My darling soon-to-be-a-father husband sent me a link to this NYTimes article recently.
Here were the quotes he wanted to make sure I read:
"The five things most likely to cause injury to children up to age 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are: car accidents, homicide (usually at the hands of someone they know), child abuse, suicide or drowning. And what are the five things that parents are most worried about (according to surveys by the Mayo Clinic)? Kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers and drugs."
"“The least safe thing you can do with your child, statistically, is drive them somewhere,” said Lenore Skenazy, author of “Free-Range Kids,”"
Showing posts with label article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label article. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Thursday, September 02, 2010
What do the expiration dates on foods really mean?
My mom sent me this article the other day, and I thought it would be interesting info to share.
"Which five foods are most often feared as being unsafe after the printed date? According to ShelfLifeAdvice.com, we are most wary of milk, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt, and eggs, and the site offers these helpful explanations:
Milk: If properly refrigerated, milk will remain safe, nutritious, and tasty for about a week after the sell-by date and will probably be safe to drink longer than that, though there’s a decline in nutritional value and taste.
Cottage cheese: Pasteurized cottage cheese lasts for 10-14 days after the date on the carton.
Mayonnaise: Unopened, refrigerated Kraft mayonnaise can be kept for 30 days after its expiration date or 3-4 months after opening, the company told ShelfLifeAdvice.
Yogurt: Yogurt will remain good 7-10 days after its sell-by date.
Eggs: Properly refrigerated eggs should last at least 3-5 weeks after the sell-by date, according to Professor Joe Regenstein, a food scientist at Cornell University. Note: Use of either a sell-by or expiration (EXP) date is not federally required, but may be state required, as defined by the egg laws in the state where the eggs are marketed."
"Which five foods are most often feared as being unsafe after the printed date? According to ShelfLifeAdvice.com, we are most wary of milk, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, yogurt, and eggs, and the site offers these helpful explanations:
Milk: If properly refrigerated, milk will remain safe, nutritious, and tasty for about a week after the sell-by date and will probably be safe to drink longer than that, though there’s a decline in nutritional value and taste.
Cottage cheese: Pasteurized cottage cheese lasts for 10-14 days after the date on the carton.
Mayonnaise: Unopened, refrigerated Kraft mayonnaise can be kept for 30 days after its expiration date or 3-4 months after opening, the company told ShelfLifeAdvice.
Yogurt: Yogurt will remain good 7-10 days after its sell-by date.
Eggs: Properly refrigerated eggs should last at least 3-5 weeks after the sell-by date, according to Professor Joe Regenstein, a food scientist at Cornell University. Note: Use of either a sell-by or expiration (EXP) date is not federally required, but may be state required, as defined by the egg laws in the state where the eggs are marketed."
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
We lost power!
Just before 8am our power went out. We didn't think much of it as we disabled our garage door and manually opened it in order to get our car and bikes out. As the day went on we heard reports of a plane crash taking out some power lines and an electric transmission tower. You can read more here.
The power came back on around 6pm but not in time for me to get to my online class. Grrrrrrr.
The power came back on around 6pm but not in time for me to get to my online class. Grrrrrrr.
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
#6 isn't too shabby!
The best countries to live in list came out and the Netherlands is #6. Not bad! Yes, Monica, no need to rub it in... Norway was #1. :)
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
The top ten countries listed on the index are: Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Friday, August 08, 2008
Article of the day: Grandma arrested for driving with child on roof
MARATHON, Fla. - Authorities say a grandmother was arrested for driving around the parking lot of a Marathon grocery store with her 3-year-old child sitting on the roof of the car.
ADVERTISEMENT
Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the Publix store Tuesday and arrested a 54-year-old woman after she was driving around with her three-year-old granddaughter on the roof of her car.
The grandmother was released from jail 15 hours later.
The woman said Thursday she would never let anything hurt her granddaughter. She says she was driving at "snail-speed" and holding the child's leg.
Authorities say the woman told police she was giving the child some air and letting her have fun.
She faces charges of child abuse. The child is back with her mother.
ADVERTISEMENT
Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies were called to the Publix store Tuesday and arrested a 54-year-old woman after she was driving around with her three-year-old granddaughter on the roof of her car.
The grandmother was released from jail 15 hours later.
The woman said Thursday she would never let anything hurt her granddaughter. She says she was driving at "snail-speed" and holding the child's leg.
Authorities say the woman told police she was giving the child some air and letting her have fun.
She faces charges of child abuse. The child is back with her mother.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Don't Worry! ...says the NY Times
10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List
By JOHN TIERNEY
Published: July 29, 2008
For most of the year, it is the duty of the press to scour the known universe looking for ways to ruin your day. The more fear, guilt or angst a news story induces, the better. But with August upon us, perhaps you’re in the mood for a break, so I’ve rounded up a list of 10 things not to worry about on your vacation.
Now, I can’t guarantee you that any of these worries is groundless, because I can’t guarantee you that anything is absolutely safe, including the act of reading a newspaper. With enough money, an enterprising researcher could surely identify a chemical in newsprint or keyboards that is dangerously carcinogenic for any rat that reads a trillion science columns every day.
What I can guarantee is that I wouldn’t spend a nanosecond of my vacation worrying about any of these 10 things. (You can make your own nominations in the TierneyLab blog.)
1. Killer hot dogs. What is it about frankfurters? There was the nitrite scare. Then the grilling-creates-carcinogens alarm. And then, when those menaces ebbed, the weenie warriors fell back on that old reliable villain: saturated fat.
But now even saturated fat isn’t looking so bad, thanks to a rigorous experiment in Israel reported this month. The people on a low-carb, unrestricted-calorie diet consumed more saturated fat than another group forced to cut back on both fat and calories, but those fatophiles lost more weight and ended up with a better cholesterol profile. And this was just the latest in a series of studies contradicting the medical establishment’s predictions about saturated fat.
If you must worry, focus on the carbs in the bun. But when it comes to the fatty frank — or the fatty anything else on vacation — I’d relax.
2. Your car’s planet-destroying A/C. No matter how guilty you feel about your carbon footprint, you don’t have to swelter on the highway to the beach. After doing tests at 65 miles per hour, the mileage experts at edmunds.com report that the aerodynamic drag from opening the windows cancels out any fuel savings from turning off the air-conditioner.
3. Forbidden fruits from afar. Do you dare to eat a kiwi? Sure, because more “food miles” do not equal more greenhouse emissions. Food from other countries is often produced and shipped much more efficiently than domestic food, particularly if the local producers are hauling their wares around in small trucks. One study showed that apples shipped from New Zealand to Britain had a smaller carbon footprint than apples grown and sold in Britain.
4. Carcinogenic cellphones. Some prominent brain surgeons made news on Larry King’s show this year with their fears of cellphones, thereby establishing once and for all that epidemiology is not brain surgery — it’s more complicated.
As my colleague Tara Parker-Pope has noted, there is no known biological mechanism for the phones’ non-ionizing radiation to cause cancer, and epidemiological studies have failed to find consistent links between cancer and cellphones.
It’s always possible today’s worried doctors will be vindicated, but I’d bet they’ll be remembered more like the promoters of the old cancer-from-power-lines menace — or like James Thurber’s grandmother, who covered up her wall outlets to stop electricity from leaking.
Driving while talking on a phone is a definite risk, but you’re better off worrying about other cars rather than cancer.
5. Evil plastic bags. Take it from the Environmental Protection Agency : paper bags are not better for the environment than plastic bags. If anything, the evidence from life-cycle analyses favors plastic bags. They require much less energy — and greenhouse emissions — to manufacture, ship and recycle. They generate less air and water pollution. And they take up much less space in landfills.
6. Toxic plastic bottles. For years panels of experts repeatedly approved the use of bisphenol-a, or BPA, which is used in polycarbonate bottles and many other plastic products. Yes, it could be harmful if given in huge doses to rodents, but so can the natural chemicals in countless foods we eat every day. Dose makes the poison.
But this year, after a campaign by a few researchers and activists, one federal panel expressed some concern about BPA in baby bottles. Panic ensued. Even though there was zero evidence of harm to humans, Wal-Mart pulled BPA-containing products from its shelves, and politicians began talking about BPA bans. Some experts fear product recalls that could make this the most expensive health scare in history.
Nalgene has already announced that it will take BPA out of its wonderfully sturdy water bottles. Given the publicity, the company probably had no choice. But my old blue-capped Nalgene bottle, the one with BPA that survived glaciers, jungles and deserts, is still sitting right next to me, filled with drinking water. If they ever try recalling it, they’ll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.
7. Deadly sharks. Throughout the world last year, there was a grand total of one fatal shark attack (in the South Pacific), according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.
8. The Arctic’s missing ice. The meltdown in the Arctic last summer was bad enough, but this spring there was worse news. A majority of experts expected even more melting this year, and some scientists created a media sensation by predicting that even the North Pole would be ice-free by the end of summer.
So far, though, there’s more ice than at this time last summer, and most experts are no longer expecting a new record. You can still fret about long-term trends in the Arctic, but you can set aside one worry: This summer it looks as if Santa can still have his drinks on the rocks.
9. The universe’s missing mass. Even if the fate of the universe — steady expansion or cataclysmic collapse — depends on the amount of dark matter that is out there somewhere, you can rest assured that no one blames you for losing it. And most experts doubt this collapse will occur during your vacation.
10. Unmarked wormholes. Could your vacation be interrupted by a sudden plunge into a wormhole? From my limited analysis of space-time theory and the movie “Jumper,” I would have to say that the possibility cannot be eliminated. I would also concede that if the wormhole led to an alternate universe, there’s a good chance your luggage would be lost in transit.
But I still wouldn’t worry about it, In an alternate universe, you might not have to spend the rest of the year fretting about either dark matter or sickly rodents. You might even be able to buy one of those Nalgene bottles.
By JOHN TIERNEY
Published: July 29, 2008
For most of the year, it is the duty of the press to scour the known universe looking for ways to ruin your day. The more fear, guilt or angst a news story induces, the better. But with August upon us, perhaps you’re in the mood for a break, so I’ve rounded up a list of 10 things not to worry about on your vacation.
Now, I can’t guarantee you that any of these worries is groundless, because I can’t guarantee you that anything is absolutely safe, including the act of reading a newspaper. With enough money, an enterprising researcher could surely identify a chemical in newsprint or keyboards that is dangerously carcinogenic for any rat that reads a trillion science columns every day.
What I can guarantee is that I wouldn’t spend a nanosecond of my vacation worrying about any of these 10 things. (You can make your own nominations in the TierneyLab blog.)
1. Killer hot dogs. What is it about frankfurters? There was the nitrite scare. Then the grilling-creates-carcinogens alarm. And then, when those menaces ebbed, the weenie warriors fell back on that old reliable villain: saturated fat.
But now even saturated fat isn’t looking so bad, thanks to a rigorous experiment in Israel reported this month. The people on a low-carb, unrestricted-calorie diet consumed more saturated fat than another group forced to cut back on both fat and calories, but those fatophiles lost more weight and ended up with a better cholesterol profile. And this was just the latest in a series of studies contradicting the medical establishment’s predictions about saturated fat.
If you must worry, focus on the carbs in the bun. But when it comes to the fatty frank — or the fatty anything else on vacation — I’d relax.
2. Your car’s planet-destroying A/C. No matter how guilty you feel about your carbon footprint, you don’t have to swelter on the highway to the beach. After doing tests at 65 miles per hour, the mileage experts at edmunds.com report that the aerodynamic drag from opening the windows cancels out any fuel savings from turning off the air-conditioner.
3. Forbidden fruits from afar. Do you dare to eat a kiwi? Sure, because more “food miles” do not equal more greenhouse emissions. Food from other countries is often produced and shipped much more efficiently than domestic food, particularly if the local producers are hauling their wares around in small trucks. One study showed that apples shipped from New Zealand to Britain had a smaller carbon footprint than apples grown and sold in Britain.
4. Carcinogenic cellphones. Some prominent brain surgeons made news on Larry King’s show this year with their fears of cellphones, thereby establishing once and for all that epidemiology is not brain surgery — it’s more complicated.
As my colleague Tara Parker-Pope has noted, there is no known biological mechanism for the phones’ non-ionizing radiation to cause cancer, and epidemiological studies have failed to find consistent links between cancer and cellphones.
It’s always possible today’s worried doctors will be vindicated, but I’d bet they’ll be remembered more like the promoters of the old cancer-from-power-lines menace — or like James Thurber’s grandmother, who covered up her wall outlets to stop electricity from leaking.
Driving while talking on a phone is a definite risk, but you’re better off worrying about other cars rather than cancer.
5. Evil plastic bags. Take it from the Environmental Protection Agency : paper bags are not better for the environment than plastic bags. If anything, the evidence from life-cycle analyses favors plastic bags. They require much less energy — and greenhouse emissions — to manufacture, ship and recycle. They generate less air and water pollution. And they take up much less space in landfills.
6. Toxic plastic bottles. For years panels of experts repeatedly approved the use of bisphenol-a, or BPA, which is used in polycarbonate bottles and many other plastic products. Yes, it could be harmful if given in huge doses to rodents, but so can the natural chemicals in countless foods we eat every day. Dose makes the poison.
But this year, after a campaign by a few researchers and activists, one federal panel expressed some concern about BPA in baby bottles. Panic ensued. Even though there was zero evidence of harm to humans, Wal-Mart pulled BPA-containing products from its shelves, and politicians began talking about BPA bans. Some experts fear product recalls that could make this the most expensive health scare in history.
Nalgene has already announced that it will take BPA out of its wonderfully sturdy water bottles. Given the publicity, the company probably had no choice. But my old blue-capped Nalgene bottle, the one with BPA that survived glaciers, jungles and deserts, is still sitting right next to me, filled with drinking water. If they ever try recalling it, they’ll have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.
7. Deadly sharks. Throughout the world last year, there was a grand total of one fatal shark attack (in the South Pacific), according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.
8. The Arctic’s missing ice. The meltdown in the Arctic last summer was bad enough, but this spring there was worse news. A majority of experts expected even more melting this year, and some scientists created a media sensation by predicting that even the North Pole would be ice-free by the end of summer.
So far, though, there’s more ice than at this time last summer, and most experts are no longer expecting a new record. You can still fret about long-term trends in the Arctic, but you can set aside one worry: This summer it looks as if Santa can still have his drinks on the rocks.
9. The universe’s missing mass. Even if the fate of the universe — steady expansion or cataclysmic collapse — depends on the amount of dark matter that is out there somewhere, you can rest assured that no one blames you for losing it. And most experts doubt this collapse will occur during your vacation.
10. Unmarked wormholes. Could your vacation be interrupted by a sudden plunge into a wormhole? From my limited analysis of space-time theory and the movie “Jumper,” I would have to say that the possibility cannot be eliminated. I would also concede that if the wormhole led to an alternate universe, there’s a good chance your luggage would be lost in transit.
But I still wouldn’t worry about it, In an alternate universe, you might not have to spend the rest of the year fretting about either dark matter or sickly rodents. You might even be able to buy one of those Nalgene bottles.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
On our way to Chicago... hopefully without cats
Did you guys hear about this cat? I could totally see how this could happen. As we're packing for Chicago this morning our cats keep hiding in our suitcases and attacking our clothes. It's pretty cute, but it would be pretty dangerous if one of them was a stowaway!
Sunday, December 09, 2007
"Ask the Pilot" that?
Dave was reading an awesome article on Salon.com called "Ask the Pilot" and we were extremely entertained by some of the questions. My favorite one is posted below.
--
Q: I just got back from vacation, and I'm positive that airplanes make me fart more. I fly a lot, and I can definitely say there's a lot more flatulence going on when I'm airborne. Does this have anything to do with pressurization? I've also realized that with so much ambient noise, you can really rip 'em without being heard. Together, these two things lead me to believe that airplane seats are actually designed for farting. Can you confirm or deny this?
Author's note: There is an air pressure factor at play here. But the topic is gross and I really don't feel like explaining it.
--
Q: I just got back from vacation, and I'm positive that airplanes make me fart more. I fly a lot, and I can definitely say there's a lot more flatulence going on when I'm airborne. Does this have anything to do with pressurization? I've also realized that with so much ambient noise, you can really rip 'em without being heard. Together, these two things lead me to believe that airplane seats are actually designed for farting. Can you confirm or deny this?
Author's note: There is an air pressure factor at play here. But the topic is gross and I really don't feel like explaining it.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
It actually didn't happen
After last year's Castro Street Halloween Party turned dangerous, the city claimed it was going to cancel festivities. No one believed this would actually happen since each year this annual street party brings in hundreds of thousands of the most colorfully dressed people.
Luckily I attended this street party every year from 2000 to 2005 (I just happened to miss the event last year when 9 people were shot there). So, when the party canceling was announced we were not surprised, but we all assumed people would go out there anyway. A few hundred supposedly did, but compared to previous years the area was dead. No pun intended. Read the article on SFGate.com to learn more.
Luckily I attended this street party every year from 2000 to 2005 (I just happened to miss the event last year when 9 people were shot there). So, when the party canceling was announced we were not surprised, but we all assumed people would go out there anyway. A few hundred supposedly did, but compared to previous years the area was dead. No pun intended. Read the article on SFGate.com to learn more.
Monday, October 29, 2007
proud to be in last place
San Francisco came in last place on the list of America's Most Sedentary Cities. Sweet.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Next stop please!
This article was published in April but I just discovered it recently. I bet Stuart would ride the bus all by himself if he lived in England!!! :)
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
5 THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO
...or maybe you already did know, but...
Check out these things that you can do with your cell phone:
FIRST
Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobiles is 112.
If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your
mobile; network and there is an emergency, dial 112
and the mobile will search any existing network to
establish the emergency number for you, and
interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if
the keypad is locked. Try it out.
SECOND
Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may
come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell
phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the
spare keys are at home, call someone at home on
their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your
cell phone about a foot from your car door and have
the person at your home press the unlock button,
holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your
car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive
your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could
be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach
someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you
can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
THIRD
Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate,
press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with
this reserve and the instrument will show a 50%
increase in battery. This reserve will get charged
when you charge your cell next time.
FOURTH
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in
the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15
digit code will appear on the screen. This number is
unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it
somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can
phone your service provider and give them this code.
They will then be able to block your handset so even
if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will
be totally useless. You probably won't get your
phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole
it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this,
there would be no point in people stealing mobile
phones.
And Finally....
FIFTH
Free Directory Service for Cells
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75
or more for 411 information calls when they don't
have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone
directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation
even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411
information option, simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or
(800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all.
Program this into your cell phone now.
Check out these things that you can do with your cell phone:
FIRST
Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobiles is 112.
If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your
mobile; network and there is an emergency, dial 112
and the mobile will search any existing network to
establish the emergency number for you, and
interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even if
the keypad is locked. Try it out.
SECOND
Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may
come in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell
phone: If you lock your keys in the car and the
spare keys are at home, call someone at home on
their cell phone from your cell phone. Hold your
cell phone about a foot from your car door and have
the person at your home press the unlock button,
holding it near the mobile phone on their end. Your
car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive
your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could
be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach
someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you
can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
THIRD
Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate,
press the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with
this reserve and the instrument will show a 50%
increase in battery. This reserve will get charged
when you charge your cell next time.
FOURTH
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in
the following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 # A 15
digit code will appear on the screen. This number is
unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it
somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can
phone your service provider and give them this code.
They will then be able to block your handset so even
if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will
be totally useless. You probably won't get your
phone back, but at least you know that whoever stole
it can't use/sell it either. If everybody does this,
there would be no point in people stealing mobile
phones.
And Finally....
FIFTH
Free Directory Service for Cells
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75
or more for 411 information calls when they don't
have to. Most of us do not carry a telephone
directory in our vehicle, which makes this situation
even more of a problem. When you need to use the 411
information option, simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or
(800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all.
Program this into your cell phone now.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Did you wear your drawers today?
Well, you should have... because it's National Underwear Day! Who knew? :)
Monday, August 06, 2007
Hello Kitty as punishment
There was no way I was letting this one go without a post... read this article to find out how Hello Kitty is being used as punishment. Another reminder to us all, Hello Kitty is for little girls.
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