Brain Research

Went to Stockton State at the appointed time of 12:30 for the first (of two) sessions of brain examination.  This is actually a research project by a psych faculty member to study brain waves (or something) of the elderly.  The elderly?  Ouch, guess that includes me, folks.
It was pretty interesting.  I was greeted by two grad assistants (read "cheap labor") and after preliminary questions, form-filling-out, and chit-chat, I was fitted with a kind of cap made out of plastic net, with electrodes on it and cumulating in a plug or something that, I guess, would be attached to a computer.  All the electrodes had to be affixed to my head and face, which took a good twenty minutes, but wasn't particularly uncomfortable, aside from a few drips (the cap had been immersed in distilled water and "no tears" baby shampoo). 
Once I was duly outfitted, all I had to do was stare at a white cross on a dark computer screen for three minutes.  After that, I was asked to close my eyes and just sit there for three minutes.  Cap was then removed and I filled out a question/answer form, the kind beloved of all shrinks: "Do you think people are out to get you?"  "Do you feel friendless?"  Well, maybe not quite that bad, but close.
It took and hour and a half and I found it interesting.  Next time--next Wednesday--I'll see Dr. F. herself and she'll do some cognitive tests.  Called Betty after I left to see if she could meet for lunch, but she couldn't.  We talked later, though, and she's coming over today to go to the pool.
Dreadful news:  I was just sent an Asbury Park Press article saying a man drowned at the lake about an hour after we left on Sunday.  I'm not sure what the circumstances were, but he was only 35.
But wonderful news from the east--which I can't reveal here!