Monday, August 23, 2010

Plans


To see if you have money that you’ve forgotten about, go to http://www.missingmoney.com/ or http://www.unclaimed.org/. Check each state where you’ve lived and all names you’ve ever gone by. Yeah, tried that as Plan B and no, as expected I haven’t misplaced any cash. On to Plan C. Anyone want to adopt me? Nah, didn’t think so but hey, it never hurts to ask.

Did you see in the news about the 33 miners who are stuck deep within a Chilean gold and copper mine? They are 2257 feet below the surface and miraculous still alive since being trapped on August 5th. There is a six-inch wide hole that is all that is linking them to survival at this point. According to reports, drilling and shoring up a hole big enough for them to escape will take up to four months. In the meantime, food, water, medical supplies and communication devices will continually be passed to the miners through the small hole. The capsules take an hour to lower and, until they coat the walls of the hole to decrease the risk of additional rock falls, there is always the possibility of the hole collapsing in on itself.

Supposedly the health risks are relatively small in copper and gold mines, unlike coal mines. As long as there is air and a way to supply food and water they should be fine. If they don’t lose their minds that is. Which is why the mine owners have assembled a team of psychiatric experts to implement a plan to maintain the miners’ sanity to go along with their physical well-being.

Um, yeah. I’m not at all claustrophobic, as long as I can move, but still, I don’t think I’d do very well being trapped underground for that length of time. Guess that means I’ll scratch becoming a miner off my list of Plan D’s.

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