Gonna play CHS sports?

Today is the day of the nearly free physical.

This is a great deal.

For $5, incoming high school freshman can go to the Carson High School's gym from 5-8 p.m. tonight and have a physical done. If you can't afford the physical, the fee will be waived.

The offer is also available to incoming juniors or any school newcomers planning to participate in high school athletics.

And I say "offer" because this is as great as finding a fabulous car deal. Do you know how much these things would cost in the doctor's office? Do you know how many hours you would have to work at minimum wage to make this possible? Go and get it done, and put your savings into your car insurance or start your retirement account.

You have Carson-Tahoe Hospital to thank for this. And your $5 investment gets you a return on your money, so to speak. It goes back into the school's athletic fund, not into the pockets of the four physicians - Chris Highley, Anthony Zimmerman, Michael Edmonds and Jack Davis - who will be conducting the physicals.

It gets even better.

There's no excuse not to sign up for a sport, unless you're like me, who feared showing my scrawny legs in shorts.

And that's not a reason folks.

I signed up for basketball, in spite of my disability, and met a great mentor whom I'm now trying to find. So Willy, if you're out there, thanks for challenging me and saying oh-such-wonderful-things, like I played like Michael Jordan.

You shouldn't see me now.

For more information on the athletic physicals, call Angie MacCabe, Carson-Tahoe Hospital Director of Outpatient Services at 885-4265.

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Amanda Heiderman's mother, Lonnie, called recently to say thanks for the story on her daughter.

Amanda Heiderman, 23, is working at the National Radio astronomy Observatory this summer. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a degree in astrophysics.

Her mother said the topic of astrophysics is so complex that Heiderman recommended a book to her, "The Fabric of the Universe," to help her understand more about her daughter's chosen career.

I looked the title up at half.com, a Web site of used books for sale. Two came up: "Space-Time: Fabric of the Universe," 1995, by James Lopresto for $19.95; and "Fabric of the Universe," 1976, by Denis Postle, $7.49.

Turns out it was neither.

Amanda said it's called "The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality," by Brian Greene.

I found it, a 2004 hard copy, for $7.50 at half.com.

It's now on my ever-growing wish list. That imaginary bookshelf hosts quite a collection. One day, I hope to make it a reality.

n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.