Light & Dark

Raising Kids

For those of you who have kids... you'll be reading and nodding and sighing.

The rest of us will be over here in the corner pointing at you and giggling.

The following came from an anonymous Mother in Austin, Texas...

Things I've learned from my children (honest and not kidding):

1. A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq.ft. house 4 inches deep.

2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with Roller blades, they can ignite.

3. A 3-year old's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint
can, to spread paint on all Four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.

8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9. A six-year old can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.

10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old.

11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12. Super glue is forever.

13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15. VCR's do not eject PB&J sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18. You probably do not want to know what that odor is.

19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20. The fire department in La Mesa, CA has a 5-minute response time.

21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24. 80% of men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

And yes... I am soooo busted. My first thought reading the brake fluid thing was "Well, maybe if I tried it with small quantities, it might not be too bad?"

Return of the Fairy Floss Floozie

LeeAnn of The Monkey Boy Loves Cheese is slowly getting back in the swing of things after being knocked offline by a really nasty sinus infection. She is one seriously funny lady, and well worth reading, even if just to surf through her archives 'til she gets back up to speed.

Glad you're on the mend, CheeseMistress!

Sicker than the proverbial dog.

I got the first hints of a cold coming on a few days ago, so tried dosing with vitamin C and flooding myself with fluids, but I've been fighting a rearguard action ever since.

Friday I got the full brunt of it, and yesterday and today I've been getting my ass kicked.

It's 'just a cold' but what a doozy. All above the neck, so far, with no fever, but the sinus pressure and headache's been literally making my eyes water, and sneezes so violent I've pulled muscles in my back & shoulder. My voice has gone all to hell too, as Stevie can attest. I was talking to her on the phone as we worked through some computer issues for her, and she kept giggling at my honk.

I've always refused to take medications for cold symptoms, but boy, a roto-rooting of my sinuses with a drain cleaner chaser actually sounds almost inviting. (With apologies to Da Goddess)

I have been able to get some web work done when I can stay awake, but about every 3 hours, I get hit with an entropy attack and have to crawl back under the duvet to recharge.

The effects of hot tea and steamy showers seem to be lasting longer each time though, so hopefully I'm on my way out the other side. Funny, despite our incredibly long winter this year, I hardly got sick at all. Nice to have it happen on a glorious spring weekend instead. Blea.

Scary medical stats.

A story in this weekend's National Post discusses the extraordinary results of an investigation into the number of patients experiencing "adverse events" in Canada's hospitals. As is to be expected, the reporter sensationalises the story by misleadingly implying that the 1 in 13 number that he quotes refers to

drug overdoses, botched diagnoses, patients whose spines were sliced by errant scalpels and one woman whose ovaries were removed without her consent.

A more thorough reading reveals that, in fact, "adverse affects' refers to a vast range of complications, only some of which are preventable, and of the 7.5% experiencing such 'effects' only one third of them were deemed preventable. The first figure appears prominently in the 5th paragraph. The second figure comes tangentially at the end of para 18, with the explanation having to wait until para 25.

The slug under the headline also states "Rate of 'adverse events' is double that in U.S. hospitals." Unfortunatley, he then waits until the 24th paragraph to mention that the reporting mechanisms in the 2 countries are completely different, rendering a comparison pretty much pointless.

Man, this kind of sloppy, sensationalistic reporting infuriates me. Particularily because the true stats are already distressing, without muddying them up the way this hack did.

Coming from a medical family, I am only too painfully aware of the number of preventable medical mistakes that occur in (and out of) hospitals. I often saw my father prescribe or make other treatment decisions for patients mere moments after waking from a profound sleep, then going back to sleep and I swear not even remembering he'd done it. I say that, because I could wake him up upon getting home after curfew, assure him I was on time, then have him ask me in the morning "What time did you get in? Did you wake me when you got home? (Note, I never heard of his orders ever being wrong, but those certainly aren't reliable circumstances for quality care)

I also have first hand knowledge of Dr's, who were a danger to their patients due to personal problems, being shunted from a hospital with a positive recommendation just to get them out of that Chief of Surgery's hair.

There's no question the culture of secrecy surrounding medical mistakes has to change in order for the situation to improve in Canada. Unfortunately, that will probably put us into the same medical malpractice crisis as the US.

Fortunately, the co-authors have some obvious, sensible recommendations too.

The researchers say a move to electronic medical records and hiring more nurses would be a good start at reducing errors.

Dr. Norton says it would be worth the added expense, noting each adverse event resulted in an average hospital stay of six extra days.

Another article on medical care from the CBC (Canadian health care quality comparable to other rich countries) earlier this month contained another truly eye-popping statistic which was so astounding, but so glossed over I doubted I had read it correctly.

Per capita spending on health in Canada is 57 per cent of that in the U.S. but Canadian survival rates for colorectal cancer, childhood leukemia, kidney transplants, liver transplants and hepatitis B were higher.

In 2001, Canada spent $2,792 per capita compared to $4,887 in the U.S.

That statistic astonished me so much, I'm trying to find corroboration. If anyone can point me to some, I'd appreciate it.

I've heard plenty of sneering from some Americans about Canada's universal health care system, and I'm the first to admit it's not perfect, but I've always prefered it over the US system. (Just ask Serenity why that might be) But holy shit! If we're accomplishing what we do for over 40% less per capita than the US, then I gotta say, it sure makes that sneering seem pretty ridiculous to me. I do realise that the nature of our system makes some of the comparison costs lower to start with, but still...

Fuck it

Just fuck it.

This post has been stuck in my head for over a week, plugging up all the other things I want to write about out. So, in the spirit of a mental laxative, I'm just going to dump it.

I've been 'the peacemaker' most of my life - the one looking out for everyone else's best interests at the expense of my own. (Probably at least in part because it's easier and safer than standing up for myself.)

I'm tired of sitting in the passenger seat, while some loudmouthed idiot keeps putting us in the ditch.

I'm tired of dumbing myself down, so I won't make someone else feel bad by 'showing them up'.

I'm tired of covering for other people's stupid mistakes. Honest mistakes I have no problem with, (I make plenty of my own, that's how I learn), but if you're gonna insist on doing the same dumbfuck things over & over & then expecting me to accept the negative repercussions, guess again.

I'm tired of being around people who expect/demand that I pay attention to their concerns, but who don't give a rat's ass about mine.

I'm tired of doing really good work & having someone else take credit for it, or in some other way shit on me as a result.

I'm tired of demanding the best of myself, then letting others screw around and fuck up my efforts.

I'm tired of putting more effort into worrying whether I'm treating someone else fairly than about whether I'm treating myself fairly.

I'm tired of holding my tongue so some moron doesn't get the reaming he/she deserves.

I'm tired of spending massive amounts of energy worrying about whether I'm good enough at something, when time after time I've proven to myself I am.

I'm tired of not saying what I think because others might be offended.

I'm tired of trusting people, and allowing them to use that trust to fuck me over.

I'm tired of operating from fear instead of excitement.

I'm tired of letting down good friends because I'm wasting time and energy on others who don't deserve it.

The real truth? I'm not tired of it. I'm angry about it. I'm fucking furious. Especially so because on so may occasions I have let it happen. I've taught people to treat me that way. And now they have a huge investment in me continuing to allow them to. There are going to be a lot of people pissed at me because I won't give them the free ride anymore. Fuck 'em. They're not the people I can afford to have around me anymore. I need - we all need - all the help we can get. Not people standing in our way, sucking the life out of us. dragging us down to their level.

So if you're one of those people in my life? Find another sucker. I've had enough.

This isn't a reflection on my new job, at least not in the way you might think. I'll explain in another post.

Hockey Day in Canada.

Quite a day for Canadian hockey fans & players.

Team Canada wins the World Championships in a gutsy come-from-behind effort both in the game and the tournament. I have to respect team that can win despite losing their coach just as the tournament got underway. Gotta love back to back Championships. Wayda go guys!

Calgary Flames also just defeated San Jose in yet another overtime game to take a 1-0 series lead. Nice to take the first game on the road. Flames Fever is raging already, but I'll bet it's gonna get even hotter now. Five overtime games already in the playoffs? I just hope they don't wear 'emselves out!

With Mike now throwing his support behind the boys from the North, we may be unstoppable. It's gonna be an interesting couple of weeks!

Can you say "slow news day?"

John Kerry fell off his bike.

Stop the presses!

I can barely contain my excitement waiting 'til Paul Martin calls an election here in Canada so we can go through the same horseshit.

Gah.