Wednesday Sundries

You won't see me flying on an airplane. I'm claustrophobic to begin with and I can't get out and get away if I need to. I also have this fear the plane is going to crash and I can't get out and get away. Once I saw a deaf person explain why he would never get on a plane. Sign language is so expressive! One hand was the airplane, cruising along happily. The other hand became the lightning bolt violently striking the plane which went into a steep spin and crashed.

Now I've got another good reason not to get on a plane. People with sleep apnea--which I have--are at greater risk of ...cardiac/respiratory complications...if they fly. Here's the article I read:

Those with sleep apnea at risk on airline

TORONTO (UPI) -- Those with severe obstructive sleep apnea may have a greater risk of adverse events from cardiac stress during airline flights, Australian researchers say.

Leigh Seccombe of the Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney compared oxygen levels and ventilation of healthy people and people with severe obstructive sleep apnea during simulated flight conditions replicating the oxygen and pressure levels of typical commercial flights.

"It is normal for the rate of breathing to increase when air pressure falls. We predicted that patients with obstructive sleep apnea would have a much sharper fall in oxygen levels because they might not increase their breathing as much," Seccombe said in a statement.

"In fact, we found that patients with obstructive sleep apnea do have a lower blood oxygen level before and during aircraft cabin condition stimulation, but that the change in oxygen was similar. We also found that their breathing intensity increases at about the same rate as it does in healthy people."

What was different was the physiological stress and demand for oxygen was increased in people with obstructive sleep apnea, the researchers found.

The findings were presented at the American Thoracic Society's 2008 International Conference in Toronto.

Yeah. So you won't see me on an airplane!



Amber's shout





Ponderings by George Carlin

1. Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?
2. Why is the third hand on the watch called the second hand?
3. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know?
4. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words?
5. Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?

6. Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?
7. Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing?
8. Why do "tug" boats push their barges?
9. Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there?
10. Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting?

11. Why is it called "after dark" when it really is "after light"?
12. Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected?
13. Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites?
14. Why do "overlook" & "oversee" mean opposite things?
15. Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds?

16. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it?
17. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
18. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?
19. If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right?
20. Why is bra singular and panties plural?

21. Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know
the batteries are dead?
22. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase?
23. How come abbreviated is such a long word?
24. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them?
25. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

26. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one?

27. Christmas is weird. What other time of the year do you sit in front of a
dead tree and eat candy out of your socks?