Variable reinforcement

“If they had known it was your first time they would have let you win...that is how they hook you in,” said the old timer. There is a casino a couple of hours from here in the mountains. A joint venture of one of the big Vegas chains and a Native American tribe. It has no live dealers or table games. It is 100% electronic. No clocks or windows to distract you. A cacophony of sight and sound. I wanted to hear that ”ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching" sound…of tokens dropping into the tray. I assumed I would lose a few bucks. Are there any winners? High roller (ha) that I am… I burned through $100 in 2 hours with only one ten dollar win. Then I just hung out and observed. Some people must prefer this impersonal method of handing over their money. The odds of winning are a complete mystery. At least the table games in Vegas (such as Craps, Roulette, and Wheel of Fortune) were associated with known odds and live dealers.

North Carolina is known for beautiful mountains and tourist destinations. In the western end of the state there are roadside “Gem Mines” tempting you to find precious stones. You buy buckets of local soil to sluice. The dirt is “salted” with pretty rocks - the cast off rubble from mines all over the world. The helpers have 20 carat sapphires and rubies in their pocket “so you’ll know what to watch for”. Like a bait shop advertising the trophy fish caught locally..on the wall there are Polaroids of happy prospectors holding big stones.

You can rent the fantasy of the big strike for a little while. “It’s the stuff dreams are made of”. (Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, from The Maltese Falcon)-- James
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Get high naturally

The Tiger Woods arm pump is a behavioral expression of the brain’s pleasure center. The High-Five after the winning touch down is another example. A blast of Dopamine from the Nucleus Accumbens is what we crave. I get a thrill just pronouncing the words. Well, a little. Cigarettes can hijack this system. Endorphins are amazing little poly-peptides that turn on the pleasure center like a shot of morphine. You’ve heard of the runner’s high.

Humor is infectious. It also is good for you in many ways according to studies. Endorphins are released. The immune system is boosted. Optimists must have the edge here. With the occasional eruptions of glee our treatment team meetings are like therapy for the staff. Like an old fashioned Camp Meeting there is spontaneity and emotion, rising and falling, somber to fanciful, depending on the moment-to-moment topic.

The Humor Clubs in India are said to be a sight to behold. Not the terrifying stand-up form of comedy in which only a few professionals excel, but more like mirth-calisthenics. Cackling in unison at different pitches…imitating a horse’s whinny or a monkey’s chattering. But, why? It just feels good... and many of us have a secret wish to be funny and entertaining, in effect, to give pleasure. If it increases a few endorphin or dopamine molecules... then so be it. Let’s all laugh out loud. --James

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Meet Singles in your Area

Do you read personal ads in the back of the weekly paper? Men seeking Women, women seeking men, plus other permutations especially common in larger cities. The internet has revolutionized the hunt for that special someone. My contacts report eHarmony.com has the best track record for finding that LTR (long term relationship, in the parlance). The weedouts are sometimes hard to spot. These include the deceivers (already married), those looking for that meaningful overnight relationship, i.e. booty call, and those with the Urge to Merge (who want to bring their U-haul on the second date)

It is not uncommon for health care workers to have a bit of voyeur in them. Some curiosity is necessary. The understanding of client or patient involves some detective work just like a Sherlock Holmes mystery. Every one is different. Artists and photographers study faces and shapes for the story they can tell…like a creative writer.

With one mis-click I signed up to receive the offers of 25 available women in my area to be emailed to me every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday by Yahoo Personals...By mistake, mind you. I am already member of the Yahoo Community as DizzyG** (not my full moniker). Only members can play the online games, such as Text Twist. Next to the playing area is a link to the personals community. You can see legions of relationship seekers post their fuzzy photos and a few words specifying what type of friend is sought... I thought I was clicking on an ad for a new Blackberry (PDA+cell phone+computer gadget). Nothing is truly accidental as they say...You want to look even if you don’t mean to look. I unsubscribed and confessed quickly. Keeping some secrets, even if benign, can be burdensome.

My 32nd anniversary is fast approaching. I better give an extra nice card this year. --James
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Hand job

Come on…come on now, touch me, baby… can’t you see…that I am not afraid. (The Doors, of course) How many songs can you think of involve touching?
The phone company got it. (“Reach out and touch someone”)
We learned that baby monkeys given only wire mesh to cling to have poor brain development and appear severly depressed.
The old-style doctor may not have been the technical wizard we see today but understood what laying on hands really meant. There is no specific pill for stressed-out patients.

Infants are totally dependent on others but also get the lion's share of the “hands-on experience”. Skin hunger is pandemic amongst seniors...often alone…failure to thrive.…starved for the touch of others. In nursing homes the only touch in a whole day may be from a nursing assistant wearing those purple nitrile gloves (powder free-latex free). Many nursing home residents are widowed and often have endured many losses. Touch hallucinations are not rare during grief... So give someone a foot, back and neck massage, or bear hug (full frontal- not that lame side-to-side back pat). Touching is a 2 way street. Let's all hold hands. --James

Skin Hunger essay
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Am I shouting?

Hasn’t everyone put on head phones while listening to music and been tempted to sing? Then someone would rush over and shush them because it’s loud and off key?

There are some people who do not know how to whisper. In a restaurant I may get the “shush sign” from Peg if I make people-watching comments. If you are going to gossip in public then you better be a good whisperer.

I definitely should not talk on the cell phone in public. I end up shouting. Maybe this is another reason I can't sing -I can't hear myself. Then there was the proverbial loud music. I was warned.

Ear proctection was optional in 1975. I was the General Manager of the Norwood Paper Company. (the only and therefore the highest ranking employee.) I picked up old papers, fed the equivalent of 10 Sunday papers per minute in the shredder which sounded like an industrial strength chipper-shredder (i.e. loud). I'm lucky to have saved my 10 fingers from the 4 steel blades whirring inches away and the old hay baler... What'd you say?

It is quite irritating to hear 2 people having a not-so-private conversation during a lecture or movie. That is grounds for mental assault and battery. Tommy, can you hear me? -- James
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