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use. It took 30 years for WJXT to finally get a computer that would work properly.
Upon seeing it on the screen, I promptly sent an e-mail of congratulations to Chief
Meteorologist John Gaughan.
When it came to using the Hand Tracker (where you control actions on the screen by
touching the screen), it was finally developed to near perfection in 2012, as illustrated
by John’s very efficient use of it. When we first tried it, it often didn’t operate properly
causing either a distraction or delay in our description of the weather. In 2012, the use
of radar had been greatly enhanced as we could quickly zoom to local close-up
neighborhood weather as well as sweeping moves to many other weather features.
Finally, the listing of times and communities were easily legible, not in a micro-font
that was barely legible.
CHAPTER 41 - Benefits of Healthful Living
I felt fortunate to have passed my 80th birthday on September 1, 2011. As a youngster,
I was always concerned with being physically fit. I was often walking through trails in
the woods or riding my bicycle a mile or two every day. I mowed many of my
neighbor’s lawns with an old push mower. I was encouraged to exercise by reading
about Charles Atlas in magazines. His articles said that he was once a 97-pound
weakling, but by using “Dynamic Tension” he grew into a strong, muscular adult. I
read every Superman comic book I could find, thinking that I could do some of his
feats. I even tied a towel behind my back, climbed to the roof of my garage and jumped
off into the flower bed below. As a Boy Scout, I went camping and earned merit badges
by hiking several miles and using all of the various swimming strokes. As a student at
Robert E. Lee High School, I didn’t play in organized games, but after the calisthenics,
I usually ran several miles around the oval track surrounding the football field for the
rest of the period.
In the late 70’s, I learned about aerobics and the jogging craze when I joined the choir
of Jacksonville’s First Baptist Church. I started building my breathing capacity by
alternating running and walking a few blocks, then gradually increasing it to a full run a
mile and a half from my home in Beauclerc Cove to Scott Mill Road and back. I finally
built my endurance up to running a full six miles without stopping. Before long I
realized that I had enough stamina to run in the city’s annual 15K River Run. After
participating in five races, I decided to reduce my running to about 3 miles because I
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