Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

BluCigs offer a tolerable second-hand vapor.

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

blucigs electronic cigarettesEveryone knows that smoking is a pretty bad idea, but millions of people all over the world do it everyday, disregarding all of the surgeon general and public health notices that it leads to cancer and other serious health problems. I am not a smoker. I have never smoked, never tried it, was never interested or even curious, but the part of smoking that really is a problem for me, is the damage it does to the people around the smoker… Yes, second-hand smoke.  I have had more than one close friend, lose a parent to lung cancer and that person had never smoked a day in their lives. Smokers in the office seem to be the culprit for the onset of the cancer and the early deaths of very good people.

Although I’m not a smoker, I know well enough that once you start, it’s not something that you can just walk away from, so when I saw the BluCig Electronic Cigarette, I felt it was my duty to share this with as many people as possible. The BluCig is fully electronic and contains no tar, no tobacco, no ash and no smell and most important to non-smokers… No second-hand smoke! It is truly a very neat and innovative product, as it looks and tastes (no personal experience) like a real cigarette, comes in multiple flavors and even produces a harmless water vapor that looks like real smoke. Check out the video!

No one knows what will come of the BluCig product in the future, but for now it seems to be a somewhat safer option to aid in the hard process of quitting the nicotine habit. And if it can save the life of a smoker and more importantly non-smoker, it makes sense for people to give it a try and kick the habit.

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Nobody Saw Nick… Or Did They?

Friday, May 15th, 2009

a little help for a senior Picture this…

It’s 94F/34C degrees and quite humid.  There is an old man walking and struggling to do so and it appears that he is trying to flag down passing vehicles for help.

I am riding my bike on the opposite side of the road, approaching him.  I notice that there is a police officer with his radar gun in hand, trying to catch motorists speeding in the same direction I am going in.  On the same side as the old man, a church service just finished and the congregation is exiting quickly… all passing by this old man.

It was obvious to me that no one else saw this man and if they did, they were not compelled to stop.  So I navigated through the traffic and made it over to him.

His name was Nick and he wasn’t doing too well.  He was 79 years old and had been in a car accident a month or two ago and was only released from the hospital 2 weeks ago.  He was on his way to the doctors and became disoriented.  I gave him my bottle of Gatorade to drink and showed him the police officer on the other side of the road.  We walked over and I let the cop know about the situation.

"What do you want me to do?" said the cop.

I showed him the side of his police cruiser that said "To Serve and Protect". 

He didn’t seem overly impressed with that and even less enthusiastic about helping Nick.  So I told Nick to have a seat right on the hood of his police cruiser and I would ride my bike home, get my car and then take him wherever he needed to go.

I left him sitting on the car, with a protesting police officer.  As I’m speeding home, I’m wondering if this cop will let him sit in the air conditioned car, give him a ride or just leave him there and take off.

I get my car and head back…  As I approach, I see the police cruiser, but no Nick.  I pull up and ask the cop what happened to the old man? He says that he started walking and pointed down the road.  Very nice… I took his name and badge number, because his superiors will be hearing about this.  I make my way down the road and there is Nick, stumbling and staggering, almost info traffic.   I pull up beside him and he recognizes me, which is a good thing.  I get him in the car and we head for his doctors office.   We get there and they were expecting him hours prior, but I let them know what happened and they stop complaining and threatening late fees for missing his appointment time.  Other than heat exhaustion, blisters on his feet and elevated blood pressure, Nick was going to be ok.  He thanked me and shook my hand for 5 minutes and I was on my way. The doctors office said they would call a taxi for him to get home and I left my card with them just in case that didn’t work out.

So many things went wrong here… I know we aren’t supposed to pick up hitchhikers, but how come no passers-by called the police or someone about an old man staggering on the road.  How come the church folk drove right by Nick, like he didn’t exist.  Isn’t that what church is all about… Helping each other?  And the police officer, too busy with trying to give out tickets, rather than help an old man in need.  It was a sad scene.  That old guy could have been my Dad or a friends Dad… This is surely not the way things are supposed to be.

If someone needs help… Please help them.  Because it could be you or someone you care about, the next time.

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It’s The Flu – You Swine!

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

swine-flu The recent outbreak of the Swine Flu does have serious implications if things are not handled properly, but the barrage of media attention it’s getting is driving people into a panic.  As serious as the Swine Flu can become, I don’t think people realize that over 200,000 people get the flu virus every year and 36,000 die from it.  Those are pretty hefty numbers when compared to the Swine Flu in its infancy as it is right now.  Yes, we need to stay on top of it and be prepared, but the daily barrage of fear being thrown out by the media is driving some people insane.

The one good thing that all the Swine Flu press is doing however, is reminding people about some important things that have been long forgotten.

  • Wash your hands often… with soap!
  • If you’re sick, stay home. Employers cannot continue to put fear into employees that stay home sick from work. It’s an endless cycle of germ spreading and how productive do you think things will be when all of your employees are in the hospital?
  • Have concern for your fellow human.  When I’m sick, I try to isolate myself from everyone, because I don’t want them to go through what I’m going through.  It’s temporary so we just have to grin and bear it.

Point one above is really key. I can’t say how many times I’ve seen guys use the restroom and walk out with even looking at the sinks.   Truly nasty, but now we know why the fist-bump was created.  In all seriousness, don’t let this media hype overwhelm you. Just stay alert, informed and keep things clean and healthy.

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