|
Attended
|
40
|
|
Apologies
|
9
|
|
LOA
|
7
|
|
Silent
|
8
|
|
TOTAL
|
64
|
Guests and visitors:
Angela Alexander - Speaker
Haidee Kalirai - G/o Pauline
Past President Pat opened the meeting (standing in for the absent Warren).
Announcements:
There were no known or admitted birthdays or anniversaries.
The 10-Pin bowling competition is to be held later in October (more details to come). Apparently the other clubs are having difficulty fielding a team to challenge us.
Pauline and Haidee then spoke to us about a
programme being promoted by the Tauranga and Western Bay Councils called
This is Us.
The programme follows out of the reaction to the Christchurch shootings, now almost six months ago. Haidee told us that as part of her role, she works with the Councils on a programme called Welcoming Communities, which is aimed at migrants into our area.
The proposal to be put forward for This is Us is to have some sort of community art work somewhere which creates a turangawaewae for all the people of the area. This is intended to be a place to go to connect, in good or bad times.
Pauline was careful to point out that this is nothing more than a proposal at present – it will be formally launched next week seeking feedback. Our homework is to read the proposal so we know what it is about and can contribute to it.
Sally reminded us of the breakfast on 1 November in the Crystal Palace. The door will open at 6:30am for a 7:00am start. Tickets are $55, with a credit for the usual cost of breakfast. It is a normal Club meeting so don't forget to apologize if you aren't going. There are 250 tickets to sell. The speaker is Marilyn Waring.
Mary told us that Barry Vercoe is now in Tauranga Hospital and seems happier to be back in Tauranga after some time in Hamilton. He is in Ward 3C.
Wendy S: is looking for one more volunteer to collect for Alzheimer’s – the vacancy was filled on the spot.
Glenys: thanked everyone for the Club support for Mrs Krishnan’s Party.
Warren B: the host families for Melina have been asked to provide a video clip for her 21st birthday. At Warren’s suggestion the whole Club sang Happy Birthday.
Dan: Open invitation to the Graeme Dingle Excellence Awards on 18th September - Baypark. Contact him if you would like to go (Free!)
John Carlson introduced our speaker, Angela Alexander. By way of backgro
und, John reported that Angela has worked in Wellington as a paramedic for 10 years and worked as a personal medic for wealthy foreigners. She now works for the Heart Foundation.
Angela started by giving us some basic facts about our hearts:
- It is about the size of your fist
- It weighs about 300 grams
- It beats about 100,000 times a day at 60-90 beats per minute
- It pumps about 7,500 litres of blood per day
- About 186,000 people have some form of heart disease – that is about 1 in 20 adults
- About 6,000 people will die from heart disease this year, more than many other disease
The two really important bits of information Angela wanted us to know were:
- From the time you start having a heart attack, you have about 90 minutes before permanent damage is done; and
- Typically, we take about 180 minutes before we get help.
Angela said this reluctance to get help can arise from not wanting to be a nuisance, to going to the doctor first, or to needing to finish hanging out the washing. She told us to remember the 90 minutes, and if we think we are having a heart attack, call an ambulance. Don’t go to the doctor (the doctor will just call an ambulance) and don’t go straight to the hospital – an ambulance can start treating you as soon as it arrives.
Angela then presented us with some information about the causes of cardiovascular disease, including some images of blocked drain pipes. Apparently virtually all of us have blocked arteries to one extent or another. The question is what we can do about it. There are some things we can’t change but there are some things we can.
The list of things we can’t change includes:
- Family history
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Personal medical history
- Gender (for this purpose anyway)
The list of things we can change includes:
- Diabetes
- Poor diet
- Being overweight
- Having high blood pressure
- Smoking
- Not getting enough exercise
- High cholesterol
The more of these factors you do something about, the more chance you have of avoiding problems.
Angela said we should all see our doctor for a heart check, women at age 55 and men at age 45. [A person, who shall remain nameless, at your correspondent’s table was heard to say that he could see his doctor from where he was sitting, so he would be OK!]
So, “Minutes Matter”. If you have symptoms which last for more than 15 minutes, don’t wait, dial 111. The symptoms include:
- Chest pain
- General chest discomfort
- Pain in the arms
- Pain in the jaw
- Pain in the shoulder
- Nausea/vomiting
- Just not feeling right
You may have one or more of these symptoms.
If someone is having a heart attack, get them to rest while the ambulance is on its way. Generally, just sitting will be the best position.
Lynda Burch thanked Angela for her talk noting her relief that the talk said nothing about not drinking wine.
Julie started by noting that it was Black Friday and was an anniversary of the date the first woman was elected to Parliament, and is also Chocolate Day.
Julie listed a number of facts of varying degrees of relevance:
- Vending machines kill four times as many people as sharks
- An average 4 year old asks 400 questions a day
- A human being sheds 40 lb of skin in a lifetime.
- More than 2,500 left handed people die each year from accidents caused by trying to use hand tools designed for right handed people
- The total weight of all the ants on earth is more than the weight of all the humans (Subsequent question from Dan: 'Who counted the ants?')
- The population of Ireland is still less than it was before the potato famine 160 years ago
- The longest interval between the birth of twins is 87 days
- There are more cars than people in Los Angeles
- Bubble wrap was originally designed to be wallpaper
- We replace every particle in our bodies every seven year
The raffle was won by Dave Woodhouse – for the third week out of four! Well deserved (Note: The prize was donated to Rosalie in compensation for her late claiming of the raffle a couple of weeks ago - Dave)
In closing, Pat reminded us that the New to the Bay Expo will be held on 28 September and the Club will have a stand.
And finally........
I went down the street to a 24-hour grocery store. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, "Hey! The sign says you're open 24 hours." He said, "Yes, but not in a row!"
AND FINALLY FINALLY..
This has been a Bulletin worthy of the date of publication. Almost everything that could have gone wrong - did. E & O E
