Recalls on Chinese-made Toys

In the past few months, I’ve heard and read a lot of stories about companies recalling toys made in China. Most of these toys have been recalled because they contain high levels of lead or other chemicals that make them unsafe for children to play with.

Obviously, this isn’t new, and I’m sure this has been going on for years and years without the attention it is now getting in the news. This really makes me wonder how much lead and other dangerous chemicals I came into contact with playing with toys as a kid. I’m sure the rules have become stricter over the years, but as we’re seeing, the toys of today are being recalled for safety reasons, so I believe the toys of the past were even more dangerous.

I don’t really know what else to say about this, except I hope I don’t die an early death because I used to play with lead-infested toys…

I got two vaccines today

I had a checkup at the doctor’s this morning, and while I was there, he suggested I get vaccinated against pneumonia. I remembered hearing about such a vaccine about a month ago when I was at the diabetes centre, but I didn’t really know much about it. My doctor explained how he recommends “Pneumovax” to certain people, such as the elderly, and people with certain diseases, like diabetes. It was free and he was ready to do it on the spot, so I went ahead with it.

This afternoon at work, we had flu shots. My doctor assured me there wouldn’t be any problems getting two vaccines in one day, but he said it would be best to get the needles in opposite arms. Both injections were no problem.

So far, my left arm hurts quite a bit. That’s the arm I got my flu shot in. The other arm feels fine. I feel pretty invincible right now, being double-vaccinated.

Update: It’s now the next day, and both of my shoulders really hurt a lot.

Fat people and bariatric surgery

Back in April, I read a story in the Toronto Star about gastric bypass procedures (aka ‘stomach stapling’) in Ontario. Many people are currently waiting for OHIP to cover their gastric bypass surgeries in order to help them lose weight. The problem is that there’s a waiting list and the procedure is expensive – close to $20,000. To make matters worse, in 2006, OHIP covered costs for 394 people to travel to the U.S. to have their surgeries done, at a cost of about $40,000 per person.

I understand some people have weight problems and may have trouble losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight. However, I find it hard to justify spending millions of dollars in taxpayer money on surgeries for people who are morbidly obese. I know these people must lose weight in order to improve their health or even to survive in some cases, but I don’t think surgery is necessarily the solution.

The way I see it, fat people are fat for a reason or combination of reasons. But, they have at least some control over this. Sure, some people are genetically predisposed to gaining weight, but I highly doubt somebody weighing in at 350lbs got that way by eating a healthy, balanced diet and exercising regularly.

I think what really gets to me is the fact that I have a ‘real disease‘ that cannot be cured, and can only be controlled through the use of medication. Without daily insulin injections, I would die. OHIP doesn’t cover the cost of my insulin or my testing supplies. A morbidly obese person could probably lose weight the old-fashioned way, through diet and lifestyle changes, yet they are able to get their weight-loss surgeries paid for. Food for thought…

We aren’t alcoholics.

The other week my brothers cleaned up our basement and finally took back all of the empty liquor bottles we’ve been collecting over the past year or so. There were also a few cases of beer. I’m glad I was at work and didn’t have to help carry them all.

In total, they got $55 back. There were about 270 beer bottles, 20 empty 40s (1.14L) and 60 empty 26ers (750mL) and a handful of mickeys. By my quick math, that’s over 90 litres of beer, and 70 litres of liquor. In total, it was an estimated $2300 worth of alcohol.

Wear a Helmet

When I got my new bike about a month ago, I also got a helmet. I ride on the roads a lot and sometimes there’s a lot of traffic. The idea of going headfirst into the road, a car or a street sign doesn’t sit well with me, so I figure it’s a good idea to protect my brain.

If Alan had been wearing a helmet when he crashed last weekend, his head might not look like this right now:

Moral of the story: helmets are cool, not dorky.