Chase, I'm sorry, but Marion, Va. has got nothing on Szeged, Hungary.

"Did you know we invented Dr. Pepper?" Yes, I did know that -- you told me. Or was it "Did you know we invented Mountain Dew?" I can't remember. Either way, it's immaterial. Pepsi , Coke, Sprite, root beer and R.C. ... that Fab Five is probably enough to keep the world spinning on its axis for the next century at least.

But (sniffle) a world (sniffle, cough) without (a-choo!) Vitamin C? Now that (sniffle) would be (cough, sniffle) a tough (sniffle) pill to (a-choo! a-choo!) swallow.

Anyone living outside of Szeged -- a city in the south of Hungary, near the Romanian and Serbian borders -- has probably never heard of Albert Szent-Györgyi, the man who successfully isolated ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) from green pepper back in 1928. But Kata and her twin brother István sure have, and were damn proud to inform me of how important the Nobel Prize winner from their hometown of some 200,000 has been to the health of immune systems far and wide.

Speaking of Nobel Prize winners, Kata's friend Attila made sure I went home with this fact straightened out: Ain't nobody that's got more of them, per capita, than Hungary. And that's a fact, Jack.

One more thing, which is actually pretty bigtime if you asked me. Ever heard of the ballpoint pen? Hungary. Again.

We should all write thankyou letters to the Hungarian people as a whole. Kőszi, Magyar!

(But make sure you send one to the people of Marion, too -- I heard it gets lonely up in the Blue Ridge, especially during the winter. And since the nearest hospital is at least a day's ride from ole' Chase, make sure to include a few Vitamin C tablets before you lick the stamp. We don't want them to have to call the local doctor and ask him to bring the leeches if Charlie Bob gets a fever).