The free weekly psychology newsletter>br>
July 19, 2002
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Contents
* Publisher's note: river tubing
* Food for thought: going Dutch on health care
* Media: Anna's ECT diary
* Psychology News
- Fat people are no happier than anyone else
- Identifying the genetic risk for depression
- Anxious thoughts and panic disorder: what's the connection?
- Parents talk up negative feelings a lot
- The intricacies of journalling stress away
- The way we process information about the world depends on how we feel
* Drug & Herbal News
- Olanzapine's link to diabetes
- What Beta-blockers don't do
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^^ On the publisher's mind ^^
Last weekend we went river tubing. It was my first time and was it a hoot! You throw your rented inner tube (only $3, with a deposit of something valuable, like a motorcycle helmet) into the water then quickly sit inside it -- before it floats off on you -- and off you go, rushing down the river, over rocks and under branches and bridges. The rocks are the tricky part: you have to lift up your behind so it doesn't get pummelled by rocks. Once or twice my inner tube got hung up on a big rock and I was sure I was going in. But no, the current was so fast that it just swept the tube around and sent me off again, shrieking.
We stopped at the cow crossing to chat and were having a nice relaxing time when we heard the lowing of cows coming from the far side of the river. A big old herd was headed straight for us, but we scampered away and perched on the bank while they meandered across, stopping to stare at us. I guess they have a tendency to stop mid-stream, so their farmer had rigged up a system to keep them going all the way across.
We got to chatting with him, and he asked us to test his crossing system for him. He dropped the line into the water and asked us to tell him if it lent an electrical charge to the water. It was supposed to, you see, and that's what he thought would be enough of a jolt to keep his cows going. Well, no, it didn't do anything for us, so then he moved it a little closer to us. Stewart was out in front, and it wasn't long before he gave a little yelp. Yep, it worked just fine. Farmers. What jokers. He probably pulls that same trick on tubers twice a day!
