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Vol. X, No. 10 March 6, 2004 IN THIS ISSUE:
 Dalton Deedrick continues his account of his volunteer dentistry during a MONTH IN AFRICA March 22 - Wednesday. Arguably the hardest day I ever put in in dentistry. Every second patient seemed to have an impacted wisdom tooth. By the time they present, there is nothing but an eggshell fragment of crown left, and what is below the surface is imbedded in bone as hard as a beef rib. African teeth are characteristically long rooted, and difficult. No power after supper, just the old standby lantern. Am about half way through Pierre Berton's book, "The Arctic Grail", in which he details the hardships of the explorers, who usually ended up eating their shoes, their dogs, and even each other after being ice-bound for months. Somehow, batching at Kilimambogo doesn't seem much of a hardship after all. All of the main roads here are intercepted by little pathways, each of them leading to a shanty with a thatched or galvanized roof, and a little patch of maize and beans. Here the people scratch out a meager living if the rains don't fail, and if they are fortunate, there may be an excess to take to the market. There are quite a few schools here in Kenya, some of them government, and others supported by various churches. Most of the people working at the clinic and hospital are literate, and have about a grade eight level of education. Each school has its distinctive uniform, and the students always appear immaculate. There is a refugee camp nearby containing some 5000 Somalis and Ethiopians. They stand out along the way, the women in long dresses, shawls, and some with faces covered - Muslims, I assume. I believe they are looked after by an arm of the United Nations, and they claim they are hungry. Sister M.C. is breaking in Mathew as a driver. She sits in the passenger seat and monitors. Actually, he did pretty well, and if he is approved, he will be doing some of the trips. Alas, I can't understand him much better than I can the good sister! March 23 - Mangu again, and about 150 people seated as in a theater while we set up our operatory on stage. Pulled the tattered old curtain across the working area, much to the disappointment of the audience, I'm sure. No electricity again, and only the miserable little miners-type headlamp to work by. Worked steadily through batches of five and by our normal quitting time we had seen 60 patients. Michael, our statistician and tooth-counter, advised that the record day up to that point was a total of 62 patients by a previous volunteer, so we took on one more relay. Our days count now stands at 65 patients and 131 extractions. I expect that some young sprout will exceed that some day, but I'll bet he'll be tired too! Home wearily to a "creamy chicken" supper, and ample local fresh fruit. May the sun always shine on the fellow who invented dehydrated food in foil packages! March 24 - Not a lengthy toothache lineup, so a chance to do some fillings. Normally, this is the work I enjoy most, but it is a lot more fun when the operating light stays put where you direct it, where the chair back doesn't fall flat several times, where the air-rotor works, and the hand instruments and other dental do-dads are somewhere to be found. I'm glad I wasn't demonstrating for a board exam. The valve for the air-operated rotor has been malfunctioning. There's a little round gizmo with 13 screws which have to be taken out to access the interior. I disassembled and reassembled it three times without a good fix, then finally made a diaphragm out of the cover of a travelers cheque booklet, and it worked. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. I must get a fax away to my replacement coming in a couple of weeks, and have him bring a proper repair part from the States. The sisters must be afraid I'm going to starve. From time to time they come up from their residence with a meal in a big thermos. Lots of good local vegetables, and this time there was a large piece of fish nestled amid the greens. Here they still adhere to the "fish on Friday" rule. There are about eight or ten sisters here, involved mostly as nurses. The hospital can accommodate about 40 patients, but there is no full-time doctor, so if seriously-ill patients present, they go into Thika. Most of the population bear their illnesses and accidents at home, where some survive, and others don't. March 25 - Saturday. Sister M.C. whisked me into Thika to send an urgent fax re. the air rotor repair. We stopped at the Blue Post hotel for a decadent great ice cream sundae. Sister M.C. was a member of the Ibo tribe in west Africa. This was the tribe caught up as the minority group slaughtered by the hundreds in the Biafran conflict, a situation much similar to the Rwandan holocaust. She was a survivor and refugee from that horror, and was sent by her order to administer this hospital. She had to learn a new language when she came to this area, and I can't judge whether her Swahili is comparable to her English or not. Maybe she's like our chief executive in Canada, incomprehensible in both languages! To be continued.
Margaret Manning writes: Although I have written about the Outback Train, the Ghan, previously, it was quite some time ago. Now that the rail line has been extended from Alice Springs north to Darwin I thought a new article about the trip might be in order: THE GHAN TRIP THROUGH THE OUTBACK I doubt that I'll ever get the chance to do the complete trip through Australia's Outback from Adelaide to Darwin on the Ghan. This new service, started at the beginning of February 2004, is expected to bring new prosperity to the Northern Territory in commercial, industrial and tourism ventures. The train that makes this journey of approximately 3100 km. is a kilometre long and I'd love to go on it, or at least picture it in the centre of some of Australia's most remote landscape. The publicity machine for this week's launch of the new service emphasised the luxury of the cabins and the quality of the dining. Apparently tickets to travel on the inaugural trip cost thousands of dollars each. It was certainly an historic journey as it has taken so long to get the new rail line completed. Television news showed the man who obtained the first ticket to travel on The Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin - he got the ticket 22 years ago. We travelled on the Ghan in September 1996. That sounds ages ago but seems like last week as we can remember every detail of the journey from Alice Springs to Adelaide. We left Alice at 2 p.m. and arrived in Adelaide bang on time 20 hours later. That was despite a few hiccups with engine trouble somewhere in the middle of the Simpson Desert. I remember being woken by a jolt, and then the train went really slowly, then stopped for what seemed like eons. Looking out the cabin window was no help as it was a pitch-dark night. We had a longer than expected stop at Port Augusta while the engines were changed over and were told that the train had run over something on the line in the desert, hence the bumps in the night. We received first-class service on the Ghan. We were led to our cabin and told that afternoon tea would be served in our cabin at 3 o'clock but if we wanted anything at any time, all we had to do was buzz for an attendant. When refreshments were delivered we were asked to nominate the first or second sitting for dinner. Our attendant told us most people preferred the second one, so we chose that. We just sat and looked at that incredible sight of the Outback landscape until it was too dark to see anything outside. Then it was time for dinner. We sat opposite a couple who spent most of their retirement travelling Australia by train, the man having worked for the railways all his life. They lived in Perth and were returning there from Adelaide on the Indian-Pacific train. They had done that several times. We had a choice of entre, main and dessert, as well as wine, and it was all very unhurried and civilised. After the meal we went to the bar to see what entertainment was on offer but there was only the bar or television on that occasion. So we returned to our cabin, which by then had been transformed into sleeping quarters with crisp monogrammed bed linen. We had our own facilities and the shower/washbasin/toilet area was quite adequate. We were awake very early the next morning so that we could see as much of that unusual landscape as possible. We had tea- and coffee-making facilities in our cabin but eagerly awaited breakfast. There were many options for breakfast. The train fanatics opposite us politely asked how we were enjoying the rail trip and whether we had heard the train stop. They seemed to know exactly where it had stopped. We left the Ghan at Adelaide with lovely memories and a package of Ghan goodies - toilet bag, shampoo, soap, hand towel, etc. So it's no wonder I'd love to go on it again and do the whole darned distance.
Geoff Goodship's story of a holiday in COSTA RICA is continued on Jay's Spinner website, complete with pictures. Owing to technical difficulties, it is a work-in-progress - the problem of wrapping text around pictures has so far proven unsolveable. (Pictures are lost in cyberspace - Jay)
Jean Sterling has found THE MOST SPOILED PET IN THE WORLD Somehow I always thought that the most spoiled pet in the world was a cat. My cats have always been pretty spoiled, and or course there is that snooty-looking cat in the Fancy Feast commercial who is served in a crystal goblet and called to dine by the delicate chime of a spoon tapping against the goblet. However, the most spoiled pet isn't a cat - it's a DOG! A friend of mine has a dog named Madison, and Madison is more spoiled than I imagined possible. Madison is a big galoot of a dog. She (yes, Madison is a girl) is so tall that I can pat her without bending over. Madison's servant (my friend) described to me yesterday how she spends her day catering to the dog's desire to sleep in the sun. Madison has a dog bed where she likes to nap. At her insistence, the dog bed is placed in a sunny spot, and Madison will happily drift off to the land of endless bones and gourmet dog food. However, the sunny spot doesn't remain stationary. It moves, it isn't long before Madison wakes up and finds that she is (gasp) now reclining in the shade. To remedy this situation, Madison gets up and moves to the sunny spot's new location. She then stands there and makes pitiful whimpering sounds until my friend or her husband moves the dog bed. Doesn't that just beat all? And I thought my cat was spoiled! I don't know what Madison is doing today - it's been raining all day, and is supposed to rain again tomorrow. Maybe they will have to buy a sun lamp for the dog?
This one is old but it's a keeper: TODAY'S MATHEMATICS LESSON There were three Indian squaws. One slept on a deer skin, one slept on an elk skin, and the third slept on a hippopotamus skin. All three became pregnant, and the first two each had a baby boy. The one who slept on the hippopotamus skin had twin boys. This goes to prove that the squaw of the hippopotamus is equal to the sons of the squaws of the other two hides.
For those who take an interest in financial matters, here is an old STOCK MARKET REPORT Helium was up. Feathers were down. Paper was stationary. Fluorescent tubing was dimmed in light trading. Knives were up sharply. Pencils lost a few points. Hiking equipment was trailing. Elevators rose, while escalators continued their slow decline. Weights were up in heavy trading. Light switches were off. Mining equipment hit rock bottom. Diapers remain unchanged. Shipping lines stayed at an even keel. The market for raisins dried up. Coca Cola fizzled. Caterpillar stock inched up a bit. Sun peaked at midday. Balloon prices were inflated.
MULTIMAP.COM COVERS THE WORLD Jay writes about this site: The neat thing is that you can click into any place you want. The map of my backyard is a little wrong but very impressive nevertheless. The url is: http://www.bing.com/maps/?FORM=MMREDR.
BUFORD'S GOT THE SHINGLES Doesn't it seem that more and more physicians are running their practices like an assembly line? Here's what happened to Buford: Buford walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had. Buford said, "Shingles." So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat. Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aid came out and asked Buford what he had. Buford said, "Shingles." So she wrote down his height, weight, a complete medical history, and told Buford to wait in the examining room. A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Buford what he had. Buford said, "Shingles." So she gave Buford a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, told Buford to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor. An hour later the doctor came in and asked Buford what he had. Buford said, "Shingles." The doctor asked, "Where?" Buford said, "Outside on the truck. Where do you want them?"
Judith English forwarded this PRAYER FOR WOMEN
Now I lay me down to sleep.
Shirley Davis posted some of the BEST HEADLINES FROM 2003 Crack Found on Governor's Daughter Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert Says Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers Iraqi Head Seeks Arms Is There a Ring of Debris around Uranus? Prostitutes Appeal to Pope Panda Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over Teacher Strikes Idle Kids Miners Refuse to Work after Death Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant War Dims Hope for Peace If Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures Enfield (London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide Red Tape Holds Up New Bridges Man Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft Kids Make Nutritious Snacks Chef Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half Hospitals are Sued by Seven Foot Doctors And the winner is: Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain |