h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Are we safe now?

...posted my sister a Friday the 13th greeting with the "Monster Mash" song attached;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmDa7vIkQTs

will be sending her a follow through email with Profs' link, immediately above, attached.

Problem with my nephew proved thankfully to a be a false alarm.

H2g2 sign in destabilized sometime in the small hours, is working again for the moment.




I still think the next two passes of asteroid Apophis coming on Fridays the 13th is just too pat to be a coincidence;

http://www.deepastronomy.com/apophis-asteroid-could-hit-earth.html

and I don't think its necessarily the 'usual suspects' either.

I spent what seemed like an eternity in an MRI machine Friday morning. If I were going to develop claustrophobia, that would have been enough to do it. Still, the attendants did a lot to make me comfortable, with pillows for my feet and a set of earphones to dull the sound of the noises that the machine generated. I did feel some vibrations, though.

The only ill effect was the soreness in my armpits and arms from having my arms strecthed out behind me during the procedure. As I write this, on Saturday morning, the aching has mostly gone away, but there's still a little of it.

There's a cafe on the fourth floor of the clinic. I went there for coffee and oatmeal after the MRI incident. I had more coffee later, picked up some library books, and felt really good at being free of the MRI's confines.

But no real bad luck.

I know what you mean.

I've no appreciable problems with claustrophobia myself, but find the close confinement of the MRI exam irritating and on account of that, consider the routine questionnaire item on claustrophobia I've seen in every pre-exam evaluation for an MRI I've ever had sensible.

If someone does have a claustrophobia problem, the technicians need to know before putting them in the machine.

See paragraph 4, subsection 3; "Money".

http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/brunel/A272558

If my stay in the MRI had been five or ten minutes, I wouldn't have minded the close confinement. They told me it would take twenty minutes, but it seemed more like an hour. I don't see why they couldn't put a claustrophobic person in for five or ten minutes at a time. It would take more time overall, but it would be easier on the patient's nerves.

If I'm not mistaken, they sedate the patient in such a case.

Myself, I ask them to turn the music down and try to sleep through it, or do math problems in my head.

Composing poetry might help.