Jaime and I are now proud owners of that valuable bit of information: if someone has a heart attack, check them out, call 911, and render what care and assistance you can until someone smarter than you shows up. It may seem obvious to the point of idiocy, but perhaps there are a sizable fraction of folk for whom this needs to be said. Moreover, Adult CPR and First Aid is the first and most basic course required to learn how to navigate the intimidating world of taking care of folks on a boat. So even though I've got clients breathing down the back of my neck, we are moving all our furniture to California tomorrow, and Santa hasn't gone shopping yet, Jaime and I spent the weekend at an American Red Cross course.

The best part of the experience was seeing Jaime so engaged. I'm not saying she wasn't bored at times. Frankly, our teacher displayed all the personality of a wet cod left for three days on transom in a snow storm. I'm also not saying she was the star of the class. I was, however, quite impressed with her attention span and willingness to participate in the hands on activities.

Readers one and all, if you have not already taken your first aid and CPR course, I strongly encourage you to do so. Not only is this class the gateway drug to more advanced and potent coursework, it is useful to anyone and everyone who lives with other people as well as hermits who conveniently break accessible limbs or choke on something amenable to self-inflicted Hymlich maneuvers.

In all seriousness, it does give you lots of information which will make you more useful in your next global climate change induced natural disaster. You also can not really do much better than the American Red Cross first aid kits unless you have a doctor handy to tell you what additional to buy. Four and a half stars.