Home  >> Stories  >> The Tale Spinner #2011-42

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IN THIS ISSUE

• Dalton Deedrick continues his story of a month in Africa
• Lyle Meeres begins a story of a visit to Spain
• Commuters will identify with this letter
• Bruce Galway forwards the story of a great feat of engineering
• Burke Dykes sends another blonde joke
• Don Henderson does not do a lot of travelling
• Here are four important necessities for a happy marriage - for men
• Sites are suggested by Betty Fehlhaber, Bruce Galway, Catherine Nesbitt, Marilyn Magid, and Tom Williamson

Dalton Deedrick continues his diary account of his volunteer work during

A MONTH IN AFRICA

March 14 - Repacked our gear and retraced yesterday´s road to Limuru, then off to a little place called Riata. It is a school for postulants, i.e., a weeding-out school for potential nuns. Some withdraw, and the rest go on to novitiate school and become nuns. I hope I have that right. Not being Catholic, I am never quite sure how the system works.

The clinic was about 50 yards from the road, and up a steep embankment. We all took a share of the equipment, including crates of fruit, a gift from one station to the other. I had somehow forgotten my cardiologists warning about doing that sort of thing, and I was content to just sit and rest while the equipment was set up. Half an hour later the work started.

A goodly number of the patients were past-middle-age grandmothers. The lives of toil they have led is not conducive to a beautiful old age. All were poor, worn out, and sad. Hacking away for years with a hoe, lugging firewood or maize stalks on your back, and making a living for far too many children takes their toll.

This is high country, where tea flourishes. Miles of lush, low bushes, with dozens of pickers, were along the road. Most of these plantations were established when the British counted much of East Africa as colonial territory. I can see why they were reluctant to relinquish it.

March 15 - I thought we had seen the worst roads in Africa yesterday and the day before, but getting to this little village of Komothay took the cake. I´m beginning to love the Peugeot; its springs and axles are beyond compare!

Not much surgery, but 90 school kids came by to be checked. Michael herds them into a big circle when they have been through the chair exam, and gives them a talk on how to look after their teeth. Then they get what they came for in the first place, a shiny toothbrush, the first one they have ever seen.

Between Thika and Kilimambogo we saw a giraffe just a couple of hundred yards off the road. Michael and I walked over to where we might get a picture - they are not very shy - and found she had a new- born, wobbly-legged young one. We backed off at once so as not to disturb them.

One is quite safe in this part of Africa in the bush, the high human population having eliminated the antelope and other quarry of the big predators, and the most likely danger is from snakes. I haven´t seen one here yet.

Sister M.C. negotiated with a vendor for a supply of bananas and a pineapple, and mentioned that their phone had started to work, and invited me over to make a call back home. Had a good connection, and happily nothing catastrophic is happening in Alberta.

About 7 p.m., when the supper dishes are done and the prospect of reading a few more chapters of a book beckons, the power will go off. Not to worry! Part of the armamentarium supplied is a barn lantern of exactly the same design that recalls my days as a farm kid in the twenties. A thumb lever raises the globe, allowing room to touch a match to the wick, and presto - you have a one-candlepower light. The book I had in mind was rather a dull one anyway, and I can at least go to bed without stumbling over the furniture.

March 16 - A hard clinic day. Go into a wisdom tooth impaction without an x-ray, which would have raised a red flag. No light, no suction, no luck! Got it out in bits and pieces, and I´m afraid the poor guy will have a sore jaw for a few days. Mind you, he´s had a sore jaw with it for weeks or he wouldn´t have come in.

One thing we do have is lots of surgical instruments. What we don´t have is lots of good instruments. I think that every volunteer who comes out here rummages through the bottom drawer of his cabinet and sorts out all of the stuff he hasn´t used for years, then brings it out as a "donation" instead of chucking it out. He feels good inside about the "sacrifice" he´s made, but heaven help him when he has to use it.

Tonight the power stayed on after dark. The power company has a system which I guess is fair. When the demand is beyond their generation capacity, they cut off one section of the grid. They rotate this so that if you don´t have power tonight, you probably will tomorrow, and your neighbour will grope in the gloom. Reading "The Nation" three nights out of five is probably enough. President Moi offers a column of bombast, and the rest is a grisly accounting of the thuggery abroad in the land.

To be continued.

Lyle Meeres begins a story with many pictures about

A SURPRISE TRIP TO SPAIN

NOTE: A mouse-click on any image will open a much larger version of the image.

My Canadian school district arranged two-week exchanges with teachers in England so my wife, Pat, and I hosted two English teachers and had a great time in return in England. When my district tried to repeat the exchange another year, they were short of hosts, so we said we´d host again but not go to England.

Pat and Gordon arrived from England and we had a good time, despite the confusion when someone said, "Pat...."

After a few days they said, "What´s this we hear that you´re not doing the return trip to England?" We told them we had already done that, and while it was an excellent experience, we had no desire to repeat it.

Pat and Gordon said, "Well, we have a condo in Spain. Would you come there?"

How fast can two people say, "Yes!" in chorus?

A beach at L'Escala

When the time came, Pat and Gordon picked us up at the Barcelona airport, taking us to their condo at L´Escala on Costa Brava in the north of Spain. L´Escala´s population depends on the time of the year. Basically it is about 9,000, but it rises dramatically in the summer. We were there in September, so the strongest swelling of tourists was over. People are drawn by the beaches and the charm of the town.

An old winch for hauling boats ashore, L'Escal

The area from Barcelona north, including L´Escala, is part of Catalonia. Catalonia creates a feeling of distinctness, and of course there have been separatists who wanted to create a separate nation, though most residents just want more autonomy. After Franco´s death in 1975, there has been more autonomy, ending some of the bans imposed during Franco´s rule.

Giants at Llado

Before we were over our jet lag, we went to the Cheese Festival at Llado, which was small enough to give a strong local flavour. There were booths and stalls selling cheese and other items, and very large figures or "Giants" presiding over the celebration. Catalonia generally preserves traditions and celebrations. The Giants would appear in many centres, and apparently one celebration brought a number of them together. Llado itself gave a pleasant sense of age through stonework, but in particular it felt like a place for families and friends who were sharing an event.

Then it was lunch at a restaurant that was a renovated stable. The stone building, too, gave us a sense that we were from a young country. The meal was interesting and pleasing - and inexpensive. We found this quality without expense frequently with our meals out. We had restaurant meals in L´Escala that were among the best we´ve enjoyed anywhere, complete with excellent red wine, but without the high price tag. One of my favourites was a meal of baby clams.

Visit to Pals and Palafrugell

Pat and Gordon´s condo was a good base, but our excursions took us away most days. Unfortunately, their best car had been in an accident, and the older vehicle we were using did cost us time for repairs on one jaunt. However, they got us to Palafrugell and Pals, which is a medieval town with stone streets and intriguing architecture.

We also saw Girona with its varied history, cathedral, and beautiful reflections in the water. The Jews were expelled in 1492, but the ghetto is well preserved. We enjoyed a walk, but one could spend a great deal of time learning about this interesting city.

View from the headlands, near L'Escala

It wasn´t all lazy sightseeing. We walked to the Headlands, and were rewarded on our return with seafood paella, which tourists often see as the Spanish national dish, though many natives would disagree.

Carcassonne, France

A major sidetrip took us into the mountains to Carcassonne, France. Near the border we stopped at a huge store. Pat and Gordon bought groceries while we focussed on wine. The prices for excellent wines were a treat. It was a beautiful day for looking around. The attraction is a fortified walled city, largely reconstructed, but with a huge visual appeal, like Disney-gone-real. Here, we took our time walking and looking.

When we left Carcassonne, Gordon drove some twisty mountain roads in his English car with the steering wheel on the wrong side. He whipped around one corner and I faced a big truck partly on our side of the road. I don´t know who was more startled: the truck driver seeing me with no hands on a steering wheel, or me thinking my life was over.

The bridge at Besalu

A personal favourite was the trip to Besalu, which has an alluring 12th century Romanesque bridge over a pretty little river, the Fluvia. It seemed odd to me that a tower rises in the middle of the bridge, but this was a gate, and I suppose it made for ease in defending the bridge.

"High Chair" at Besalu

Across the bridge, narrow streets led us past buildings dating from the 10th century. I took some odd photographs here, including one of the small stands selling fruit and vegetables outside a series of stone arches. Some residents have a sense of humour, too. One of my pictures shows a chair atop twelve-foot legs. Another that had us giggling caused us to imagine trying to sit on a chair that was halfway up a high wall.

The Dali Museum, Figueres

For Pat and me, a trip to the Dali Museum in Figueres started considerable interest in the artist. We bought a book about Salvadore Dali, who was possessed of an unusual creative talent. Dali was eccentric in appearance, art, and actions. Picasso was one influence. Some of Dali´s optical illusions are physical. For one, we walked up steps and what had seemed to be furniture became a face. Young people would say Dali was weird, but they would be interested in his surrealistic art. One of his best-known works features soft, melting pocket watches, perhaps symbolizing the idea that time is relative, not fixed.

Dali elephant

His work led us to Cadaques, where Dali spent some of his younger years, and to Port Ligat, where Dali established a home with his wife, Gala. We also visited Gala´s Castle, where the grounds are inhabited by strange elephants, thanks to Dali´s imagination. We bought two Dali posters which ended up in the hands of our eldest granddaughter.

Pat and Gordon´s friends who had a boat showed us Roses, with its expensive houses. While the architecture was often interesting, I´m afraid the huge boats and gigantic houses made me think of the gap between rich and poor.

To be continued.

SOME THINGS NEVER IMPROVE

This is a transcript between a commuter and the railroad company regarding service:

Gentlemen:

I have been riding trains daily for the last 22 years, and the service on your line seems to be getting worse every day. I am tired of standing in the aisle all the time on a 14-mile trip. I think the transportation system is worse than that enjoyed by people 2,000 years ago.

A Commuter

The reply to the above:

Dear Sir:

We received your letter with reference to the shortcomings of our service, and believe you are somewhat confused in your history. The only mode of transportation 2,000 years ago was by foot.

Western Railways

And the counter-reply was:

Gentlemen:

I am in receipt of your letter, and I think you are the ones who are confused in your history. If you will refer to the Bible, Book of David, 9th Chapter, you will find that Balaam rode to town on his ass. That, gentlemen, is something I have not been able to do on your train in the last 22 years!

A Commuter

Bruce Galway forwarded this link to an engineering triumph:

AMAZING AD

Be sure to read the info first, then watch the clip.

And you thought those people who set up roomfuls of dominoes to knock over were amazing. There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film. Everything you see really happened in realtime exactly as you see it.

The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn´t work. They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions.

The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete, including full engineering of the sequence. In addition, it´s two minutes, long so every time Honda aired the film on British TV, they shelled out enough dough to keep any one of us in clover for a lifetime.

However, it fast became the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history. Honda executives figured the ad would soon pay for itself simply in "free viewings" (Honda isn´t paying a dime to have you watch this commercial!).

When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation - including the costs.

There were six and only six hand-made Honda Accords in the world.

To the horror of Honda engineers, the filmmakers disassembled two of them to make the film.

Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) is parts from those two cars.

The voiceover is Garrison Keillor. When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten.

They fell off their chairs when they found out it was for real. Oh, and about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and were designed to startdoing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet.

Burke Dykes forwards

THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES

A blonde woman was speeding down the road in her little red sports car and was pulled over by a woman police officer, who was also a blonde.

The cop asked to see the blonde´s driver´s license. She dug through her purse and was getting progressively more agitated. "What does it look like?" she finally asked.

The policewoman replied, "It´s square and it has your picture on it."

The driver finally found a square mirror in her purse, looked at it, and handed it to the policewoman. "Here it is," she said.

The blonde officer looked at the mirror then handed it back saying, "Okay, you can go. I didn´t realize you were a cop."

Don Henderson sends this one:

NOW I´VE BEEN IN CLUDED!

I have been to a lot of places, but I´ve never been in Cahoots. Apparently you can´t go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I´ve also never been in Cognito, either. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don´t have an airport, you have to be driven there. I have made several trips, thanks to my friends and family.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump and I´m not much on physical activity.

THE MEN´S SECRET CHECKLIST FOR A HAPPY MARRIAGE

1. It is important to find a woman who cooks and cleans

2. It is important to find a woman who makes good money

3. It is important to find a woman who likes to have sex

4. It is important that these three women never meet.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Betty Fehlhaber sends the URL for a video made at McGill University in Montreal by a bunch of doctors and researchers, and thanks to their sponsor, Medicom, a donation will be made for each hit to support advances in cancer research at the Goodman Cancer Research Centre. To highlight some of the critical work being done at the Centre, they gathered some of their top scientists, students, lab techs, and dedicated volunteers, who turned on the music - and danced! At one point you will see three "old guys" swinging their hips to the song "Dynomite" - these three men are the top cancer researchers in the world:

Bruce Galway forwards this link to a video of the rescue of thousands of people by water when the Twin Towers were hit. It is narrated by Tom Hanks:

Catherine Nesbitt suggests you get the tissues ready for this moving video:

Catherine also sends a link to a recent Simon´s cat video:

Marilyn Magid suggests this site for an animated illustration of the way we pursue some things with great vigour, only to find out that what we were going after isn´t what we really wanted:

Tom Williamson sends this link to time-lapse photos of flowers unfolding for people who love gardening:

Tom also forwards the URL for a cute video of theMusic Box Dancers:

Evergreen Cooperatives is a partnership between the residents of six of Cleveland´s neighbourhoods and some of Cleveland´s most important "anchor institutions" - the Cleveland Foundation, the City of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and many others. They are pioneering innovative models of job creation, wealth building, and sustainability through the creation of employee-owned, for-profit companies which are based locally and hire locally. They are creating meaningful green jobs and keeping financial resources within their community. Their workers earn a living wage and build equity in their firms as owners of the business:

To check out the features of the "freedictionary", which changes daily, go to