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Do you remember jolting awake in the middle of the night with a cramp in the calf muscle? A pain so severe that no matter how many times your mother insisted you get up and walk it out, you just felt like curling up and screaming? Muscle spasms can be caused by numerous things like: exercising more than you ought to, not exercising enough, a poor circulatory system, or a poor diet. The worst thing you could do in the event of a muscle cramp is curl the injured leg up. It could take an eternity (at least what may seem an eternity in the middle of the night) for a cramped muscle to relax on its own. The muscle needs to be massaged and stretched immediately to prevent any lingering damage, particularly if muscle cramps occur frequently. If you develop a mild cramp, getting up and walking about the room should get the circulation going again in your legs, relieving the blocked vein, letting the blood flow once again back to the brain, easing the pain. In the event of a severe cramp, when you cannot even get your heel to touch the floor, you need to grab your foot and pull your toes in toward your body, trying to force your heel down. Because the muscles will be extremely tight, you‘ll only get minimal movement. Any movement at all, though, will slighty relieve the probâ€" lem. When this movement is felt, you Unti! reconfly» ie Jmaqile boking crsf / _Lerrjed @/gqs aripew 1P /cws;a@w Amer nmear Credorma . ¢frowm pitf ioX Ark 1P 1he w//?r/,_a/ Caspcweker? i# Ie. 3x wartioms Tranis Peserve . _A recza cridaz moe acorplites Te {rtsk . 4 #4â€"9 â€" GESLIWEAEALD CA FEPPY ~ 1Â¥ Fitness Forum Kathy Hammond Fitness Instructor Peter Etril Snyder *: should then get your foot or feet, if you‘ve got two cramped legs, to the floor. For one very awful moment, push the heel down into the floor. Next you‘ll need to go to your dresser or wall to stretch the calf muscle more fully. With the cramped leg out behind and the other leg in front, bend the front knee and lean into the wall or dresser. Keep the leg with the cramp, the back leg, straight and try to gently ease the heel to the floor. After the muscle is stretched, you can go back to bed. Gently massage the calf muscle working toward the heart. Knead the muscle gently but firmly. Now back out of bed. (It‘s not really a whole night wasted. The whole proâ€" cedure should only take a few minutes if you react right away, depending on the severity of the cramp.) You can now walk around the room. Don‘t skip or hop, or your cramp will return. Back to bed, to sleep. â€" Improving your circulation will help prevent the cramps from returning as frequently. Take a walk before going to bed, at least around the house. If you suffer from cramps, but cannot walk well due to physical disabilities, you can go through the motions of walking while sitting or lying down. Overexercising can cause muscle cramping as well. Start an exercise program slowly and gradually, particuâ€" larly if your leg muscles are weak. nd RA., LETTERS MPP‘s briefing showed his conscientiousness Last week‘s editorial (We pass â€" April 24) takes issue with Herb Epp challenging Frank Miller to debate. You ask if an incumbent MPP needs a dayâ€"long briefing before a debate with the premier. Spending a day preparing for a major debate is certainly not unusual, regardless of experience. Last summer, both John Turner and Brian Mulroney devoted the whole day before their debates to briefing sessions. The same is true for Ronald Reagzan and Walter Mondale. Even Frank Miller devoted most of last Thursday to preparation for his closed circuit TV show which confined the audience to Tory supâ€" porters. The fact that Herb Epp spent the time preparing for the debate demonstrates the thoroughness and dedication which he has shown as our MPP. Mr. Epp has shown the leadership you desire in willing to meet the premier faceâ€"toâ€"face. Getting to meet Frank Miller has become one of the issues in this election. Not even a local Tory candidate could deliver on his promise (to a Kitchenerâ€"Waâ€" terloo Record reporter) for a tenâ€"minute interview with Frank Miller. Mr. Miller cancelled the new session of the Legislaâ€" ture to call this election. His handlers have hidden him from the media and from opposition scrutiny. Surely we as voters deserve more. Rather than being critical of Herb Epp‘s conscientiousness, Chronicle reporters and proofreaders might be well advised to spend more time themselves in research. If the Chronicle had been more diligent itself, it would not have reported that the Waterloo North riding is made up of the City of Waterloo and the townships of Woolwich and Wellington, rather thar Wellesley! (Wellington is the county to the east of us â€" not one of our townships! ) Is it just my imagination, or is this page getting the sql:zze? I thought I ordered a queenâ€"s column. This sucker barely qualifies as a double. Oh well, be that as it may, I‘ll get in and out of here quickly, letting election news and comment grab the major headlines. Only fair, with today being not only May 1, but also TGIEE (Thank God It‘s Election Eve). Just think, a day from now, we can all get back to the business at hand. No bigwigs gladhandâ€" ing us for a while, no one asininely waving at us on street corners, no more garish election signs scarring spring‘s landscape. For the most part, people will once again become people. Welcome back. But since this is Election Eve, and since everywhere you look everyone‘s talking about what to do on Election Day, why not a few tips on what to do and what not to do prior to 8 p.m. Thursâ€" day. e Do not go into your boss‘s office and tell him/her you‘ll only be working to noon because rules say you get so many hours off in order to vote. You don‘t know the rule any better than he/she does, so don‘t press your luck. e When you go to vote, and they say that you can‘t vote because the occupant listed at 59 Bonehead Dr. is one Mr. Snidely Whiplash, think back to the night the enumerator bothered you in the fifth inning of the Jay game. Your comment wasn‘t that cute after all, was it? e If you go to the polis wearing a plaid sports jacket, throw the scrutineer a curve. Vote Liberal or NDP . e Don‘t send your kid to the polling booth to stand outside selling chocolate pars to help support Enterprise Ontarâ€" i0. e Once your boss has explained the rules of consecutive hours off, don‘t say to him/her: "I‘m marking an X beside Dolt Hadblatch, I presume you are too." Also, with more care, it is hoped that the WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, MAY 1. 1985 â€" PAGE 7 _ What to do Rick Campbell Chronicle Editor And if you must say that, don‘t hold your breath waiting for a response. _ _ e Don‘t scribble graffiti on the inside panels of your private polling booth. If you must, at least give equal coverage to all candidates. e Do not ask why Frank Miller‘s name is not on your ballot. Unless, of course, you happen to come from Bn‘cebridge:_ e Do not ask if you can vote for your 39 friends and relatives, too. That may work with jock Dave Schneider down at CHYM radio‘s hot hits, but Elections Ontario folks will have none of it. e Don‘t do on Election Day something you might regret later just because you had nothing to do until the bars opened. Trust me, statistics show you should wait until the bars open. Play a game or something, anything but Trivial Pursuit Baby Boomer edition. e Don‘t mark Harold Ballard as a writeâ€"in ballot. You don‘t realize what can happen when enough bubbleheads get the same stupid idea. On second thought. e If you are treasurer of your office playoff pool, do not volunteer to become treasurer of your office election pool. You might weaken and attempt an account transfer to cover your bosses. editorial writer would not have misused the word hopefully. e Poor quality editorials show Conservative bias e Be the first on your block to send away for Elections Ontario Jokebook, a bestseller before it hits the press. All sorts of gems, like how many NDPers does it take to change a light bulb, and did you hear about the Liberal and Slobobian and Russian who walked up to the bar, or the one about the Tory walking down the street with the pig under his arm. Send five dollars. Not from your election pool though. Stop offending my intelligence, your editorial of April 24, 1985 is only another gxample of how much of a rag this paper is. In trying not to endorse a candidate for the coming provincial election, you belittle the qualities of all the candidates but still manage to give the impression that Woolstencroft would be the best choice. How do you come to this decision? Nowhere in the pages of the Chronicle is there a decent article about the important issues of the election. Instead we find superficial biographies of the candidates that are of little help in trying to make the right choice. e Do get out and vote. It gives you the right for the next few years to go yap at every meeting under the sun. They tell you to button it, you say: ‘"Don‘t have to, I never voted for this clown. 1 voted for the other one." Where is some good quality reporting of important information instead of the usual pap that seems to say something but is only empty thought. _ This paper seems to be following the new Conservative Fad by giving the impresâ€" sion in your articles that things are great and business is fine. But glossing over or avoiding more real real human problems. The Conservative Party will lie and tell the electorate whatever it‘s told to want, to give their vote. The Chronicle, in their form of reporting goes along with it. Why? Where are your critical faculties, when there are real problems or injustices caused by or ignored by our wonderful leaders. This paper is slanted, admit it, and quit pretending to give unbiased reporting. Your editorials don‘t "stimulate my thought,"‘ just my bowels. . Have you ever thought of changing the size of the paper so that it would better fit the bottom of a bird cage? Gerald Underhili Waterioo, Ont. Bob Ernest Waterioo, Ont.