what is a hand pump?

[Guest guest]

Every quarter, I produce a multi-page handout of course descriptions.

Making a " cover " is the fun part, although it's hard to find graphics

that are " international " without being boring. Lately, I've been

doing mostly bears. I have wanted (for a long time) to do a picture

showing a couple of my own bears holding a globe. Now that I have a

digital camera (which even allows me to shoot such a picture in

black-and-white), the idea begins to seem feasible, and yesterday I

bought the smallest-size inflatable globe. (The globe has to be light

enough for the bears to hold.)

The packaging of the globe contains contradictory information. An

instructional insert says " For best results, inflate by blowing into

valve with mouth only. " The cardboard " title cover " stapled over the

opening of the plastic bag containing the deflated globe says: " Use

hand pump to inflate this globe. "

I tried blowing into the valve with my mouth, to no avail. There are

plastic " ears " at the sides of the valve that make a tight " seal "

impossible. Not to mention the fact that my lungs are not powerful.

So I went into the basement and found an old bicycle tire pump. But

the valve on the globe is too big for the thing on the bicycle pump.

Does that mean a bicycle pump and a " hand pump " are not the same

thing? In that case, what is a hand pump?

Any suggestions?

Jane