And yes, he's being very cheerful and positive about it, and yes, they may be able to hold it off for years, and yes, he's not exactly had a bad life lately. It's still cruel and horrifying. I know very few people are as phobic about Alzheimer's and related conditions as I am, so I didn't want to make a big thing out of it, but it kind of put a crimp in my day.
When you've had a look at SPS, would you let me know if you'd be willing to let me put up a link to it (with appropriate co-credit of course) here? And have you, by any chance, still got a printout of Galloping Major? I know I have somewhere, but I can't put my hand on it.
I mean phobic. A very dear friend of mine had it in the last years of her life, and to my shame I couldn't face the idea of going to see her. Same with both my parents when they had similar conditions. It's not that I'm scared of catching it or some such nonsense, it's that I'm afraid of *it,* afraid of having to confront it in someone I love, afraid of it being real and in front of me.
I also know, in my gut, beyond all reason, that I'm going to get it. I just don't know when.
"I thought the bumble bee thing had been debunked."
Yes, it has.
The original event was something like this: Two guys were at a formal dinner; one of them was a prof (or similar) in aerodynamics. Somehow the conversation turned to how the heck a bumble bee generates enough lift. The prof said, "well let's see now...", reached for a napkin, scribbled out some standard engineer's rule of thumb formulae, inserted some rough top-of-the-head guesses for weight, wingspan, etc, then did the math... Laughed and said "well according to this, it's impossible for the bee to fly!". Having by then covered almost the entire napkin (and possibly consumed nearly the entire bottle of wine), he didn't bother continuing at that point. I've no idea if he ever made a more serious attempt at analysis, but presumably via numerous after-dinner retellings the story has transformed into the myth that "according to the laws of classical aerodynamics, it's impossible for a bumble bee to fly!"
The correct conclusion would have been: "if you want to understand how a bumble bee files, be sure to specify extra-large napkins." =:o}
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 04:12 pm (UTC)And yes, he's being very cheerful and positive about it, and yes, they may be able to hold it off for years, and yes, he's not exactly had a bad life lately. It's still cruel and horrifying. I know very few people are as phobic about Alzheimer's and related conditions as I am, so I didn't want to make a big thing out of it, but it kind of put a crimp in my day.
When you've had a look at SPS, would you let me know if you'd be willing to let me put up a link to it (with appropriate co-credit of course) here? And have you, by any chance, still got a printout of Galloping Major? I know I have somewhere, but I can't put my hand on it.
Caesarian will be next.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-12 11:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 02:48 am (UTC)I also know, in my gut, beyond all reason, that I'm going to get it. I just don't know when.
no subject
Date: 2007-12-13 11:20 pm (UTC)Yes, it has.
The original event was something like this: Two guys were at a formal dinner; one of them was a prof (or similar) in aerodynamics. Somehow the conversation turned to how the heck a bumble bee generates enough lift. The prof said, "well let's see now...", reached for a napkin, scribbled out some standard engineer's rule of thumb formulae, inserted some rough top-of-the-head guesses for weight, wingspan, etc, then did the math... Laughed and said "well according to this, it's impossible for the bee to fly!". Having by then covered almost the entire napkin (and possibly consumed nearly the entire bottle of wine), he didn't bother continuing at that point. I've no idea if he ever made a more serious attempt at analysis, but presumably via numerous after-dinner retellings the story has transformed into the myth that "according to the laws of classical aerodynamics, it's impossible for a bumble bee to fly!"
The correct conclusion would have been: "if you want to understand how a bumble bee files, be sure to specify extra-large napkins." =:o}