If you leave before 7, chances are you'll miss the traffic.

He snickered. Janelle was going nuclear. “Why didn't you tell me?” she shouted.

When the needle finally perforated the sac around the spinal column, clear fluid bubbled back through the hub. The resident congratulated me on a “champagne tap”, free of blood. We sent the fluid off to the laboratory.

Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.