Personal story: Horsens Sygehus - Leg operation

At last I got my leg fixed - team under Dr. Jesper Kabel removed the nepali-hospital steel-plate. Jesper communicated via e-mail few times his concern about the screws and type of the plate. After nearly 2 hr. operation, during which I was anaesthetised with spinal injection, he told me: "They used the same AO-reconstruction plates as we do in Denmark!" Ah, the pleasures and conveniences of globalization!
After all the bitching and crying in the danish MSM and (D)DR [Danmarks Radio] about the "sorry" state of danish health care it was a shock to experience hospital environment in Denmark after 32 years: a good shock I mean! The staff were compassionate, caring to the extreme; the equipment modern, clean and functional! It seems the pain is banned from danish hospitals and I was friendly reprimanded by a nurse for gnashing my teeth and lowly moaning in the one night I spent there: no, I should have asked for painkiller! And the painkiller they gave me:

OxyNorm:
This medicine contains the active ingredient oxycodone hydrochloride, which is a type of medicine called an opioid or narcotic analgesic (painkiller). It is related to morphine. Opioid painkillers work by mimicking the action of naturally occurring pain-reducing chemicals called endorphins. Endorphins are found in the brain and spinal cord and reduce pain by combining with opioid receptors. Oxycodonemimicks the action of natural endorphins by combining with the opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord. This blocks the transmission of pain signals sent by the nerves to the brain. Therefore, even though the cause of the pain may remain, less pain is actually felt. Oxycodone is used to relieve moderate to severe pain associated with cancer and following surgery. It is also be used to relieve severe pain of other causes that is deemed to require the use of a strong opioid. OxycodoneOxyNorm and OxyContin. OxyNorm capsules, liquids and injections are short-acting forms of the medicine. OxyNorm capsules and liquids need to be taken every four to six hours to provide continuous pain relief. The injection may be given more frequently than this, or may be given as a continuous infusion (drip). OxyContin tablets are long-acting "prolonged release" tablets, which are designed to release the oxycodone slowly over a period of 12 hours so that a dose is only needed twice a day. is available under two brand names,

After 24 hr I was discharged into glorious danish spring day, and lighter for the AO-reconstruction plate and 6-screws. A friend picked me up and on the way to Århus bought me my puja-beer: Carlsberg Elefant...
Jai Ganésh! & tak to Jesper and the team on the 5th floor!

Glass-Bottom Deck 4,000'/1220m Feet Above Grand Canyon Floor

Update 2007-03-24 12:44
There is cool video posted on YouTube:

Glass-Bottom Deck to Be Unveiled Tuesday

March 7: Tribe member Don Havatone celebrates the 'rollout' of the Skywalk over the Grand Canyon at the Hualapai reservation in Arizona.

• 
• 

HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION, Ariz. — Visitors who have marveled at the Grand Canyon's vistas will now have a dizzying new option: a glass-bottom observation deck allowing them to gaze into the chasm beneath their feet.

The Skywalk, which will be unveiled Tuesday, is being touted as an engineering marvel. The glass-and-steel horseshoe extends 70 feet beyond the canyon's edge with no visible supports above or below.

For $25 plus other fees, people will be able to see 4,000 feet straight down to the canyon floor, a vantage point more than twice as high as the world's tallest buildings.

Hualapai Indians, who live near the rim about 90 miles west of the national park, allowed a Las Vegas developer to build the $30 million Skywalk in hopes of creating a unique attraction on their side of the canyon.

Tribal leaders are betting that people will flock here, braving the rugged terrain — including a twisty ride through unpaved roads — to walk its transparent surface. The Skywalk, they hope, will become the centerpiece of a budding tourism industry that includes helicopter tours, river rafting, a cowboy town and a museum of Indian replica homes.

New species of leopard with largest fangs in cat world discovered

by FIONA MACRAE

16:51pm on 15th March 2007

This clouded leopard which feasts on monkeys, deer and pigs has been discovered living deep in the Borneo rain forest.

Video...see the clouded leopard in its natural habitat
• Windows Media Player
• Real Player

New species: The Bornean clouded leopard

Long thought to be identical to the clouded leopards living on mainland South East Asia, genetic analysis has shown that the Bornean big cat is in fact a separate species.

Scientists have counted at least 40 key differences in the DNA of the two felines - making the two species of clouded leopard almost as different as a lion is to a tiger.

Some of the differences are clear to the naked eye, with the elliptical spots or 'clouds' which give it its name, being smaller and darker on the island variety.

The Bornean clouded leopard also has darker fur than its mainland cousin.

Dr Andrew Kitchener, of National Museums Scotland, said: "The moment we started comparing the skins of the mainland clouded leopard with the leopard found on Borneo, it was clear we were comparing two different species.

"It's incredible that no one has ever noticed these differences."

The research, which forms part of the WWF's Heart of Borneo conservation project, brings the number of new species to have emerged from the island's jungles in the last year to over 50.

Plants and animals new to science include two species of tree frog and 30 types of fish, including a catfish with an adhesive belly that allows it to stick to rocks.

The scientists say the remote, and for a long time, inaccessible, forests of the world's third largest island are one of the 'final frontiers for science - a Lost World that must be preserved from threats from the logging and rubber industries.

The Heart of Borneo, an 84,000 square mile, wild, mountainous region, covered with equatorial rain forest in the centre of the island, is the last great home of the Bornean clouded leopard.

The island's most fearsome predator, the clouded leopard has the longest canine teeth of any feline, with fully-grown cats boasting fangs that are up to two-inches long.

Only the long-extinct sabre-tooth tiger had longer canine teeth for its body size.

Tails as long as their bodies allow the secretive and solitary creatures to balance in trees, where they perch to pounce on their prey.

Monkeys, barking deer and bearded pigs can be killed with a single bite, with the leopard having no fear of seeking out prey that is bigger than itself.

Such adept hunting skills put the clouded leopard, which at 35 inches from head to start of tail is about the size of a small Labrador, right at the top of the island's food chain.

Stuart Chapman, of the Heart of Borneo programme, said: "Who said a leopard can never change its spots?

"For over a hundred years, we have been looking at this animal and never realised it is unique.

"The fact that Borneo's top predator is now considered a separate species further emphasises the importance of conserving the Heart of Borneo."

It is thought there are up to 11,000 of the new species of clouded leopard, Neofelis diardi on Borneo and a further 3,000 to 7,000 on the neighbouring island of Sumatra.

It is estimated the Bornean and Sumatran populations broke away from mainland populations around 1.4 million years ago.

Some Leopard facts:

• With a body that measures just over a foot, the clouded leopard is the smallest of the 'big cats'.

• It is also the best tree-climber, with flexible ankle joints and keen claws allowing it to run down tree trunks head first. It can run along the underside of branches and hang by the back feet alone - freeing up their front paws to snatch at prey.

• Its two-inch canine teeth are the longest of any living feline and lead to comparisons with the long-extinct sabre-tooth tiger.

• Its jaws can open wider than those of any other cat and the fangs are as big as a tiger's, even although tigers are ten times bigger.

• They often ambush their prey from the treetops, landing on the taget's back before delivering one fatal bite.

• The young, which are born with solid spots, rather than mottled 'clouds', are weaned at five months and become independent at nine months.

• The creatures, which live up to 11 years in the wild and 17 in captivity, emit calls ranging from pet cat-like purrs, to roars, growls and hisses.

• Although protected by law, the clouded leopard is still hunted for its beautiful pelt and the supposed healing powers of its bones and teeth.

Lurte døden i isen

Tough guy from Alta:
----

Lurte døden i isen

Lang erfaring som pilot reddet livet til Svein Tangen Andersen (60) da sjøisen brast under tråkkemaskinen han kjørte på Svalbard.

What´s there for us?

Our lovely dogs, Bhaire (r) and Shandi (l) checking out the bag Master brought from Bhaktpur. Lovely evening light marking the end of another glorious day in the Kathmandu Valley.
Steen took this nice shots Monday afternoon - see more on my ´picasaweb´!

Storm whips paraglider to heights of 32,000 ft / 97534 m

Storm whips paraglider to heights of 32,000 ft

By Nick Squires

A champion paraglider described today her terror at being flung to a height greater than Mount Everest by a tornado-like thunderstorm in Australia.

	Wisnerska rated her chances of survival as "almost zero".

Ewa Wisnerska, 35, was sucked so high that she blacked out and became encased in ice.

“You can’t imagine the power. You feel like nothing, like a leaf from a tree going up,” she told Australian radio.

Wisnerska, from Germany, was preparing for the 10th World Paragliding Championships above the town of Manilla in New South Wales when the storm struck on Wednesday.

With terrifying speed she was whisked from 2,500 ft to an estimated 32,000 ft in about 15 minutes.

42-year-old Chinese paraglider, He Zhongpin, was also caught in the storm and died, apparently from a lack of oxygen and extreme cold.

His body was found nearly 50 miles from where he had taken off. Wisnerska said she encountered hailstones the size of oranges as the temperature dropped to minus 58 degrees fahrenheit.

“I was shaking all the time. The last thing I remember it was dark. I could hear lightning all around me,” she said.

Her ordeal was recorded by global positioning and a radio attached to her equipment.

When her desperate attempts to skirt the powerful thunderstorm failed, she concluded that her chances of survival were “almost zero.” “I said, 'I can’t do anything. It’s raining and hailing and I’m still climbing — I’m lost.”’

The paragliding 2005 World Cup winner lost consciousness for more than 30 minutes while her aircraft flew on uncontrolled, sinking and lifting several times.

“There’s no oxygen. She could have suffered brain damage. But she came to again at a height of 6,900 metres with ice all over her body and slowly descended herself,” said Godfrey Wenness, the event organizer and one of Australia’s most experienced paraglider pilots.

After regaining consciousness, she felt like an astronaut returning from the Moon as the ground loomed beneath her. “I could see the Earth coming — wow, like Apollo 13 — I can see the Earth,” she said.

Wisnerska landed safely 40 miles from her original launch site with ice in her lightweight flying suit and frost bite to her face.

She spent just an hour in a hospital for observation and hopes to compete in biennial championships which begin on February 24.

Earlier this month a British paraglider survived an attack by two large eagles while flying in the same area.

It snowed again... after 62 years!

Kathmandu Valley Snow

Some pictures from our compound on the day it snowed! Though it was around 13:00 in the afternoon, the tempeature plummeted to +1.6°C/abt.+34.9°F !
All afternoon we heard a roar of bikes and cars going flat-out up the hill to Nagarkot.

Bustur varede 25 år

Udland Jyllands-Posten: "Jaeyaena "
Af LASSE NØRGAARD Jyllands-Postens korresondent
76-årig kvinde genforenet med sine otte børn, der troede hun var blevet kørt over af et tog. Hun havde blot taget den forkerte bus.

Endnu en kvinde, der har været forsvundet i årtier, er dukket op i Sydøstasien. Men i modsætning til "junglekvinden" i Cambodja har den 76-årige Jaeyaena Beuraheng boet i en relativ stor by, siden hun for vild for 25 år siden.

Den malaj-muslimske Jaeyaena tog en bus fra sin hjemby i det sydlige Thailand for at komme til den noget større by Narathiwat.

Måske troede hun at bussen kørte en gevaldig omvej, men det gik først rigtigt op for hende, at noget var gevaldigt galt, da hun stod af bussen i hovedstaden Bangkok 1.200 kilometer længere nordpå.

I håb om at komme hurtigt hjem igen brugte hun sine sidste penge på endnu en busbillet, men i stedet for at køre syd på, tog bussen hende yderligere 700 kilometer mod nord - til landets næststørste by Chaing Mai.

Som mange andre muslimer fra det sydlige Thailand kunne kvinden ikke tale thai, men kun bahasa. Ude af stand til at fortælle om sin fejltagelse måtte hun ernære sig ved tiggeri i fem år, indtil hun blev samlet op af politiet og anbragt på et hjem for hjemløse.

Personalet troede, at hun var stum, inden de for nylig fik besøg af tre studerende fra Narathiwat. Kvinden genkendte de muslimske klædedragter og en del af sproget, når de tre talte indbyrdes, og hun begyndte at kommunikere med dem.

Jaeyana er nu blevet genforenet med sine otte børn i det sydlige Thailand. De havde fået at vide, at hun var blevet kørt over af et tog.

Only in China? Phone thief repents after 21 text messages

BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - A Chinese thief has returned a mobile phone and thousands of yuan he stole from a woman after she sent him 21 touching text messages, Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Pan Aiying, a teacher in the eastern province of Shandong, had her bag containing her mobile phone, bank cards and 4,900 yuan ($630) snatched by a man riding a motorcycle as she cycled home on Friday, Xinhua said, citing the Qilu Evening News.

Pan first thought of calling the police but she decided to try to persuade the young man to return her bag.

She called her lost phone with her colleague's cell phone but was disconnected. Then she began sending text messages.
"I'm Pan Aiying, a teacher from Wutou Middle School. You must be going through a difficult time. If so, I will not blame you," wrote Pan in her first text message which did not get a response.

"Keep the 4,900 yuan if you really need it, but please return the other things to me. You are still young. To err is human. Correcting your mistakes is more important than anything," Pan wrote.

She gave up hope of seeing her possessions again after sending 21 text messages without a reply.

But on her way out on Sunday morning, she stumbled over a package that had been left in her courtyard only to discover it was her stolen bag. Nothing had been taken.

"Dear Pan: I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me," a letter inside said.

"You are so tolerant even though I stole from you. I'll correct my ways and be an upright person."

I'll try to post a "Sunshine Story" now & then - life is more surprising than any fiction!

Lost in city's jungle

New immigrant Damon Mootoo had been in New York for less than a day when he faced one of the city's toughest challenges: navigating the confusing streets of Queens.

Mootoo spent five long, cold days wandering Jamaica after he got lost during a walk and was too intimidated to ask strangers how to get home. Mootoo, 32, was rescued yesterday by a kindhearted churchgoer who spotted him shivering on a Queens street and gave him food and water.

"I want to go home," Mootoo said last night after his stressful misadventure. "I'm thinking about going back to Guyana."

Mootoo got lost Wednesday, less than 12 hours after arriving in New York for the first time, when he left his brother's South Jamaica house to stretch his legs.

He was being treated last night at Jamaica Hospital for the dehydration and frostbite he suffered in the frigid air.

"When we saw him, he was just crying," said Mootoo's brother Mark Miller, 43. "He said, 'I'm glad to see you.' "

When Mootoo left Miller's two-story house on 152nd St. Wednesday morning, he wasn't wearing gloves or carrying an ID.

Miller said Mootoo had recently received his permanent resident card and was excited about starting a new life in America.

"He said he was trying to find his way back," Miller said. "He said he was just walking all over. He was scared. He heard all the stories about New York."

Mootoo, who is hard of hearing but can communicate in English, told relatives he didn't want to approach a cop because he feared he'd be deported.

He survived by begging several homeowners for water, but he was too ashamed and shy to ask for food or directions back to 152nd St., Miller said. At night, when temperatures plunged into the low 20s, Mootoo slept in an abandoned car or sought shelter from the snow under a piece of wood in a stranger's yard, he told relatives.

Meanwhile, his panicked kin posted flyers with Mootoo's picture across South Jamaica and formed search parties.

"We were thinking the worst after so many days," Miller said.

But just when hope was fading, Michael Bharath, 37, was walking home from church and saw Mootoo near his house on 142nd Place at Rockaway Blvd. "He looked in desperation," Bharath said.

Bharath's wife, Cynthia, made Mootoo a sandwich. Feeling secure, Mootoo told them his situation.

Michael Bharath asked if he had anything with his relatives' address written on it. Mootoo dug in his pockets and found a piece of paper with his stepmother's Foch Blvd. address. Bharath drove him there and reunited Mootoo with his worried family.

"When I see people in need, I try to help them," Bharath said. "He was in need, and I'm pretty sure that within a couple more hours he would have been a dead man."