Did you ever wonder what benefits await smokers who quit smoking?

By David McClelland

According the U.S. Surgeon Report, the following benefits may be expected:

Within 20 minutes - blood pressure and heart rates drop and the body temperature of the hands and feet increase to normal.
Within 8 hours - the carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal and the oxygen level in the blood increases to normal.
Within 24 hours - the chance of a heart attack decreases.
Within 48 hours - nerve endings begin to regrow and the ability to smell and taste are enhanced.
Within 72 hours - bronchial tubes relax making breathing easier and lung capacity increases.
Within 2 weeks to 3 months - circulation improves, walking becomes easier and lung function increases up to 30%.
Within 1 to 9 months - coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease. Cilia regrow in the lungs, increasing ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection. The body's overall energy level increases.
Within 1 year - the risk of heart attack reduced by 50%.
Within 5 years - lung cancer death rate for average smoker (1 pack per day) decreases from 137 deaths per 100,000 people to 72 deaths per 100,000 people.
Within 10 years - lung cancer death rate drops to 12 deaths per 100,000 people, almost the rate of a non-smoker. Pre-cancerous cells are replaced with healthy cells. The risk of other cancers – such as mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, etc. – decrease.

I have never been a smoker, but if I were, the above would convince me to quit. How about you?

Did you ever wonder about the history of Valet Parking?

By David McClelland

 

We are frequently in need of a parking space, but have neither the time nor the patience to look for one near our destination, especially if we are running late. Valet parking is the quick and easy solution when it is available. And, it is becoming increasingly available.

 

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital (SJMO), where my wife and I volunteer, has a huge, six-level parking structure where the lower five levels are covered, and it is FREE. They also have Valet parking for $4. Valet is provided by Universal Parking, headquartered in Farmington Hills. Universal offers valet services across the country on a contract basis for organizations in need of such services as well as for special events. I work with Universal's Colin Ford, Account Manager, who works at and manages the valets at SJMO. Colin and I wondered about the history of valet parking.

 

In the middle ages, the valet de chamber to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men. In England, the valet, "as personal man servant" is recorded since 1567.

 

Valet parking is said to have begun in this country in the 1930's in big cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco, where city parking spaces were scarce. Not only is it handy to be able to drop your vehicle at the curb upon entry, but it is also a convenience to have your vehicle delivered to you when you are ready to leave.

 TV loves to do stories on valet parking. They did one in Los Angeles on a TV actor, Anna Garcia, who put on a black vest & tie and set up a Valet desk near Beverly Center, (a large mall in Beverly Hills, California, owned by The Taubman Company of Bloomfield Hill) and the small print on her sign said she wasn't really a valet and that this was a stunt to point out that there are few rules governing valets and even fewer customer protections. Her warning that didn't stop dozens of people from throwing their car keys at her the first day.

 It is considered a measure of the quality of the valet company if it is a member of the National Valet Parking Association (NVPA). Those that are, display the NVPA sign. Having  NVPA membership increases the company's visibility and its reputation by showing that they meet the Association's high standards.

 It is axiomatic that, if all valets were trustworthy, there wouldn't be a need for the Valet Key provided by automobile manufacturers. The Valet Key denies access to the glove box and trunk of its vehicles. You should use the Valet Key when turning your vehicle over to any valet.

 If your organization is considering offering valet services, you should check to see if the applicants are NVPA members and if they are insured such that any damage to vehicles     parked by said valet will be covered. Then, require annual proof of insurance. These precautions will save you headaches in the future.

Did you ever wonder about the types of cemetery headstones that are available?

By David McClelland

Many of us have had to choose a headstone (aka tombstone) at one time or another and may be forced to do so again. It may be worthwhile to know what types of stones are available. I did the research and found that:

The earliest type of headstones in America were made of metamorphosis shale. They were the most common from 1650 – 1900. Most were carved in Boston, were grey in color and still survive. They tend to be thinner than marble and are not affected by acid rain. Many of the oldest inscriptions are still readable today.

In Connecticut, the most common stone used from 1650 – 1890 was sandstone, There is still one active sandstone quarry in America in Portland, CT. This stone's disadvantage is that it may tend to delaminate and dissolve back into loose sand over time.

From 1780 – 1830, marble or limestone were the most desired stones and the most desired color was white. However, these stones may be affected by acid rain and, over time, the inscription may become difficult or impossible to read.

Granite (1860 – today) is by far the most durable of all natural rocks and its largest quarry is call, "Rocks of Ages" in Barre, VT. Granite is available in a wide range of colors. Large quantities also came from Westerly, RI. Today, granite is used in cemeteries throughout the world. It is considered the stone of choice due to its exceptional strength and permanence. Many modern cemeteries allow only granite headstones and markers to be installed. Today, our granite comes from the U.S, Germany, Italy and China. This above would lead us to the conclusion that we should select only granite headstones.

What about the cost of a headstone today? There seems to be a wide range of sizes and prices from $500 (closer to $900 installed) to $4,200 ($5,000 installed) and there is a huge selection. The smallest stone lies flat on the ground and is 24" x 12" x 4", while the average upright, double-marker measures 36" x 20" x 6" and would rest on a base that measures 48" x 12" x 6". These are width x height x thickness measurements.

You can even design the headstone yourself. You can also include a photo in the headstone of the deceased person or of the deceased couple. These are quite durable.

You can learn a lot about a village or a city by visiting its cemeteries. A portion of its history will reveal itself as you read the headstones. This is true throughout the world.

This a subject about which you may want to give some thought while you are healthy.

Did you ever wonder who invented Cruise Control and when?

By David McClelland

Cruise Control (CC) is a great convenience when on a long trip. We just returned from a trip to Hilton Head and, believe me, I used CC most of the way. Along the way, I wondered who invented it and just how long it has been available. Today, we take CC for granted and most probably never think much about its history.

My research revealed that a blind engineer, Ralph Teeter, received his first patent on a "speed control" device in 1945. Teeter, blind since age 5, received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and was employed to develop technology for steam turbine rotors used in torpedo boat destroyers during W.W. I. The story goes that Teeter thought of inventing CC after a jerky ride with a lawyer, an avid talker, who would speed up and slow down again repeatedly while conversing. The ride was quite uncomfortable for the blind Teeter.

Early names for Teeter's speed control invention were "Controlomatic", Speedstat", "Pressomatic", "Touchomatic" and finally, the familiar name of "Cruise Control".

CC was first offered on automobiles on the 1958 Chrysler Imperial, New Yorker and Windsor models. By 1960, it was also offered GM on Cadillacs. As I'm sure that you know, CC is a system that automatically controls the speed of a motor vehicle, whether the vehicle is moving on flat, uphill or downhill roads. The CC system takes over the throttle of the vehicle to maintain a steady speed as set by the driver.

Daniel Aaron Wisner invented Automatic Electronic Cruise Control in 1968 as an engineer for RCA's Industrial and Automation Systems Division in Plymouth, Michigan. His invention was the first electronic gadgetry to play a role in controlling a car and ushered in the computer-controlled era in the automobile industry. Two decades later, Motorola developed an integrated circuit for Wisner's design. This resulted in CC being adopted by automobile manufacturers as "standard equipment" in nearly every car built and in many trucks as well. The big advantage was that it could be easily integrated with engine management systems and even with electronic accident avoidance systems.

On my Jeep, there is a CC control on the left side of the steering wheel. On top is the "On/Off" button and on the bottom is the "Set" button. The only other part of the system is the brake pedal. When I decide to engage CC, I get up to the speed at which I wish to travel and push the On/Off button which engages the CC and causes the word "cruise" to light up on my dash. I then push the Set button. That is all there is to it. I could travel on the highway for hours at that speed and, when I want to disengage CC, I either push the On/Off button again or tap the brake pedal. At that point, I must again use the accelerator to control my speed. The only times that I feel using CC is a disadvantage is in towns, congested areas or in the mountains. In towns, I need to manually control my speed for stopping an accelerating. In the mountains, when on CC and going up long or steep grades, the transmission will automatically down shift in order to maintain the constant speed I have set. That is less efficient and uses more fuel than when I drive manually.

Now you know who we have to thank for the convenience of driving with Cruise Control.

Did you ever wonder how to become an organ donor in Michigan?

 

By David McClelland

 

I enjoy watching golfers compete on the PGA tour each week on TV. At the Greenbrier tournament at the end of July, I was amazed to see 30 year-old Erik Compton, who is playing golf with his 3^rd heart. At age 12, due to a rare disease that caused his heart to enlarge, he had to have a heart transplant. At age 26, he had a massive heart attack and had a 2^nd heart transplant. He was fortunate because both donors were young, had been athletes and had strong hearts. There he was, competing on the PGA tour and was in contention for the championship. Truly amazing!!! That story got me wondering about what is involved in becoming and organ donor in Michigan.

 

We often hear appeals to become an organ donor and your Michigan Drivers License may even have a Donor sticker for that purpose. Have you ever looked into the procedure for donating? My research on this subject revealed that you are never too old to be an organ donor, but your physical condition will determine which organs can be donated.

 

It turns out that you can become a donor even while you are alive. Because of the critical need for more transplantable organs, there is a growing number of "living donors." Living donations can include a kidney, part of a lung or a section of a liver.

 

Approximately 100,000 people in the United States are waiting for an organ transplant at any point in time. Michigan's Gift of Life program states that your decision to donate your organs upon your death can save the lives of 8 people and directly improve the lives of up to 50 people through tissue donation.

 

There is also a Michigan Organ Donor Registry that is confidential. It is a 24-hour a day, computerized database that documents your wish to become an organ, tissue and/or eye donor. Your gift will later be used to help others through transplantation, therapy, research and education. You don't have to indicate which organs you want to donate. Because of continuing medical technology advancements, the types of organs and tissues used for transplantation and research almost certainly will continue to evolve.

 

There is no cost to you to be an organ donor and being one will not interfere with having a funeral, including open-casket services. All major religious faiths approve of organ, tissue and eye donations and consider donation an act of charity.

 

To learn more about becoming an organ donor in Michigan, you may:

 

 Call 1-800-482-4881,        or go to:         giftoflifemichigan.org.

 

 

 

Did you ever wonder which is the largest privately-owned home in our country?

 

By David McClelland

 

We live Michigan where there are many very large and very valuable homes. But, did you know that the largest, privately-owned home in the United States is known as "The Biltmore House." We vacation on Hilton Head Island and on the drive down, we pass through Ashville, N.C. and see the exit to The Biltmore. We plan visit it soon and I did some research in preparation. I want to share that with you.

 

The Biltmore House is a French Renaissance architecture revival Chateauesque-style mansion near Ashville, North Carolina, built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895. At that time, the Vanderbilts were worth $200 million, which was a huge fortune. Biltmore House is 175,000 square feet and features 250 rooms. It has 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces and three kitchens. This is about equal to 88 average size homes. It has a 700,000 gallon indoor swimming pool. It is really more like a castle. It has an 8,000 acre back yard. It is still owned by one of Vanderbilt's descendants and stands today as one of the prominent remaining examples of the "guilded age" and of significant gardens in the "Gardens al a francaise" and English Landscape garden styles in the United States. It was opened to the public in 1930.

 

In the 1880's, at the height of the Guilded Age, George Washington Vanderbilt, youngest son of William Henry Vanderbilt, began to make visits with his mother to the Ashville area. He loved the area and the climate and vowed to make his own summer estate in the area which he called "little mountain escape" just as his older brothers and sisters had built opulent summer homes in places such as Newport, Rhode Island and Hyde Park, New York. His idea was to replicate the working estates of Europe.

 

He commissioned prominent New York architect Robert Morris Hunt who had previously designed homes for other prominent Vanderbilt family members. The estate included its own village, today known as Biltmore Village, and a church, today known as Cathedral of All Souls.

 

Why is it called The Biltmore House? Biltmore is taken from two names. "Bildt," the region in Holland where the Whitney family originated, and "more," an old English word meaning upland rolling hills.

 

The Official 2010 North Carolina Travel Guide has this to say about Biltmore:

Spend a day or a week exploring the wonders of Biltmore. Your first stop: America's largest home – 250 room Biltmore House – showcasing newly restored rooms filled with treasures and memories of George and Edith Vanderbilt's home. Step outside to appreciate century old gardens that are spectacular in every season. Savor award-winning vintages of the Winery. Grab a quick bite or relish gourmet cuisine at estate restaurants. Enjoy the 8,000 acre backyard on bike, raft, horseback or Segway. Browse unique shops and see how Biltmore's inspiration carries into today with the opening of the Antler Hill Village in the spring of 2010. For a complete escape, treat yourself to the luxurious four-star inn. Open daily. Begin planning your Biltmore getaway by calling 877-Biltmore or online at biltmore.com.

 

We plan to visit The Biltmore and I hope that I may have wetted your appetite for a visit as well. It promises to be visit that is well with the trip. Enjoy !!!

 

Did you ever wonder why the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel doesn't have a better name?

By David McClelland

Recently, as we traveled through the tunnel from Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario, Canada and back, I wondered why the tunnel has no name other than the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. That name just doesn't seem proper. The tunnel connects The United States and Canada, not just the two cities.

The bridge from Detroit connecting the two countries is called The Ambassador Bridge. That seems entirely fitting. Don't you think we should come up with a more fitting name for the tunnel as well? Let's think about some more appropriate names for this tunnel.

First, let's look at its history. The tunnel was completed and opened to traffic on November 3, 1930 and the first car through was a 1929 Studebaker touring car. The tunnel is 22 feet wide allowing just one lane of traffic in each direction. The original road surface was composed of 2,000,000 granite blocks. It was later paved with asphalt in 1977. The granite blocks are stored in the Ft. Wayne Historical Museum. Approximately 250,000 tiles were used to line the walls of the tunnel. One and one-half million cubic feet of air is pumped through the tunnel every minute and the air is completely changed every 90 seconds. Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy and Windsor Mayor Cecil Jackson were on hand for the opening ceremony of the tunnel on November 1, 1930.

This tunnel is the second busiest crossing between the United States and Canada, next to the nearby Ambassador Bridge. The tunnel, which is owned jointly by the two countries, carries about 28,000 vehicles each day at a cost of $4 per automobile, each way.

When constructed, this tunnel was only the third underwater vehicular tunnel constructed in the United States (after the Holland Tunnel between New Jersey and New York and the Posey Tube between Oakland and Alameda, California). Before its construction and that of The Ambassador Bridge one year earlier, all vehicular crossings were by ferry. An earlier attempt to build the tunnel in 1871 was abandoned when the workers suffered from sulphurous gas poisoning that made them deathly ill and they refused to work.

Actual construction on the current tunnel began in 1928. Because of the international nature of the tunnel, 28 buildings were also required for customs and immigration offices. 700,000 tons of earth had to be dredged away and the total cost of construction of the tunnel was $25 million. Today, the cost would be over $300 million.

The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel is 120 feet short of a mile long. At it lowest point, it is 75 feet below the Detroit River's surface. The tunnel is currently owned by the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, LLC, which is the joint venture between the City of Detroit and the City of Windsor, each owning 50%. Motorcycles are prohibited from using the tunnel. There is currently no means provided to ride a bicycle between Detroit and Windsor.

Now that we know more about the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, what are some more appropriate names that could given to it? Here are some names I thought of:

Good Neighbors Tunnel The Goodwill Tunnel Veterans Memorial Tunnel
The Peace Tunnel The Freedom Tunnel Veterans Freedom Tunnel
North American Tunnel Two Nations Tunnel The International Tunnel

The next three are in jest, as if you couldn't determine that on your own:

Tunnel of Love Carpal Tunnel Tunnel Out

I'll bet that you can come up with the perfect name for this tunnel if you try.
Please e-mail your suggestions to david.h.mcclelland@gmail.com

Did you ever wonder which is the highest mountain on each continent?

 

By David McClelland

 

            My golfing buddy, Carl Lowell, told me that his son and his family had just scaled Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states, but that only his grandson made it all the way to the top. That got me thinking about all of the other highest mountains in our world and on each continent.

           

Let's discuss them in alphabetical order by continent.                                     Rank by Height

The date of the first successful assent is in parens.

 

Africa – Tazmania - Mt. Kilimanjaro – 19,340 feet (1889)                                                4

Asia – Nepal, China – Mt. Everest – 29,035 feet (1953) *                                                1

Antartica – Vinson – Mt. Massif – 16,966 feet (1966)                                                   6

Arctica – Mt. Gunnbjornsfjeld – 12,002 feet – This mountain                                        8

is actually on Greenland, considered part of the Arctic.

Australia – Mt. Kosciusko – 7,310 feet (1840)                                                               9

Europe – Caucasus – Russia – Mt. Elbrus - 18,510 feet (1874)                                      5

(Western Europe – Mont Blanc - Italy – 15,771 feet)           

North America – Denali, Alaska, Mt. McKinley – 20,320 feet                                        3

(Contiguous United States, California – Mt. Whitney – 14,494 feet)                                7

South America – Argentina – Mt. Aconcagua - 22,834 feet (1897)                                  2

 

I found another interesting fact. None of the above are the furthest peak

from the center of the earth. That distinction belongs to Mt. Chimborazo

in Ecuador which is 20,565 feet or 6,268 meters high.

 

* Mt. Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

   It was first scaled in 1953 by Sir Edmond Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

 

Now, we all know which is the highest mountain on each continent.

Did you ever wonder about how many Americans have lost their lives in our wars?

By David McClelland

As a retired United States Air Force officer, I subscribe to the Air Force Times which is a weekly publication that provides current information on everything to do with the Air Force. There are frequent articles on: the development of new planes, the latest status of our military bases at home and abroad, the latest physical conditioning requirements, weekly casualty reports and much more. It is always sad to read the casualty reports and doing so made me wonder about current military deaths in our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

To give us some perspective on our current losses, we will first look at American losses from wars in the 20th century: World War I - 116,516. World War II - 405,399, Korean War – 53,686 and Vietnam War - 58,209. A total of 633,810 Americans were killed in wars during the last century.

Now, let's look at our current wars. Since 2001, in Afghanistan in "Operation Enduring Freedom," 1,135 Americans have been killed. Since 2003, in Iraq in "Operation Iraqi Freedom," 4,413 Americans were killed. So far, in the 21st century, 5,548 Americans have made the Ultimate Sacrifice for our country in those two wars.

Additionally, many thousands more Americans were left disabled from our wars which made their transitions back into civilian life that much more difficult. When you see a Veteran, disabled or not, please thank him or her for their service to our country.

Someone close to you may be among those who have given their lives or become disabled for our country. We need to be reminded of all of these brave American service men and women, not just on Veterans Day, but all throughout the year and thank God for their huge sacrifice.