Random Thinking

We got our little Boston Terrier, Lily, from a rescue. She was an abused dog for the first few years of her life. Amazingly, she is incredibly gentle and lets Mikey do anything to her without as much as a growl.

Yesterday Lily, was panting like crazy and barking at the dresser. She also seemed to have difficulties standing up. We took her off to the vet and her blood sugar was 18 which is incredibly low. They ran a bunch of tests and found a mass on her pancreas. Apparently she has a tumor which is pumping out insulin and driving her blood sugar down. They treated her with some IV glucose and observed her overnight and today she is back to her old self. But the long-term prognosis is not good.

The Nation has an article this week dealing with the problem of lax laws that don’t protect American children from dangerous toys. The article discusses a problem with a type of plastic toy that includes something called phthalates. Phthalates are used in plastic to keep it soft and pliable. It is widely used in baby chew toys because it makes them soft enough to chew but tough enough to stand up to chewing. The problem is that evidence shows that phthalates impede the production of testosterone which can cause problems for baby boys as they grow up. It is believed that the decrease in male sperm count and the increase in testicular cancer in the US may be related at least in part to the widespread use of phthalates.

Two years ago, phthalates were banned in the EU but they continue to be legal in the US. Toys manufactured in China that are confiscated in the EU are routinely resold in the USA. California has passed a law which goes into effect next year and will make it illegal to sell toys containing phthalates there but they remain legal in the rest of the US. Hasbro and Mattel have been leading the fight to keep phthalates legal in the US although they have adapted the toys they sell in the EU to abide by the ban. It is time to tell these companies that we are tired of them poisoning our children whether it is with lead paint or dangerous chemicals.

Tags: hasbro, mattel, toxic chemicals, toys, the nation, george bush sucks

Curse of the Narrows
by Laura M. MacDonald

On December 6, 1917, the most powerful human created non-nuclear explosion occurred in Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia. The explosion occurred when a French munitions ship, the Mont Blanc, entering Halifax Harbor collided with a ship carrying relief supplies for Belgium, the Imo, which was sailing out of the harbor. The Mont Blanc was literally a floating bomb carrying TNT, gun cotton, and picric acid, all high explosives that were capable of simultaneous detonation. With the collision, benzol stored on the deck caught fire superheating the ship until the high explosives detonated. The effect of the explosion was to destroy most of the city of Halifax, kill 2,000 people, and wound thousands.

The book tells the story of the events leading up to the human error that caused the collision but that is only a small part of the story. By page 70, the explosion has occurred and the city lays in ruins. What follows can be divided into two stories; the story of the survivors and the story of those who came to help the people of Halifax. The same day as the explosion saw relief efforts from across Canada and the US but especially from the city of Boston which had a relief train on the way to Halifax within 12 hours of the explosion. Ms. MacDonald tells the story of relief efforts struggling through the mountains of New Brunswick in a blizzard that suddenly appeared the night of the explosion. We learn about the efforts of the Red Cross as they use the lessons they have learned from the San Francisco earthquake to quickly provide relief to Halifax.

The stories of the survivors and the horrors they endured (husbands identifying the bodies of their entire family, dozens blinded by the flying glass and wood, children made into orphans searching through the remains of their homes) makes for incredible reading, but the way it is presented is sometimes confusing as we go forward and back in time through the first few days after the explosion with different families. There are some other small problems with the book. The maps are not detailed enough to allow someone who doesn’t know Halifax to follow the action. The pictures are printed on normal stock which makes them less detailed. For example, a description of a picture of the Imo tells us to note the puncture wounds in the hull but the picture is so poorly printed that they are impossible to see.

Overall, the book is a excellent presentation of an event that most people know nothing about. It is well written and brings to life the survivors and the volunteers who came to help them. It is hard to read their stories and not be effected.

Tags: books, review, Halifax, Halifax explosion

The picture to the right is the Medtronic Reveal Plus Insertable Loop Recorder. The actual size is about the same as a pack of chewing gum. The device is used to monitor activity of the heart and record any unusual events. I have had one of those in my chest for about a year but it did its job and I don’t need it anymore (plus the battery is running down). Today I went to the hospital and had it removed. It was cool because even though they put all these screens up to keep me from seeing anything, I was able to watch the whole thing in the reflection in one of the overhead lights. Last year when they put it in they knocked me out but for taking it out they only gave me a local. It didn’t hurt when they removed but it hurts a lot right now. I planned to go back to work tomorrow but I think I will need an additional day off.

Maybe I’m just not getting the Miller commercials that they are showing during the baseball playoffs, but something doesn’t seem right. These two Miller delivery guys show up at some dumpy looking store that offers 2 for 1 hot dogs and they get all excited and say this is the kind of place that should be selling Miller High Life and fill the freezers with beer. In another commercial they find a fancy restaurant that serves these beautiful but expensive hamburgers and say that this isn’t the kind of place Miller High Life should be sold and they empty the freezers. So is Miller trying to tell us that their beer is crap and should only be eaten with cheap hot dogs that have been sitting on a hot dog rack for hours and not good tasting food? Is that really the message they are trying to send? Our beer sucks so only drink it with food that sucks. I guess I don’t get modern marketing.

P.S. Boston just won the AL pennant. I knew they were going to come back and said as much on the downsyn forums. Boston is just too good to lose to Cleveland.

Tags: beer, Miller High Life, stupid commercials

Ecki put a picture of Kayla on her blog Friday night. The picture is of Kayla on top of a coffee table in front of the TV with her face pressed up close to the screen. Mikey used to do the exact same thing when he was little. We had a coffee table in front of the TV in a vein attempt to keep Mikey from getting too close to the TV but he just climbed right on top. We found ourselves always watching TV around Mikey. If you ever sit that close you will notice that you really don’t get a good view of the TV. You are too close so that you can see the dots which leaves me wondering what exactly makes being so close so desirable. The autistic mind is truly amazing.

Tags: autism, TV, coffee tables

Homedics QRM-400H Therapist Select Quad-Roller Massaging Cushion with Heat

The Homedics QRM-400H is the second massaging cushion I have owned. The first was a much simpler model and worked more on vibration that actual massage. Although that cushion worked well enough to loosen up tight muscles, it was nowhere near the massage you get from this cushion. This cushion features four rollers that move up and down the height of the cushion. For regular massage they simply move up and down. For the Shiatsu massage they also move side to side while moving up and down. The controls allow you to specify either lower back or upper back but the upper back control should more properly be labeled as middle back. A person would have to have a very short torso for the rollers to reach as high as the shoulder blades. If you problem is upper back pain, this unit probably is not going to work for you. The unit also features a heat option but this can only be used during a massage and not by itself. The intensity of the heat is not adjustable.

The massage itself can be quite strong and I found myself having to adjust my position during the massage so that it would be strong enough in one area but not too strong in another. I found that adding a towel over the cushion reduced the intensity which helped especially with the Shiatsu massage. The rollers are hard and a bit uncomfortable to lean against but once the massage starts and I was able to adjust my position properly (or use a towel to cushion the rollers) I was able to comfortably enjoy the massage. Although the unit comes with straps to attach to a chair, I found them too short to use but I also found them to be unnecessary. The controls are attached to the unit by a cord that allowed me to change the settings easily while using the unit. The unit automatically turns off after 15 minutes of use which is probably enough of a massage at one sitting.

Overall I liked the unit and found the massage it provides comparable (almost) to the much more expensive massaging chairs. If you are prone to muscle stiffness or lower back spasms or you exercise a lot and get back muscle soreness this cushion might be just what you are looking for to help relieve the problem.

Important warning: There is a screw that MUST be removed from the back of the chair before it is used. Using the unit without removing the screw will break the unit. Homedics designed it so that the plug for the unit can’t be accessed easily until the screw is removed but an eager person might still find a way to do it.

Tags: massaging chair, vine review

Cables To Go 26686 10-Feet USB A/A Extension Cable

On my Dell, access to the USB ports is either in the back under the desk or in the front, under some plastic overhang, and skewed sideways. Either way it was a pain to use for something that you need to plug in and out a lot like an iPod or digital camera. Worse, they are impossible to use with something like the flip video that has a built-in USB plug on a short arm. So I decided to get an extension cable so that I could plug in anything easily. I checked out Staples and Radio Shack and found $25 minimum for a simple A/A cable. But amazon and Cables-to-go came through with an inexpensive 10 foot cable that simplifies hooking up my peripherals to my computer. (I probably could have gotten away with the 3 foot cable but better to be too long than too short.) I plug in the cable and leave the other end disconnected on top of the PC where it waits patiently to be needed. The cable feels solid and gives every impression of being able to hold up to some abuse. I have used it with my iPod, my digital camera, and my flip video camera without any problems. Anyone who buys a flip video camera MUST buy either the 10 foot or three foot A/A cable. Everyone else should buy it so that they don’t have to struggle to get their iPod or digital camera hooked up. It does the job it is supposed to do, does it well, is solidly built, and is cheaper than anything else I could find. Strongly recommended.

Tags: USB Cables, review

So I found out that my teenage daughter, Beth, has her first boyfriend. Isn’t that sweet? Guess how I found out…

1. She told me
2. He told me
3. Michel told me
4. Facebook

If you guessed 4, you guessed correctly.

Must be the day for confused criminals in the news as these two stories came up on Reuters today…

First, a man in Germany shoplifted a package of cheese worth about $4.00 and then ran to his getaway car, a cement mixer. Police grabbed the man while he waited at a red light just up the street from the store. Next time, he might want to think about a less conspicuous getway car, although I think we can agree that he was probably right not to run through the red light. The fine for that is probably more severe than the penalty for shoplifting $4.00 worth of cheese.

Second, a man in Vienna who was driving drunk had his car break down, so naturally he called for emergency services to help him. Unfortunately, he got a little confused and called the police emergency number instead of the breakdown emergency number. As a police official said, “He doesn’t need his vehicle now because we took his license.”