If you ever come down here in the Bay Area and find you are getting
supercharged from too much oxygen, Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, where
I used to work, has an altitude chamber that we can put you in to pump the
atmosphere back down to your accustomed rarefied state.
I used to be a private pilot, but I gave it up when I moved away from L.A.
I just didn't trust any air that I couldn't see. I have a similar problem
sailing on that clear Tahoe water. I get vertigo when I look down and can't
see anything holding up the boat..
Harry
>In a message dated 8/17/99 2:03:35 PM Pacific Daylight Time, hlg@pacbell.net
>writes:
>
>> "Close beam reach"?
>
>Sorry, Harry, I was trying to think of how one would describe a point of
>sail where you are sailing as close to the wind as possible. I guess that's
>exactly what I should have said. Or, perhaps I could have said, "Sailing
>with the pointy end of the boat going in the direction of where the wind is
>coming from, but just a little off to the left of that."
>
>I might have said, "Sailing with the square end of the boat coming from where
>the wind is going, but turned up to the right just a teensy bit" Along the
>same lines, I may have been a little more clear by stating that I must sail
>the boat so that the thingamabob at the top of the mast, that looks like one
>of those wind thingys on a barn is pointing back but just a scosh off to the
>right, or left, most of the time.
>
>Understand? It's the clear mountain air that does this to one's brain. It's
>like those folks from Los Angeles that come up here and think they're choking
>to death because they can't see any air, so they figger there isn't any!
>
>Geoff
>P-15 Lollipop
>N. Lake Tahoe, NV