections of the sensory cells in numerous combinations. Nerve impulses travel from the cochlea on to the auditory nerve and on into the brain. And that is what we hear.

Once again we see an organ which has all the appearances of design. It takes a great leap of faith to claim it is an accumulation of DNA errors. There is no evidence for such a claim nor facts to support it. The only reasonable conclusion is that Someone with a good solid knowledge of physics, biology, and micro-technology designed and made this complex, intricate, and delicate organ.

Analogies and Conclusion

Have you ever seen a cornfield? A cornfield is nothing but acre after acre of cornstalks all about the same height, all in neat rows with little on no grass between. After seeing a cornfield, it would never occur to you that the whole thing could be an accident. Nature just doesn’t do that sort of thing. Someone cleared the ground and planted the seeds.

Let’s try another example. On either side of the road you notice a row of evenly spaced dogwood trees. And each tree is circled by a single row of flowers. No one needs to tell you that somebody purposely planted those trees and flowers.

We know that Mount Rushmore bears the likenesses of four U.S. presidents. If your geography teacher were to tell you that those heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt were accidentally formed by natural erosion, would you believe it? If your English teacher were to tell you the first unabridged English dictionary resulted from an accidental explosion in a print shop, would you laugh?

Nature is not neat. It’s not symmetrical; nor is it artistic or creative. No, it is just the opposite — disorganized, erratic, and chaotic. You and I know if nature is left to its own devices, it will grow an irregular assortment of weeds, but not a neat row of crops. It will grow an odd collection of various trees scattered hither, thither, and yon, but not evenly spaced dogwoods with a single row of flowers circling each.

Erosion will create ugly gashes in hillsides, but it won’t carve statues of presidents out of rock. An explosion can blow a print shop to smithereens, but it is not going to create a dictionary. Nature doesn’t build things up; it doesn’t create patterns; and it doesn’t produce complex designs.

Nature did not create the bombardier’s chemical defense system, nor the millipede’s hydrogen cyanide system, nor the human eye or ear. Nor did nature create the extraordinary computer called the brain, whose operation is still beyond our full understanding. The only logical explanation is that each was designed. And where we find such clear evidence of design, it’s reasonable to assume a Designer.

Speaking in vague generalities, evolution often seems plausible. But getting down to the nitty-gritty of specific organs such as eyes and ears, we find evolution an inadequate and impractical answer.