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Show C M C M Y K Y K A5 Sanpete Messenger-Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Wednesday, February 4, 2009 NyQuil, Wonderful NyQuil It’s that time of year when illnesses and accidents abound, and when we rely on doctors and medicine to get us through colds, sore throats and the black plague. However, I have noticed, on occasion, that the theoretical world of medicine and the real world of…well, the real world…clash. Medical Theory: A cold will dissipate in seven days and an over-the-counter cold remedy helps alleviate symptoms. Real Life: My cold improves in six days, but only to lull me into complacency. It leaps out in full force on the seventh day, causing my nose to drip—in church—when I have no tissues. I rush home and hunt for an over-the-counter remedy. I throw fluffy cotton balls and sturdy Q-tips onto the floor in my haste to find something that will help. Then a thought occurs to me… Pulling two Q-tips from the container, I stuff them halfway up my nose to temporarily stop the drip, and then go back to the hunt. Finally, in a dark corner of the linen closet, I find it. Aaahhh, NyQuil (sigh of relief), wonderful NyQuil, blessed NyQuil...with an expiration date of January 2, 1964. I mumble, “Who cares? It will only work that much better,” and chug the whole bottle. Yes, now I feel less drippy. I explain to my husband, Russ, that he’ll need to fix supper because I’ll be too busy watching the pretty lights that circle my head like a halo. Sighing contentedly, I realize I feel better living through chemistry. I reach to scratch an itch on my upper lip…and accidentally poke myself in the eye. Medical Theory: A minor cut, such as an unintentional, shallow slice with a kitchen knife will heal with ointment and a Band-Aid. Real Life: My shallow, minor cut drips a blood trail as I rush to the bathroom. I elevate the finger to avoid a significant loss of lifegiving fluids, and as the blood runs to my elbow, I try to open—one-handed and with my nondominant hand—a box of Band-Aids. The box won’t open. Forgetting that I have a shallow, minor cut, I pound the box with my dominant hand. A pattern of blood spatter, worthy of a CSI Miami episode, spreads across the wall. Electing to leave it there until my minor cut heals, I look for the first-aid ointment. It’s a new tube…in a box. Giving up, I suck the blood from my finger until it quits bleeding. Medical Theory: A facial blemish will heal quickly with an application of a topical anti-acne ointment. Real Life: I wake up to a blemish the size of a turkey shed. Remembering the medical profession’s advice, I apply an anti-acne cream. My face turns red and develops blotches from the stuff. The blemish pulsates and burns. I wash off the cream, hoping that will help. The blotches on my face spread to my neck, and my lips swell. I look like an African Ubangi warrior. The blemish, however, still shines like a lighthouse in the fog, so I try an old pioneer remedy—mouthwash. I pour Cool Mint Scope onto a cotton ball, and dab it on the blemish. Holy cow—it stings like fire! In a kneejerk reaction, I fling the bottle of Scope and the cotton ball. The mouthwash splashes all over the floor and the cotton ball sticks to the mirror. Stepping forward to remove it, my foot slips on the mouthwash. In a manner resembling Wile E. Coyote when he’s been bested by the Roadrunner, I flip in the air and tumble to the floor. A bump the size of the Salt Palace swells on my forehead, but now no one will notice the blemish on my nose. I stagger out of the bathroom and down the hall, where I encounter Russ. He says, “Did you know you have a blemish? And how come you smell like mouthwash?” Whereupon, I realize that Dr. Gregory House of the TV show, House, is actually just an actor named Hugh Laurie, and the medical profession’s suggestions aren’t really any more effective than a bottle of Scope. (Disclaimer: This column is all in fun. Please do not chug NyQuil or stick Q-tips up your nose…unless advised to do so by a member of the medical profession.) SUZANNE DEAN / MESSENGER PHOTO Jack Cox of Manti, who recently retired as Utah state director for Rural Development, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, chats with Emily Bolger, program director of the Utah Preparatory Academy, a Manti girls home. Rural Development helped fund construction of the home. Retired rural director helped garner millions for central Utah projects Projects in Sanpete County assisted by USDA Rural Development during Jack Cox’s tenure as state director. Jack Cox By Suzanne Dean Publisher MANTI—An unassuming federal administrator who split his time between Salt Lake City and Manti played a central role in pumping $1.1 billion into rural Utah over the past seven years. Jack Cox retired a few weeks ago as Utah state director for Rural Development after 33 years with the agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He and his wife, the former Jeannie Blackham, are now living in Manti full-time. The condominium in Holladay, Salt Lake County, where they lived on weekdays while Jack worked at the Federal Building in Salt Lake City is for sale. “We’re looking forward to getting one truck, two fourwheelers and three horses,” Jack jokes. In truth, he says, he and his wife want to do a lot more gardening, ride horses in the mountains and visit chil- City Project Rural Development Support Centerfield Community Living Center (nursing home and assisted living) Water mixing plant Centerfield & Mayfield Ephraim Ephraim City Hall Six County AOG, Self-Help Housing projects Ephraim & Manti Manti Palisade Pals girls home (leased to Utah Preparatory Academy) Manti Water tank and line improvements Manti Sanpete County Jail Manti Manti City Fire Station Manti Manti City Library renovation Manti Industrial Park sewer extension Two vans and wheelchair lift Sanpete Community Training Center Fairview Sewage treatment plant Fountain Green Dance hall and theater Fountain Green Water system improvements Wasatch Finks dorm restoration, old Academy gymnasium, three school buses and equipment, and student government center $3 million $1.35 million $2 million $300,000 $500,000 $3 million $3 million $85,000 $93,000 $98,000 $27,500 $1 million $30,000 $180,000 $575,380 Projects in Sanpete County assisted by USDA Rural Development during Jack Cox’s tenure as state director. dren and grandchildren in other states. Rural Development offers about 50 programs, most of them designed to help finance housing, water systems, energy projects, community facilities and business growth in rural areas. The agency’s national budget is $4–5 billion per year, about $25 million of which is typically allocated to Utah. But the agency retains funds back in Washington to supplement state budgets when state-base staff present worthy projects. Since Cox became state director in 2001, the Utah staff of about 45 have practically become grand champions in pulling extra federal dollars into their state. “My staff, with my encouragement, has gotten very good at targeting where we think we can get more money” and finding projects that fit into the programmatic areas where funds are available, Cox says. And “one of the best guys at doing that,” he says, is Jason Justesen, team leader for Juab, Millard and Sanpete counties, whose office is in Manti. In 2001, the year Cox became state director, Rural Development spent $30 million in the state. The figure grew every year during Cox’s tenure, ending up at $251 million during 2008, his last year. The grand total during his administration was about $1.1 billion. Cox, who was born in Wichita, Kan., and grew up in (See “Retired” on A16) Compiled by Christian Probasco Senior Menu Wednesday, Feb. 4: Hamburger casserole, fruit salad, biscuits, cake Thursday, Feb. 5: Fish fillets with tartar sauce, mixed vegetables, fruit cup, bread and butter Monday, Feb. 9: Baked ham, macaroni and cheese, apple salad, green beans, bread and butter Tuesday, Feb. 10: Roast beef, potatoes and gravy, corn, rolls and butter, pineapple upside down cake Wednesday, Feb 11: Spaghetti with meat sauce, tossed green salad, pudding, fruit, garlic bread Thursday, Feb. 12: Chicken casserole, peas, applesauce, biscuits, cookie Monday, Feb. 16: Homemade chicken noodle soup with vegetables, cheese stick, fruit salad, crackers Tuesday, Feb. 17: Roast pork, mashed potatoes and gravy, spinach, bread and butter, peach cobbler Wednesday, Feb. 18: Baked chicken, seasoned rice, peas, rolls with butter, fruit pie Senior Activities Ephraim Feb. 13: Blood sugar and pressure check, 11:30 a.m. Fairview Feb. 11: Potluck, musical entertainment, 6 p.m. Manti Feb. 16: Dinner party and entertainment, 6 p.m. Moroni Feb. 6: Shopping trip to Orem and Provo malls, 9:30 a.m. Feb. 10: Blood sugar and blood pressure check, exercise 11 a.m. Feb. 12: February party, noon Feb. 16: Center will be closed Feb. 17: Exercise, 11 a.m. Mt. Pleasant Feb. 4: Entertainment program, William Dinkerhoffer, 6:45 p.m., dinner social, 8 p.m. senior Feb. 16: Board meeting, 5 p.m. Feb. 17: Foot clinic, noon Feb. 18: Pot luck dinner, 6 p.m. Spring City Feb. 18: Dinner plus entertainment program, 5:30 p.m. C M C M Y K Y K |