HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-10-21, Page 5International Scene
By Raymond Canon
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1998. PAGE 5.
Getting to the seat
of the problem
The poor babies. The boomers, I mean.
You've heard about the latest affliction to
strike our energetic, upwardly-mobile
Yupoid brethren? The ones who buy the
$2,000 magnesium-alloy, 27-speed all-terrain
bicycles? After which they don their
spandex racing shorts, their gortex-wind-
breakers, their super-polymer helmets and
their fingerless, genuine deerskin riding
gloves, their space-age, tinted racing sun-
glasses — they pop their customized Reebok
bicycle shoes into their imported Italian toe
clips, start pumping like donkeymen up the
side of the nearest mountain — and what do
they get for their trouble?
Numb Crotch.
It's official. Doctors are reporting a huge
increase in cycling patients complaining that
they are suffering from "pins and needles"
where no one would want to feel pins and
needles. Worse, some male cyclists are
complaining of lowered sex drives — even
impotence.
It doesn't take a neurosurgeon to figure out
the problem. Hundreds of thousands of
bicycle riders are perching their sensitive bits
on a tiny strip of leather (laughably called
"the saddle") and leaving them there, to
absorb all their upper body weight as they
bump over rough terrain, sometimes for
Saving money
while travelling
As an economist and a practising one at
that, I have to make an attempt now and
again to pass on some of the enormous
amount of wisdom that I have accumulated
over the years.
You will probably recognize the validity of
this statement. Just think of all the advice
you have either read about or which has been
given to you "objectively" by friends,
relatives or even spouses and which you have
just let pile up.
Now that we are on an even footing, let me
begin by saying that there is a lot of money
to be saved while travelling; all that remains
is to know where, how and when as well as
how to put it to good use when the time
comes.
For openers, let me repeat the advice that I
gave thousands of my students when we
were discussing the topic of exchange rates
in the international economics section of my
introductory courses. Canon's Law number
one is never to exchange money — (a) right at
the border, (2) in hotels or (3) at international
airports.
There may be exceptions to this rule but
they are few and far between.
Where, then, can you exchange money?
Actually, the banks in Canada do not give
you that bad a rate but this brings up another
question. How much money do you take with
you?
That depends on a number of factors but,
as far as the question of cash is concerned,
my advice is to sake only enough to see you
hours at a time.
A visitor from another solar system would
take one look at the average bike rider and
say: "That's a stupid arrangement you've got
there — putting all that weight on your
bum".
The visitor would be right. From a health
perspective, the average bicycle-riding
position makes very little sense.
And it doesn't have to be that way. There is
a three-syllable solution to the Numb Bum
problem: it's pronounced re-cum -bent.
Recumbent bicycles. They're longer than
conventional bikes, and lower.
The rider doesn't so much sit on them as in
them, with his feet out in front and his hands
on handlebars that, come out at the hips —
sometimes even from underneath the seat.
Sure, they look funny. But so do ordinary
bicycles — we're just used- to the latter.
And pedaling a recumbent is a whole
different experience — it's actually pleasant.
One rider calls the recumbent "a deck chair
you can pedal".
The fact that the pedals are out in front of
you gives your knees a break.
And the lower handlebars mean no more
nerve-dead wrists or tingling fingers, because
the arms really bear no weight at all.
Ah, but it's in the saddle area that the
recumbent bike really leaves conventional
two-wheelers behind. No more bony strip of
leather to plague your nether regions. The
recumbent bike has a full-sling seat free of
knobs and protrusions.
It really is like sitting in a poolside canvas
through the first day. The rest of your money
can be taken in travellers' cheques. In one
day you should be able to check out the local
exchange rates to find out where you get the
best rate and do your business there.
When you take travellers' cheques along,
make sure you keep separately a list of all the
numbers of the cheques and mark them off as
you cash them. Remember that American
Express and the like will refund you the
money for any lost cheques only if you give
them the precise numbers of the ones that
you have lost.
I am amazed at the number of people who
do not write them down or, if they do, they
keep the list in the same place as the cheques.
When one is lost, so is the other!
I frequently get asked about fluctuations in
exchange rates but, unless you take huge
sums of money, there is no point in worrying
too much about what the dollar will be a
month from now compared to what it may be
now.
Unless there is a financial catastrophe, (and
Canada is in pretty good shape), our currency
is really not going to fall apart. If you are that
concerned about expensive holidays abroad,
why not stay in Canada. We have just about
everything in this country.
I am grateful to Doug English who writes a
tourist column for the London newspaper for
reminding me of something I do quite often
and tend to forget about. Some time ago I
discovered that the exchange rate you get
when you buy something in another country
and use a credit card is frequently better than
what you got when you exchange your
money for cash or travellers' cheques. So if
you are in Europe for example, use your
credit card to pay for purchases and pay it off
when you get home.
deck chair.
Slow, though — right? No way anything as
ungainly as the recumbent could keep up
with any modem road or all-terrain bike.
Wrong. Folks who ride them claim that the
average cyclist will ride five kilometers
faster once he trades in his old bike for a
recumbent. in fact, the world actually had
recumbent bicycles a half century ago. It was
their excessive speed that got them in
trouble. They consistently whipped the
spokes off conventional racing bikes.
Accordingly, they were banned from the
racing circuit back in the 1930s.
It makes sense that they'd be speedy when
you think about it, because there's virtually
no wind resistance. Riding downhill on a
normal bike, you feel the wind buffeting your
face, your torso — even your legs. On a
recumbent you're beneath all that.
So how come we don't see more
recumbents out on the streets? Well, they're
pricey. They start at about 1500 bucks
Canadian.
Plus they still look kind of goofy. The way
baggy pants did five years ago.
But goofy or not, recumbents are an idea
whose time has come. After all, those baby
boomers aren't just spending money —
they're also aging. Their ankles and wrists
and lower sacroiliacs aren't what they used to
be. Pedaling a recumbent could add years to
their cycling life.
Plus they'd get lots more wear out of those
spandex shorts, gortex windbreakers and
fmgerless deerskin gloves.
I saved quite a bit when I bought Czech
crystal last year, paid for it with my Visa and
paid it off when the statement arrived at my
house about a week after I got home. Czech
crystal is cheap when you buy it there and it
became even cheaper with the card.
People often, ask about renting a car in
Europe. I do this all the time and the first
thing is to do it here before you -leave; this
removes the uncertainty and you don't want
to arrive over there not knowing if any cars
are available.
Secondly, I have found that the cheapest
place to rent is in Germany and it is worth
flying into Frankfurt for that reason.
Some credit cards will pay for insurance,
which is a big saving in itself. Again, look
into that before you leave.
Finally, it is worth looking into the
possibility of leasing (buying) a car, then
selling it back. Gasoline is much more
expensive there than here but distances are
shorter.
All in all, there are real possibilities in
saving as far as transportation is concerned.
Well, there you have it. I don't pretend to
be omnipotent in the travel business so, if
you have any good ideas for saving money
when travelling, I would be delighted to hear
about them and try them out. In the
meantime bon voyage and good saving!
A Final Thought
Keep in mind that the true measure of an
individual is how he treats a person who
can do him absolutely no good.
—Ann Landers
The
short
of it
By Bonnie Gropp
A dawning
Warm autumn sunshine suspended in an
azure sky dazzles as you wake one morning.
Your window frames a colourful collage of
burnished orange, harvest orange and burnt
sierra. All is definitely right with the world.
But then as fuzzy webs of sleep begin to
clear, your cerebrum is alerted to the
dawning of reality, it's all still out there —
the small stuff.
As each minute of wakefulness passes,
like bacteria, they attack, infiltrating your
calm. The bills need to be paid. You've got
company coming for dinner and the house is
a mess. There's no time to get grocieries.
It has just struck you that you forgot your
parents' anniversary and said something to
your best friend, which in retrospect you
now regret.
And oh yes, yesterday your son dyed his
hair green and your daughter had her nose
pierced.
Troubling issues which if you can put
them into perspective by considering them
as part of the grand scheme, are all pretty
small stuff. But while theoretically it's a
strong notion that the small stuff need not be
sweated, there are days when it can be
practically impossible.
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff... and it's all
small stuff, written by Richard Carlson PhD.,
offers anyone interested (and there must be
many as he's sold quite a few copies of this
homage to common sense) insight into ways
to make life as pleasant as it should be.
Carlson's philosophy is simplistic in its
intelligence. He assures us of the
insignificance of imperfection and reminds
that life isn't always fair. He cautions about
thinking before speaking and about picking
fights wisely.
His tips are practical answers to everyday
frustrations. "Remind yourself that life is
okay the way it is, right now." "Don't waste
any more precious moments of your life
regretting the inevitable." "Count to 10."
In short, he reiterates the worldy wisdom
we have already picked up to help us
recognize the inconsequentials and not let
them drive us crazy. His bestseller
essentially tells us everything we already
know, but are apparently incapable of
remembering.
I find all self-help books similar. They
may unclog the lines to common sense while
I'm reading them, but when the small stuff
threatens to submerge me in its murky
insignificance, it's a given that I'm going to
react. I have never been able to rally the
sensible when needed, but rather in
hindsight.
And even while I'm raging, fretting or
scurrying, the rational attempts to break
through, its chant droning, "Don't sweat it,
it's not important". Reading his book won't
help me, but perhaps if I could get him to
follow me around and add a swift kick to the
chant I might get my priorities straight.
You have to wonder if it shouldn't be
second nature to be positive and carefree.
There are, after all, situations that will be,
that can't be changed and aren't worth the
minute from our life we would give them for
consideration. There are some things that
seem earth-shattering, yet, if we took just
that 10 second pause that Carlson suggests,
we would see that once again, the sun did
dawn on a new day.
Arthur Black
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