You need to find a quiet corner and have a word with yourself.

The 2012 edition of the H.S. camp I spoke at last summer is about three months away. After I got home from that great experience a shocking number of those kids friended me on Facebook and I'm now seeing posts about their growing anticipation of this year's camp. And I find myself feeling jealous of whoever is this year's speaker. Those are good kids - bright, fun, and contrary to the stereotype, nice to be around.

I'm corresponding with the IRS, and they started the exchange. It's never good to get a letter from that department of  the govt. (I'm trying to think of one I'd want to hear from.)
Do they let you blog from Leavenworth?

The questions about ultimate cause of Junior Seau's death, the likely career-ending injury of Mariano Rivera, one of baseball's greatest pitchers, the continuing fallout around the bounty scandal in the NFL... lots of interesting stories off the field of play.

Today I discovered that the lug wrench in the trunk doesn't fit the lug nuts on the car. Good to learn that now and not out in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire.
I also discovered that with the front wheels up off the ground the left wheel doesn't turn easily and the right doesn't turn at all. I'll pull the drums and hope the brakes are the problem and not the bearings.

A few years ago I had a medical "incident" on a flight from here to Seattle that required an unplanned stop in Las Vegas. A most unpleasant experience. This morning I did some reading on vasovagal syncope (my diagnosis after a raft of tests) and its occurrence on airplanes, and I learned something that surprised me. The FAA does not require, and accordingly airlines do collect stats on the medical incidents on domestic flights. As a result there are no statistics on how often they occur, what age ranges are most likely to experience them, and what caused the problem.

Anecdotal evidence suggests vasovagal syncope during a flight isn't uncommon and is probably tied to the lower oxygen levels in the cabin of a pressurized plane. Vasovagal syncope is a sudden drop in blood pressure that can result in a fainting spell - and a seizure if you're inclined to that sort of thing. It seems to occur most often in people who have fallen asleep while flying. Respiration rates drop when sleeping, and that combined with a drop in oxygen levels...bingo! They come awake because the brain signals an alert, but often by then it's too late. Some people report coming awake and feeling nauseated, so they head to the bathroom only to drop halfway there.

If this is as common as the anecdotal evidence suggests it warrants a simple adjustment in the plane's pressurization system. And doing so would have saved Alaska Airlines a chunk of money and time on at least one of their flights. (Note: I have nothing but the best to say about the way they took care of me during and after that incident. Simply outstanding customer service. I will always fly Alaska if I have the option.)

So my question: why hasn't somebody at the FAA said, "We should track medical incidents." Never mind vasovagal syncope, it could result in other policy and/or equipment changes. Should at least one member of the attendants crew have a specified level of medical training? (They may already; I don't know.) In addition to the automatic defibrillators are there other items that should be standard equipment? Are certain flights - time of day or duration - my likely to have an incident?
Hmmmm.

I am blessed in so many ways.