Did you ever wonder how long wheelchairs have been around?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder how long wheelchairs have been around?

It turns out that wheelchairs have been around for over 400 years. The first known wheelchair was created by an unknown inventor for King Phillip II of Spain. It was called an "invalids chair" and the year was 1595. In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a paraplegic watchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three wheel chassis. The difference between these first two wheelchairs appears to be that Phillip II had to be pushed from place to place, whereas Mr. Farfler was able to wheel himself around. In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair with two large back wheels and one small front wheel. It was named for the town of Bath, was easier to maneuver than its predecessors and outsold all other wheelchairs in the early 1800's.

Many improvements have been made to wheelchairs over the last 200 years. In 1932, Harold Jennings, an engineer, made the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. It was the earliest wheelchair that is similar to what are in use today. Jennings designed it for Herbert Everest, a paraplegic friend and, together, they later founded the Everest & Jennings Company that monopolized the wheelchair market for years. The Department of Justice brought an anti-trust suit against the company that was eventually settled out of court.

Wheelchairs became so maneuverable that some of their users began to participate in wheelchair sports such as basketball, rugby and tennis. Wheelchair rugby was played in Canada as early as 1977. As late as July 5, 2009 in London, on day 13 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, the wheelchair ladies' doubles tennis match was won by two ladies from the Netherlands, Korie Homan and Esther Vergeer. Wheelchair maneuverability had come a long way.

Finally, the motorized wheelchair came on the scene shortly after WWII. Canadian, George Johann Klein, is credited with inventing the electric wheelchair for injured veterans. Some see this as the greatest Canadian invention. Today, the electric wheelchairs have changed the lives of millions of people. These wheelchairs provide invalids with a ray of hope that they can be independent in movement and provide a measure of optimism in their lives.

Did you ever wonder how prize money got so large in competitive sports?

The prizes for winning in sports like tennis and golf have grown at an astounding rate in the last 60 years. Professional tennis is a good example of the growth of prize money. Before The Open era began in 1968, prize money was modest and often wasn't even given in cash.

In the 1950's, even at what are now considered "The Majors," prizes to the winners were gifts rather than money. For example, at Wimbleton, the prize for winning the men's singles title was a $75 gift certificate to a sporting goods store. By contrast, the winner of the men's singles title in 2009, Roger Federer, received an amazing $1.4 million. At the Australian Championship in the 1960's, the winner got a tea service. In 2009, the winner of The Australian Open, Rafael Nadal, received the huge amont of $1.8 million. Today's U.S. Open and French Open tennis tournaments have had similar growth in prizes, with 2009 first place winners receiving $1.8 million and $1.5 million respectively. Those winners were Juan Martin del Potro and Roger Federer.

There is no question that the players' skills have improved over those years, but would the best players still compete for lower prize money? I think that they would. The love of the sport and the competitive spirit must also play a part. However, there seems to be no limit in sight to the amount of prize money available to those who win tennis tournaments. Golf has seen similar growth. The difference in prizes over the last 60 years has been the involvement of corporate sponsorship. How long will that continue and how much higher will the cash prizes become? We can only watch with wonder.

Did you ever wonder about the colors in rainbows?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder about the colors in rainbows?

As a child, I always marveled at rainbows and thought they were wonderful. I still do.
My children and grandchildren were equally fascinated and appreciative of rainbows.

I knew that rainbows occurred only when it was raining. Later, I learned that the rain drops act as tiny prisms that each split (bend) sunlight into many colors. Can you name those colors in order from top to bottom? They are always red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. What color is indigo, you ask? Like violet, it is a shade of purple and gets its name from the indigo plant, native to India, used for dyeing cloth.

We once saw a rainbow on 32 Mile Road that appeared to touching the ground on both sides of the road and making its bow over the road. It was the most impressive rainbow that we have ever seen.

Any time the sun shines through drops of water, a rainbow is formed. The next time you are hand watering your lawn on a sunny day, stand with your back to the sun and you will see a rainbow formed in the spray. When you are standing near a waterfall, you may be able to see a rainbow. It is always more fun if you have a child with you with whom you can share the rainbow. They will always marvel at this phenomenon.

Song writers were also taken with rainbows and by the color indigo. There is the song, "Mood Indigo" by Duke Ellington and Barny Gigard from 1930. We have "Over the Rainbow" from "The Wizard of Oz" in 1939. "The Indigo Girls", an American folk rock song by duo Amy Ray and Saliers in 1988. Most recently, there was the "Turbulent Indigo" album by Joni Mitchell in 1994.

The Bible tells us that rainbows are a sign from God that there will never be another great flood covering the earth. I am pleased to share with you what I have learned about rainbows in a lifetime.

Did you ever wonder what it takes to compete in a triathlon?

 

                        By David McClelland

 

                        Did you ever wonder what it takes to compete in a triathlon?

 

Well, there are triathlons of various types and distances and there are Iron

Man Triathons. They are the real challenge. But to work up to them, one must do considerable strength training and shorter distance preparation.

 

Some locations have events for kids of various ages beginning with swims of ¼ mile, bike rides of 6.2 miles and runs of 2 miles. Even those distances are challenging for the beginner, regardless of age. Gradually, as one continues to train nearly every day, one can handle longer distances. Then, really dedicated older teens and adults progress until they can compete in and complete the Iron Man Triathlons.

 

The Iron Man Triathlon consists of three separate, but consecutive events; i.e., back-to-back, all on one day: The 2.4 mile swim, the 112 mile bike ride and the marathon run (26 miles, 385 yards). Then, just to make it more challenging, some swim events are in the ocean, some bike rides are in the mountains and some marathons are in the dessert. Fortunately for the competitors, not all of these greatest challenges are in the same event.

 

How about the record time for this Iron Man event? There are many incredible times, but the shortest I could find was in 2006, when Norman Stadler of Germany completed all three events in 8 hours, 11 minutes and 56 seconds. Wow! Talk about an Iron Man!!!

 

Can you imagine the dedication that it takes for any human to be able to train for and then to finish a triathlon? Remember, most of there athletes are able to hold down a job or to go to school as well as train. Incredible!!!

 

 

Did you ever wonder who are the tallest people on earth?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder who are the tallest people on earth?

Well, I did and I learned that there are some incredibly tall people out there.

The man reported to be the tallest human on earth, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is 39 year old, 8'5", Leonid Stadnik's, from the Podolyantsi, Ukraine. The tallest in the U.S. is George Bell, a 7'8" sheriff's deputy in Norfolk, Virginia, who played basketball in college and with the Harlem Globetrotters. Bell is two inches taller than the tallest NBA player, Yao Ming, the 7'6" center for the Houston Rockets.

The woman who appears to be the tallest in the world at this time is Yao Defen, from China, who is 7'8" tall. The next tallest is 7'4", Heather Greene, from Holland, who lives in Las Vegas. The next tallest woman in the U.S, is 7'2" Malgorzata Dydek, from Polland, now a professional basketball player.

Think of the daily challenges these people face in buying clothes, finding beds to sleep in and in finding a mate. Maybe being a man or woman of average height is a good thing.

Did you ever wonder which were the most dangerous construction projects in history?

By David McClelland

It turns out that the construction of the Mackinac Bridge (1957), connecting the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan, and the construction of the Empire State Building (1930) in Manhatten, New York, were not the most dangerous projects. Five (5) workers lost their lives during each of those projects. By comparison, eleven (11) men lost their lives during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge (1933 - 1937) connecting northern San Francisco and Marin County, California.

77 men died while Washington's Grand Coulee Dam was built. It was completed in 1942.
96 men died during the construction of Hoover Dam, on the border of Arizona and Nevada, and completed in 1935.
60 men died during the original construction of the World Trade Center, completed in 1970 in Manhatten, New York.

The greatest loss of the life during a construction project, may have been on the Panama Canal, a 48 mile span linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Original construction, under French leadership, was abandoned in 1880 after 21,990 men died. It was later completed in 1914 after another 5,600 men lost their lives while building the Canal. However, it appears that many of those deaths were from various diseases rather than directly a result of the construction, but accurate records no longer exist. The Great Wall of China, which was built in two phases, hundreds of years apart, may have had great losses also, but there are no records concerning those huge construction projects.

By contrast, the latest and tallest skyscraper, the 2,717 foot, Burj Dubai tower in Dubai was completed 10/1/09 and cost the life of one (1) construction worker. The owners of this project took extraordinary safety measures to prevent injuries and fatalities.

These mammoth construction projects are inherently dangerous, but, as the recent Burj Dubai tower project demonstrated, extraordinary precautions can prevent the loss of many lives. Now, you know about some of the most dangerous construction projects.

Did you ever wonder why our hair turns grey?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder why our hair turns grey? We know that going grey is a natural part of growing older, but what causes it to do so? I found that each hair on our head is made up of two parts: the shaft and the root. The shaft is the colored part we see growing out of our heads. The root is the bottom part which keeps the hair anchored under the scalp. The root of every strand of hair is surrounded by a tube of tissue under the skin that is called the hair follicle. Each follicle contains a certain number of pigment cells which continuously produce the chemical melanin that gives the growing shaft of hair its color. The dark or light color of the each hair depends upon how much melanin it contains. As we age, the pigment cells of our hair follicles gradually die. When there are fewer pigment cells in a hair follicle, that strand of hair will no longer contain as much melanin and that strand will become a more transparent color – like grey, silver or white – as it grows. As people continue to get older, fewer pigment cells will be around to produce melanin and, eventually, the hair will become completely grey. The process may take ten years and is dependent on our genes so that we will begin to go grey at about the same age as our parents. Now, you understand why our hair turns grey.

Did you ever wonder who Dave Payne really is?

By David McClelland

Did you ever wonder who Dave Payne really is?

We know him as the Bloomfield Township Supervisor and as a strong proponent of the millage proposal which just passed. But who is Dave Payne?

While growing up, Dave lived in Annapolis, MD, Milwaukee, WI and finally, the Detroit area, where he decided to remain.

He and his wife, Debbie, have been married for 38 years and have two children. Their daughter, Michelle, is married and lives in Farmington Hills. She teaches in an elementary school in Detroit. She and her husband have two young children and a third due this month. Their son, Jeff, is single and lives on St. Simons Island in Georgia. His job is to broker space for freighters.

What does Dave do to relax? Both Dave and Debbie love to play golf and do so when the weather is right and time permits. He also enjoys woodworking and gardening.

Dave began his career with Bloomfield Township as a part-timer working his way through college. He hired in as a summer employee doing road maintenance and cutting grass. When the Township created its Road Department in the early 1970's Dave got a full time position as an equipment operator, plowing snow in the winter and patching and sealing asphalt roads in the summer. Dave worked his way up, becoming foreman and then head of the department in 1975. This made him the youngest department head in the history of Bloomfield Township. In 1990, Dave became the assistant to Township Supervisor, Fred Korzon. In 1996 he was elected to the position of Township Treasurer. In 2000 he was elected as Township Supervisor and re-elected in 2004 and 2008. Dave said, "I have done everything from sweeping floors to chairing Board meetings."

Dave received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration in 1989 and a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration in 1992 from Oakland University.

Dave's career with Bloomfield Township has included many satisfying experiences as well as significant challenges. One highlight was the Ryder Cup Tournament at Oakland Hills Country Club in 2004 (a real hardship for an avid golfer). Dave said, "This international event put the spotlight on the Township."

Most notable, however, has been the opportunity to work with high caliber people. "The people in this community are top-notch," Dave said. "Residents are intelligent, loyal to their community, and supportive of Township actions. Board members have always been dedicated, well-prepared and trustworthy. And, the Township staff is the best group of employees any organization – private or public – could wish for. Working with all these people has been truly rewarding."

He recently weathered his greatest professional challenge. "In my 39 years with Bloomfield Township, I've never seen a financial climate like this. We've never had revenues drop like they're dropping now. We have always been extremely careful with our spending and staffing levels, so there are no easy places to look to for further savings. The only way to maintain the level of services we've been proud to deliver was to ask voters to restore some of the revenue we're losing. The voters have decided that Bloomfield Township will continue to be a premier community and a safe place to live."

Dave's vision is, at the appropriate time, to create some community parks and recreational opportunities for the Township residents. He hopes that the Township is able to support this opportunity in the not too distant future.

Did you ever wonder how Love is defined?

 

            By David McClelland

 

            "What's Love Got to Do with It?"  Tina Turner had a hit song with this title in 1993 and we were all singing it. Did we really understand what we were singing about and did we all mean the same thing?

            Albert Einstein said, "How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as love?"

            The Greeks had one definition of love , "Agape love",  as unconditional love. But, that uses love to define itself and isn't helpful.

            Four intelligent people could attempt to define "love" and would all arrive at different definitions. Try it. It isn't that straight forward. On the other hand, maybe each of us has to define love in terms of what it means to us. Maybe that is the secret.

            What is love? We use this four letter word all the time and in many contexts, but what does the word mean? Love may easily be defined as affection, infatuation, passion, lust, etc.  Does it matter whether the recipient of our love is an adult, a child or a pet? Is the love of one the same as the love of another? Probably not.

Love may be used as a noun (the love of one's work) or a verb (we love cooking). The noun may mean a strong, positive emotion. The verb may simply mean to enjoy. We can use love to describe how we feel about another person (I'm really in love with you.), a thing (Don't you just love this double-chocolate cake?) or even our job ("You know, I used to love this job, but now….").

It seems that love is centered in one's heart (brain?). It may be one of the strongest emotions we ever experience. Maybe it really does make the world go round.

            Finally, "love" is a score of "zero" in the games of tennis a squash. Finally!!! A definition that one can truly understand. Whew!!! Now, you either know more about love than you did before or are more thoroughly confused. Don't you just love it?