Posts filed under 'Health'
..at least not from glasses in your hotel room. A secret camera operation revealed that none of the hotel chains investigated properly washed the room’s glasses. Yuck! The fancier hotels always have actual glasses, not plastic cups, in the bathroom and near the mini-bar. They simply rinsed the glasses out, perhaps used a dirty bath towel to clean and dry, and placed them on the little paper cup doily for the next guest. The glasses always look clean, and you just assume that they would be, but with all of the things that the house keepers have on their rolling carts, do you ever see the heavy and bulky racks used to carry glasses? In some of the less fancy hotels, you are left with plastic cups individually wrapped in a plastic bag. I used to look at those a bit suspiciously but now certainly appreciate them much more.
If you stop to think about how gross a hotel room can be - stained bedspreads, bedbugs, dirty carpeting, smoke-stenched rooms - you can now add another item of to be skeeved out by.
Make a mental note, and tell all of your friends who travel.
November 8th, 2007
I have never been on a cruise. Those years of watching The Love Boat on Friday nights simply never compelled me to try. As I got older, I heard stories of all the fun people had on cruises. Actually is was mostly about continually eating.
It seems that more and more, cruise ships are turning in to death traps. Maybe it’s not as bad as Titanic or The Poseidon Adventure , but over the past years it seems the list of dangers has made me avoid this form of vacations.
9 Reasons not to Vacation on a Cruise Ship
- Pirates
- Falling Overboard
- Fire
- Mysterious Disappearance
- Contagious Illness
- Giant Waves
- Violent Tilt
- Collisions
- Isaac, Gopher, and Doc
Bon Voyage!
April 6th, 2007
We have just moved back into our house after nine months of major renovations. Almost every aspect of the house has been changed in some manner, including a new kitchen and bathrooms. The two upstairs bathrooms both have brand new tubs: a traditional tub/shower in the hall bathroom and a whirlpool tub in the master bathroom.
Although I wasn’t ready to venture into the whirlpool, I did want to check that it at least worked, so I filled the tub with water. As it filled up to about six inches, necessary to operate the jets, I started noticing that the water was a very pretty bluish color. I didn’t think too much of it, focusing on the operation of the tub. The tub worked fine, creating frothy cauldron of water. I turned my attention back to the blue water and considered its source. Perhaps the internal plumbing of the tub has some kind of anti-freeze or lubricating residue that would be washed away. I didn’t think that it was the water as I never noticed this before. The water in the toilets, also white, had no blue appearance, although there is much less water in a toilet.
I checked the hall bathroom which is just a standard white tub and the water in this tub had the same bluish color. It must be the water. Nothing in either bathroom would create any hint of a blue reflection.
Now I had to question if this was new or had always been there? Our old tub was coincidently blue, so we never would have noticed.
My wife called the water department and told them how we had not been in the house for some time. The offered explanation was that perhaps algae had grown during the time of non-use and caused this color. We would not be making soup anytime soon. As a rule, we drink bottled water even when home. Normally, I find this practice kind of silly, but reconsidered this as prudent until I get to the bottom of this issue.
In researching what could be causing the water to be blue, I have found the probable cause to be copper in the water. The copper most likely comes from the copper pipes that transport the water through the house. There are a few reasons why the copper in the pipes could be dissolving:
- Low pH: Low pH indicates acidic and corrosive water that can break down the pipes and would cause a higher concentration of copper.
- New pipes: The copper in new pipes breaks down more quickly in the first year of usage.
- Electrolysis: The water pipe that enters the house is normally used to ground the electrical system. A variety of different scenarios can cause a very small electrical charge to be present in the plumbing. This electricity can cause a chemical breakdown of the copper.
If the contaminant is indeed copper, I will need to find what is causing it and rectify it. I also need to do a bit more detective work to narrow down the mystery.
Action items:
- We have emailed our neighbors to see if anyone else has noticed this issue.
- I have a spigot right after the water meter in the basement that allows access to water prior to it going through the house plumbing. I will cart some buckets up to the tub to see if this has the same bluish hue. This should eliminate the new plumbing as a cause of the color.
- I also have a fire hydrant at the foot of my driveway. If daring, I could check this water for color which would indicate that the issue is not specific to my house.
- Get water tested for pH, copper, algae, and other nasties.
I will post my findings.
Has anyone out there ever seen this problem?
January 18th, 2007
I’m not very label conscious, but someone has told me that partially hydrogenated vegetable oil is bad. What is this stuff, and why don’t they hydrongenate all of it? And High fructose corn syrup seems to have replaced sugar as a sweetener. What does it all mean? I don’t know, but if you try to make my snacks healthier I certainly won’t appreciate it–and neither will anyone else.
It seems a potato chip manufacturer was trying to “do the right thing” by using cottonseed oil which does not contain any trans fat, and their customers complained. The taste, color, and greasiness were different and the company was forced to switch back to the old soybean oil recipe.
What were they thinking? If people are eating potato chips, they have already made the choice to indulge in something less healthy than say, fruit. Plus, you don’t just change a product on your existing customers. Remember New Coke?
July 20th, 2006
I started to think about how many food items there are for consumers that just aren’t the real thing, yet we seem to accept them as such. According to the Discovery Channel, Alaskan crabs really do exist, but every where I go I see something called “Sea Legs” or artificial crab. It turns out that this alternative is just some other white fish sweetened, painted, and shaped.
Despite the fact that Sea Legs is not crab, we seem to accept it as such. Sushi, Chinese food, seafood salads– these all seem to thrive on this alternative. I actually find it pretty tasty, but it bothers me that we call it crab meat when it isn’t. At what point do we actually forget what real crab meat is?
Another product that bothers me is pancake syrup. Waffles and pancakes are a big breakfast item in our house. We like to put butter (not margarine) and syrup on them. We say syrup, but we are assuming we are putting maple syrup on them, because that is what you put on pancakes–a sticky-sweet, brown viscous liquid. However, most of these don’t contain a drop of maple syrup. We have grown so accustomed to this non-maple syrup, that when we did get some from a friend who lives in Vermont, we really didn’t like it as much.
From the book Fast Food Nation, I learned how artificial flavorings are a huge business. It seems that most fast food burgers are so processed that they are left without any color or flavor, so this is just added back in chemically. We are getting very close to a futuristic sci-fi world where we eat generic tablets flavored in a variety of ways. It makes me what to shout, “Soylent Green is people!“
Fruit flavoring is perhaps the most often exploited. How many fruit “drinks” are there with big picture of fruit on the label yet state “contains no fruit juice“? I even saw a TV commercial with people running around gargantuan fruit advertising yet another drink that contains no fruit juice. What’s wrong with fruit juice, or actual fruit itself? It’s getting to the point that if we eat a red ice pop, we feel as if we had our daily allowance of fruit. Little kids don’t even refer to most foods by their artificial flavors–instead of asking for cherry or lemon ice, now we ask for them by color. “I want red!“
I actually gravitate to blue colored items, perhaps because it is so unnatural. Red is usually cherry or strawberry. Orange is orange, Yellow is lemon, etc. So what is blue? It’s nevery blueberry, and blueberries, despite their name, are more purple (which is always grape).
I am cynical enough to know that the answer to most “why?” questions is money. It’s cheaper to use these artificial flavorings, either in the production or even just the preservation and shelf-life of products.
Look around and recognize all of the substitutes there are for sugar, salt, butter, and everything else we eat.
Yummy!
July 14th, 2006
Last month I mentioned how I was diagnosed with a deviated septum. Well, on Wednesday I underwent surgery to correct this.
Nothing exciting about before the surgery–it is an out-patient procedure that takes less than an hour. No eating or drinking after midnight prior to surgery. A little general anesthesia, and then you wake up thinking you were just in a bar fight. You are groggy from the drugs, your nose burns, and a hammock of gauze is strung up between your ears to catch the drips of blood that seem to never stop. Whose idea was this again?
I was sent home with antibiotics to ward off any infection and Tylenol with codeine to deal with the pain from what was described as “chiseling”. No one used this word prior to surgery. I did not opt for any cosmetic enhancement of my schnoz, so there was not much external change except a bit of swelling. No black eyes or bandages — just a bloody gob of gauze strung up under my dripping nostrils.
I was anxious to try out my new nose–breathing wise, but alas some “packing” is kept in for a day to control the bleeding. It was hard to sleep propped up, in pain, and only able to suck air in through my mouth.
The next day, the dripping blood had nearly stopped. Time to go back to the doctor so he could remove the packing and restart the dripping of blood. At this point the pain was diminishing, but my ears were hurting from having the gauze harness strung between them.
The second night brought no better sleep, but much less pain. I ditched the gauze and now just walk around with a tissue stuck up my nose. And evidently there are still splints stuck up in my nose to be taken out six days after surgery. I can already feel that my breathing will be better, but there is still some healing to do before I think about trying too hard.
(Nasal Splints)
Other restrictions I need to worry about:
- No blowing my nose for two weeks
- No swimming for a month
- No vigorous activity for two weeks
All-in-all, it is a painful and bloody procedure. However, if my breathing is improved it will be well worth it… and I would recommend it for a friend.
June 30th, 2006
It seems that eating well and exercising might not be enough to thwart some health issues. Just like Sergio Valenti and Gloria Vanderbilt, some people just have bad genes (bad pun). I just read a story of a family where a hereditary stomach cancer has taken many of their elders. To prevent such a fate, 11 cousins have voluntarily had their stomachs removed.
This certainly seems drastic but beats the alternative. It seems you can live without a stomach by eating many small meals as your small intestines still continue to digest your food normally. A big side-effect seems to be weight loss which seems like an understatement.
I have heard about similar steps people have taken avoid breast cancer and uterine cancer. I suppose living with the dread of wondering when you will be diagnosed would be very depressing, if not paralyzing.
Having relinquished myself of my own gallbladder not too long ago, I often wonder just how many “extra parts” we have that we could actually live without and still maintain quality of life. Hundreds of years ago, many misunderstood “Vestigial Organs” were considered useless. I think all of our parts have a purpose, certainly the stomach does, but it appears we can do without it.
I suppose any one of a pair (kidney, lung, eye, etc.) might be considered an extra and perhaps part of nature’s design. So here is a partial list of what might be considered “optional equipment”:
- Gallbladder
- Tonsils
- Appendix
- Spleen
It seems the stomach can now be added to the list.
Are you living happily along without some other part?
June 19th, 2006
It seems that the risk of death is not working to get people to quit smoking. This alone speaks to the addictive nature of cigarettes and the obsessive personalities of the people addicted. I don’t think those “Truth” commercials help anyone except for non-smokers to get angrier at tobacco companies by exposing their practices.
One radio campaign I have heard speaks to the economic aspect of smoking. People explain how they have stopped smoking and have saved X thousands of dollars a year — an interesting spin on a materialist society. Don’t care that you are shortening your life and ruining your lungs — think of the money you would save! I don’t think this is going to work either.
People have been wondering how much gas prices would have to go up before people change their buying habits. I don’t think any price would be too high. Every time I go to fill up, there is always a huge line to buy gas. Don’t these people know how much gas costs? — Probably not. Give them your already over-extended credit card and you never even realize how much you are spending. How much does a pack of cigarettes cost? Does it matter?
The newest campaign against smoking has been a television commercial which features a man who has had throat cancer and now breathes through a little hole in his neck. He speaks using one of those electronic voice boxes, which interestingly retains his Spanish accent.
I have seen two commercials featuring this gentleman. One of them shows him getting ready in the morning, using a cotton swab to clean the hole in his throat and covering it with a neckerchief and speaking with his voice box. The tagline, “nothing will every be the same.” The other version shows a swimming pool as the gentleman explains how he used to love swimming and now cannot because he would drown from water entering his breathing hole. Again the tagline, “nothing will ever be the same.”
I guess this one is trying to paint the smoking related consequences as less dramatic and fatal, but more practical and certainly less than glamorous. I hope they help.
I have always heard that the only thing that happens when you talk to smokers about what has happened to other smokers is that they just smoke more. Part of the reason they smoke is to overcome anxiety.
A new study suggests that a snap decision to stop smoking is two to three times more effective than planning for it. Have the desire to quit and then one day just act on it.
Whatever works for you — stop smoking.
June 13th, 2006
I never knew that a deviated septum was a real condition. I always thought this was just a made up excuse for someone to have a nose job. Well it appears that along with being a deviant, I find myself with this nasal condition.
The septum is the structure of the nose, between the nostrils, that forms the air passages to the airway and sinuses. I have had chronic sinus problems for a few years, never knowing where one cold ended and another began. It also contributes to another condition called sleep apnea, where one’s airway is blocked during sleep causing one to stop breathing and gasp out for breath. It sounds quite dreadful, but mostly for the person you are sharing your bed with. For the afflicted, you just don’t sleep very well and tend not to be well rested. Although, there are a number of long-term consequences.
I am hoping that the remedy of my nasal issues will alleviate the sleeping problem and contribute to better health all around.
The doctor visit was easy. First he sticks cotton balls with some anesthetic on it to numb your nasal passage. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I couldn’t feel my teeth — nor did I remember I had cotton shoved up my nose. After removing the cotton, he slid a thin fiber optic tube up my nostrils one at a time to have a look around. It was actually difficult to get the tube in due to some swelling and I could feel it poking around the back of my throat.
My course of action is to use Nasonex for a few weeks, get a CAT scan to check for any other nastiness, and lose some pounds. (It seems if you can somehow lose weight in your soft palate, it helps with the apnea.)
At some point, I will be having a surgery to fix the deviated septum and some other trimming to fix the sleep apnea problem.
The procedure:
To repair the septum, the surgeon works through the nostrils, making an incision to separate the mucosa from the underlying cartilage and bone. The doctor cuts off or straightens the bent cartilage and then replaces the mucosa over the cartilage and bone.
The whole thing should take about an hour and is done on an out-patient basis.
I guess I just need to decide if I should have the doctor give me the perfect nose while he’s at it.
May 22nd, 2006
