Humans are gregarious creatures

[Frank McCoy]

Humans are gregarious creatures

We don't really do as good alone as we do in packs; though some people
actually prefer being loners to the problems of getting along in a
group.

But the point that struck me last night (while being sick) was how
mucked-up we humans have made things with sleeping arrangements.

Look at almost all "primitive" societies, and families all sleep
pretty much in one room ... and usually all in a heap together like a
pack of dogs would. In our "sophisticated" society of today, we put
everybody in separate beds, in separate rooms ... often even
separating husbands and wives in this manner ... and we call that
progress.

Babies, instead of cuddling up to mothers and dads, being comforted
and finding easy access to food from Mom, are bundled off to lonely
cold cribs to cry the night away ... and that's considered HEALTHY?
Even at best, Mothers have to *get up in the middle of the night* to
change and feed a crying baby, which isn't all that healthy for the
mother, let alone leaving a tiny baby to shiver alone (or be smothered
in hot blankets alone) in a crib all by itself. Instead of having its
body temperature regulated by close contact with an adult, the child
has to brave nighttime heat and cold in solo distance, somewhat like a
Spartan child left to live or die in the outdoors.

I find that when I'm sick, have chills or fever, having another adult
(like, in particular, my wife) snuggled up next to me in bed, helps ME
handle the fever or chills FAR better than ever I do when forced to
sleep alone and lonely. Two people sharing a bed adjust their body
temperatures together, and (I think) get well faster when somebody
healthy is also sharing a bed. How much more-so must this be with
small children? Yet sharing a bed is the LAST thing we do with a sick
patient. Instead we isolate the person; making his/her body do ALL
the work of maintaining temperatures at the time when the body is at
its weakest and lacking the ability to do so.

Ruminating about this led me to propose a new invention for hospitals
to use: A Buddy-Bag.

Fill a large pillow-shaped plastic or rubber-fabric bag (use Water-Bed
materials) with water heated to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit, with thermal
controls to heat or cool it to within a degree of that temperature
(using thermal Peltier-effect modules to maintain even heat) and
covered with a nice removable terry-cloth cover, for sick people to
snuggle up to.

The problem (of course) would be convincing any hospital to try such a
system, no matter how much sense it makes.

Feel free to use the idea without royalties, if anybody decides to
adopt the system. I hereby place it in the Public Domain, (12/28/04)
if somebody else already hasn't thought of it first.

With such a Buddy-Bag, a person could snuggle up and either cool off
or heat up (as needed) when having chills and fever. Not *quite* as
satisfactory as snuggling up to another adult, but it would quite
possibly help a sick person recover by simulating a more natural
method.

Just an idea ....

[Pee Wee Herman]

Frank: You Are A Jenuse.

Post by Frank McCoy
Humans are gregarious creatures
We don't really do as good alone as we do in packs; though some people
actually prefer being loners to the problems of getting along in a
group.
But the point that struck me last night (while being sick) was how
mucked-up we humans have made things with sleeping arrangements.
Look at almost all "primitive" societies, and families all sleep
pretty much in one room ... and usually all in a heap together like a
pack of dogs would. In our "sophisticated" society of today, we put
everybody in separate beds, in separate rooms ... often even
separating husbands and wives in this manner ... and we call that
progress.
Babies, instead of cuddling up to mothers and dads, being comforted
and finding easy access to food from Mom, are bundled off to lonely
cold cribs to cry the night away ... and that's considered HEALTHY?
Even at best, Mothers have to *get up in the middle of the night* to
change and feed a crying baby, which isn't all that healthy for the
mother, let alone leaving a tiny baby to shiver alone (or be smothered
in hot blankets alone) in a crib all by itself. Instead of having its
body temperature regulated by close contact with an adult, the child
has to brave nighttime heat and cold in solo distance, somewhat like a
Spartan child left to live or die in the outdoors.
I find that when I'm sick, have chills or fever, having another adult
(like, in particular, my wife) snuggled up next to me in bed, helps ME
handle the fever or chills FAR better than ever I do when forced to
sleep alone and lonely. Two people sharing a bed adjust their body
temperatures together, and (I think) get well faster when somebody
healthy is also sharing a bed. How much more-so must this be with
small children? Yet sharing a bed is the LAST thing we do with a sick
patient. Instead we isolate the person; making his/her body do ALL
the work of maintaining temperatures at the time when the body is at
its weakest and lacking the ability to do so.
Ruminating about this led me to propose a new invention for hospitals
to use: A Buddy-Bag.
Fill a large pillow-shaped plastic or rubber-fabric bag (use Water-Bed
materials) with water heated to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit, with thermal
controls to heat or cool it to within a degree of that temperature
(using thermal Peltier-effect modules to maintain even heat) and
covered with a nice removable terry-cloth cover, for sick people to
snuggle up to.
The problem (of course) would be convincing any hospital to try such a
system, no matter how much sense it makes.
Feel free to use the idea without royalties, if anybody decides to
adopt the system. I hereby place it in the Public Domain, (12/28/04)
if somebody else already hasn't thought of it first.
With such a Buddy-Bag, a person could snuggle up and either cool off
or heat up (as needed) when having chills and fever. Not *quite* as
satisfactory as snuggling up to another adult, but it would quite
possibly help a sick person recover by simulating a more natural
method.
Just an idea ....
--
_____
/ ' / T
,-/-, __ __. ____ /_
(_/ / (_(_/|_/ / <_/ <_

["" <@>]

Frank. I Wish I Had 1% Of The Talent You Have !!!


Nikki

Post by Frank McCoy
Humans are gregarious creatures
We don't really do as good alone as we do in packs; though some people
actually prefer being loners to the problems of getting along in a
group.
But the point that struck me last night (while being sick) was how
mucked-up we humans have made things with sleeping arrangements.
Look at almost all "primitive" societies, and families all sleep
pretty much in one room ... and usually all in a heap together like a
pack of dogs would. In our "sophisticated" society of today, we put
everybody in separate beds, in separate rooms ... often even
separating husbands and wives in this manner ... and we call that
progress.
Babies, instead of cuddling up to mothers and dads, being comforted
and finding easy access to food from Mom, are bundled off to lonely
cold cribs to cry the night away ... and that's considered HEALTHY?
Even at best, Mothers have to *get up in the middle of the night* to
change and feed a crying baby, which isn't all that healthy for the
mother, let alone leaving a tiny baby to shiver alone (or be smothered
in hot blankets alone) in a crib all by itself. Instead of having its
body temperature regulated by close contact with an adult, the child
has to brave nighttime heat and cold in solo distance, somewhat like a
Spartan child left to live or die in the outdoors.
I find that when I'm sick, have chills or fever, having another adult
(like, in particular, my wife) snuggled up next to me in bed, helps ME
handle the fever or chills FAR better than ever I do when forced to
sleep alone and lonely. Two people sharing a bed adjust their body
temperatures together, and (I think) get well faster when somebody
healthy is also sharing a bed. How much more-so must this be with
small children? Yet sharing a bed is the LAST thing we do with a sick
patient. Instead we isolate the person; making his/her body do ALL
the work of maintaining temperatures at the time when the body is at
its weakest and lacking the ability to do so.
Ruminating about this led me to propose a new invention for hospitals
to use: A Buddy-Bag.
Fill a large pillow-shaped plastic or rubber-fabric bag (use Water-Bed
materials) with water heated to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit, with thermal
controls to heat or cool it to within a degree of that temperature
(using thermal Peltier-effect modules to maintain even heat) and
covered with a nice removable terry-cloth cover, for sick people to
snuggle up to.
The problem (of course) would be convincing any hospital to try such a
system, no matter how much sense it makes.
Feel free to use the idea without royalties, if anybody decides to
adopt the system. I hereby place it in the Public Domain, (12/28/04)
if somebody else already hasn't thought of it first.
With such a Buddy-Bag, a person could snuggle up and either cool off
or heat up (as needed) when having chills and fever. Not *quite* as
satisfactory as snuggling up to another adult, but it would quite
possibly help a sick person recover by simulating a more natural
method.
Just an idea ....

[Shagrat]

Post by Frank McCoy
Just an idea ....

And a long way from the dumbest idea you've ever had. :-)

[Denny Wheeler]

Post by Frank McCoy
Ruminating about this led me to propose a new invention for hospitals
to use: A Buddy-Bag.
Fill a large pillow-shaped plastic or rubber-fabric bag (use Water-Bed
materials) with water heated to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit, with thermal
controls to heat or cool it to within a degree of that temperature
(using thermal Peltier-effect modules to maintain even heat) and
covered with a nice removable terry-cloth cover, for sick people to
snuggle up to.

Not bad. I'd say flannel would be better than terry, but that's a
matter of taste.

One point though--you wouldn't want it that warm. While the bodies we
cuddle to are ~98.6 F inside, they're quite a bit cooler at the outer
layer of skin. The right temp wouldn't be too hard to determine,
though.

--
-denny-

Some people are offence kleptomaniacs -- whenever they see
an offence that isn't nailed down, they take it ;-)
--David C. Pugh, in alt.callahans

[Frank McCoy]

In alt.fan.frank.mccoy Denny Wheeler

Post by Denny Wheeler

Post by Frank McCoy
Ruminating about this led me to propose a new invention for hospitals
to use: A Buddy-Bag.
Fill a large pillow-shaped plastic or rubber-fabric bag (use Water-Bed
materials) with water heated to 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit, with thermal
controls to heat or cool it to within a degree of that temperature
(using thermal Peltier-effect modules to maintain even heat) and
covered with a nice removable terry-cloth cover, for sick people to
snuggle up to.

Not bad. I'd say flannel would be better than terry, but that's a
matter of taste.
One point though--you wouldn't want it that warm. While the bodies we
cuddle to are ~98.6 F inside, they're quite a bit cooler at the outer
layer of skin. The right temp wouldn't be too hard to determine,
though.

You'd want it to maintain your temperature, whether it was high or
low. Be a heat-sink if you're hot, and a source if you're cold. I'm
still thinking close to 100F, core temperature. Just like a person,
the Buddy-Bag would likely be cooling itself; and if covered up, the
"skin" temperature goes up appropriately, just like a human's does if
we're covered up with blankets. The Buddy-Bag though, wouldn't have
to sweat like a human would to remain at 98.5; sending excess heat
through a heat-pipe to an external sink.

The proper temperature would be like the proper temperature of water:
If you put your hand in the water, it shouldn't feel hot, cold, or
really the water at all, except as resistance. Same thing here: To a
healthy adult, the Buddy-Bag shouldn't feel either hot or cold or even
warm or cool; just neutral.

As to flannel vs terry-cloth: You want THICK cloth. Not your cheap
terry-cloth you find in most washrags, but the *thick* and *soft* kind
you find in the towels at a $5000-a-night hotel. Flannel would do ...
But it might take three layers.

[Shagrat]

Post by Frank McCoy
As to flannel vs terry-cloth: You want THICK cloth. Not your cheap
terry-cloth you find in most washrags, but the *thick* and *soft* kind
you find in the towels at a $5000-a-night hotel. Flannel would do ...
But it might take three layers.

Just curious: have you ever stayed in a $5000-a-night hotel? Or even a
$500-a-night one? I've stayed in places where there's no heat, no air-
conditioning, the bathroom's down the hall, and the cockroaches are the
only entertainment.

[Frank McCoy]

Post by Shagrat

Post by Frank McCoy
As to flannel vs terry-cloth: You want THICK cloth. Not your cheap
terry-cloth you find in most washrags, but the *thick* and *soft* kind
you find in the towels at a $5000-a-night hotel. Flannel would do ...
But it might take three layers.

Just curious: have you ever stayed in a $5000-a-night hotel? Or even a
$500-a-night one? I've stayed in places where there's no heat, no air-
conditioning, the bathroom's down the hall, and the cockroaches are the
only entertainment.

Never *stayed* in one. Been in several on business though.
Those towels cost over $20 apiece ... more than a lot of clothes do.