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Lunch With George!
April 11, 2002 - Wildflower Bread Company
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Agenda
More Sailing News
The sailing saga continues! On Monday, George drove to Los Angeles to get a close |
Still, it looks promising! The trailer is in good shape, and the seller and his buddy offered to tow it to Phoenix ("Road trip-- Gnarly!").
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Not yet content, George and Sandeep also attended the monthly meeting of the Arizona Yacht Club. They met a lot of middle-aged, boat-racing party dudes! One fellow wanted George to buy a Merit 25 instead of the J/24, so they would have enough Merits to fill a single-class race, i.e., have a "fleet" (I don't think George is convinced). They also met a gentleman who is planning to race his boat in a couple of weeks in Los Angeles. He has invited George and Sandeep to meet him there after the race an join the crew for the sail back to San Diego. They're going! It sounds very exciting, and I'm sure we'll get a full report.
More on Climbing
As a result of all my recent reading about Mt. Everest, I've become intrigued enough that I want to learn to climb (although I have no personal interest in climbing the world's tallest mountains). Here in Phoenix there are many opportunities to learn and practice climbing. There is the Arizona Mountaineering Club, and a few climbing schools. It seems that with the advent of what is called Sport Climbing (climbing prepared sites both natural and artificial-- it does not require a lot of technical ability), true climbing is now referred to as "Trad" climbing, for "traditional."
The Arizona Climbing Center is a large indoor 
climbing facility near 19th Avenue and Peoria. They offer indoor and outdoor classes in climbing. There is also the Arizona Climbing and Adventure School. They offer a variety of climbing courses, including programs for kids as young as 10.
I recently received three books in the mail which I hope to read: The Climb, by Anatoli Boukreev; High Exposure, by David F. Breashears; and Climbing High, by Lene Gammelgaard. I've already begun the Breashears book, and it is keeping my interest. Jon Krakauer's forward to the book paints the picture of Breashears as a fearless climber, whose greatest and most legendary climbing feats occurred far from Everest.
Alzheimer's
I was listening to an interesting interview on NPR's Talk of the Nation the other day. The guest, Thomas DeBaggio, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 57. He has written a book entitled Losing My Mind, which is a mixture of stories, quotes from his notebooks, and detailed medical information about the disease.
He and his wife, Joyce, appeared on NPR and discussed their changed lives. Thomas describes that everything about his life is now categorized as "Before Alzheimer's", or "After Alzheimer's". He is virtually unable to create new memories, but has a firm grip on those he created before the onset of the disease (sound familiar? Kinda like a movie we discussed a few weeks ago...). He claims these are the best days of his life, since each new day is fresh. His wife disagrees, however, since he is no longer himself, requires a significant amount of care, and due to the Alzheimer's he flies into rages at times. For her, their best days have come and gone.
I searched Google for "amalgam", and discovered that it is a very hot topic! The Federal Government and the ADA approve of the use of mercury in fillings, yet consider all other human exposure to mercury to be harmful! There are researchers who are claiming a possible link between amalgam fillings and many different health problems, including Alzheimer's. Take a look at this site: The Mercury Amalgam Page.
Amalgam
George was telling me about a recent visit to the dentist. The dentist was explaining to George about various materials used for fillings, and how long they are expected to last. He noted that amalgam fillings (a mixture of Silver, Tin, Copper, Zinc, and Mercury) once lasted about 15 years on the average, but now last only 10 years. The reason? Evidently research is showing that a much larger percentage of Americans are grinding their teeth at night, resulting in increased wear of the fillings.
Golden Dollar Update
I read a story on the web which stated that the U.S. Mint was halting production of the Sacajawea Golden Dollar, due to an overabundance of the coins. I guess the government just isn't doing enough to increase demand for the coins. I still think the easiest way is to simply pull all one-dollar bills out of circulation! Canada has done so (thanks, Corey!), and they carry dollar coins all the time.
Copyright © 2002, Paul Wren. All rights reserved.
Last modified 04/28/2002.
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