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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 19, 2000 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing." - Harriet Braiker Source: Ancestry Daily News, Copyright (c) 2000, www.ancestry.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: The following is adapted from a story that is reported to be true as told by Leah Curtin R.N., in "Nursing Management Magazine." Dr. Frank Mayfield was touring Tewksbury Institute when, on his way out, he accidentally collided with an elderly floor maid. To cover the awkward moment Dr. Mayfield started asking questions, "How long have you worked here?" "I've worked here almost since the place opened," the maid replied. "What can you tell me about the history of this place?" he asked. "I don't think I can tell you anything, but I could show you something." With that, she took his hand and led him down to the basement under the oldest section of the building. She pointed to one of what looked like small prison cells, their iron bars rusted with age, and said, "That's the cage where they used to keep Annie." "Who's Annie?" the doctor asked. "Annie was a young girl who was brought in here because she was incorrigible - which means nobody could do anything with her. She'd bite and scream and throw her food at people. The doctors and nurses couldn't even examine her or anything. I'd see them trying with her spitting and scratching at them. I was only a few years younger than her myself and I used to think, 'I sure would hate to be locked up in a cage like that.' I wanted to help her, but I didn't have any idea what I could do. I mean, if the doctors and nurses couldn't help her, what could someone like me do? "I didn't know what else to do, so I just baked her some brownies one night after work. The next day I brought them in. I walked carefully to her cage and said, 'Annie I baked these brownies just for you. I'll put them right here on the floor and you can come and get them if you want.' Then I got out of there just as fast as I could because I was afraid she might throw them at me. But she didn't. She actually took the brownies and ate them. "After that, she was just a little bit nicer to me when I was around. And sometimes I'd talk to her. Once, I even got her laughing. One of the nurses noticed this and she told the doctor. They asked me if I'd help them with Annie. I said I would if I could. So that's how it came about that every time they wanted to see Annie or examine her, I went into the cage first and explained and calmed her down and held her hand. Which is how they discovered that Annie was almost blind." After they'd been working with her for about a year - and it was tough sledding with Annie - the Perkins institute for the Blind opened its doors. They were able to help her and she went on to study and became a teacher herself. Annie came back to the Tewksbury Institute to visit, and to see what she could do to help out. At first, the Director didn't say anything and then he thought about a letter he'd just received. A man had written to him about his daughter. She was absolutely unruly-almost like an animal. He'd been told she was blind and deaf as well as 'deranged' He was at his wit's end, but he didn't want to put her in an asylum. So he wrote here to ask if we knew of anyone - any teacher - who would come to his house and work with his daughter. And that is how Annie Sullivan became the lifelong companion of Helen Keller. When Helen Keller received the Nobel Prize, she was asked who had the greatest impact on her life and she said, "Annie Sullivan." But Annie said, "No Helen. The woman who had the greatest influence on both our lives was a floor maid at the Tewksbury Institute." From: Pastor J. Michael Walls, Freedom Baptist Church, Smithfield, NC Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) 2000 www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: ODD NEWS REPORTS..... "Dr. Benjamin Porter visited the school yesterday and lectured on 'Destructive Pests.' A large number were present." "The sewer expansion project is nearing completion but city officials are holding their breath until it is officially finished." "The ladies of the county medical society auxiliary plan to publish a cookbook. Part of the money will go to the Samaritan Hospital to purchase a stomach pump." "This coming Sunday evening, the President and his wife will deliver a joint television address on the subject of drug abuse." Source: Bill's Punch Line, bills-punch-line-subscribe@onelist.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: I'm planning to retire and live off my savings. What I'll do the second day, I have no idea. Source: The Funnies, andychaps_the-funnies-subscribe@egroups.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: How do airline pilots land in a fog? . . . Carefully! Your plane can't pull over to the side of the road in bad weather, so the pilot had better be able to find the runway. That's where the "instrument landing" you may have heard of comes in. In the United States, 5 miles from the airport, the aircraft crosses the outer marker at an altitude of around 2000 feet above ground. For a "Class I" instrument approach the plane's radar picks up a signal that orients the pilot toward the runway's glide path. This path is defined by two signals. One keeps the pilot from veering too far to either side, while the other guides the plane down at the correct angle. At a height of 200 feet the middle marker signals the fail-safe point. If the runway lights are still not visible, you're going back up and on to another airport. Many large airports have "Class II" and some have "Class III" instrument approaches. With "Class II," the aircraft can descend to 100 feet above ground before executing the missed approach, and with "Class III," the autopilot lands the aircraft and this can be done even if the pilot cannot see the runway until after the landing. "Class III" approaches are further subdivided into subclasses "a", "b", and "c" which have to do with forward visibility requirements rather than cloud heights. Class "a" requires 700 feet of visibility (measured by devices situated at the approach end of the runway), while class "c" does not have a visibility requirement. With class "c", the aircraft can land and stop with no intervention by the pilot. The pilot is then faced with the problem of taxiing to the terminal without being able to see very much, and that can raise some interesting problems! "Class I" approaches can be executed by any instrument rated pilot in an instrument certified aircraft. "Class II" and "class III" require special training for the pilot(s) as well as special equipment on the aircraft. Some of this may be obsolete in the near future since the FAA is in the process of certifying approaches based on the G.P.S. system rather than the ILS currently in use. It may not be long before at least "Class I" approaches can be conducted with G.P.S. equipment on board the aircraft rather than ILS. One advantage is that the ground based equipment for a G.P.S. approach is simpler than for an ILS, reducing costs. Essentially, the ground based equipment for a G.P.S. approach provides information on how reliable the G.P.S. signal is in that area as the approach is being conducted. By Bob Dillon via http://www.witandwisdom.org |