//Health

Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite

By cari || May 1, 2008

“If you know anything about bedbugs, you know they are ridiculously difficult to get rid of once you have an infestation.”

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This story is a cute piece about something quite ugly: bedbugs are no joke people. I think last year we had a few and my co-worker recommended this primo spray called: Champion SprayOn® Multi-Purpose Insect & Lice Killer-10 oz. It normally costs $45 a bottle, but you can get it cheaper here. Item CHA5106.

This stuff is great. It doesn’t smell heavily of pesticide (or really of anything) so you can spray the shit out of your mattress and linens and not have to leave the room. If you know anything about bedbugs, you know they are ridiculously difficult to get rid of once you have an infestation. Like, way worse than fleas. Like people have to throw their furniture away.

For more info: bedbugs on Wikipedia, bedbugs in New York and bedbugs at Fox News (ha ha!).

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[ Topic Environment, Health, Housing, Politics, Etc., Pseudo-Science, Ridiculosity, Science, Society | 1 Comment ]

Pants Man

By cari || March 7, 2008

So genius. 

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[ Topic Health, Pop Culture, Ridiculosity | No Comments ]

Of Calcium and Hunchbacks

By cari || February 4, 2008

I need to start doing sit-ups and/or pilates because I have no core strength and my posture has seriously gone to hell in a hand-basket. The last thing I need is to walk around like Quasimodo. Maybe I should get one of those back brace things and wear it to work. Ha ha.

My mom was diagnosed last year with osteopenia which has inspired me to start taking calcium supplements because white and asian women are most susceptible to it. It’s not full-blown osteoporosis, but it’s not good news. What’s especially upsetting to her is that she’s spent the past 30 years exercising every morning, eating right and not smoking. It’s like that birthday card, “Eat Right. Exercise. Die Anyway.” Obviously, there are quality of life benefits that outweigh any inevitable problems, especially complications associated with aging, but still.

Apparently, there are medicines out on the market to combat loss of bone mineral density that are not proven to fully rectify the problem and can actually make it worse if you stop taking it. So if you start taking it and don’t realize this, you basically are committed to taking something for life whether you want to or not. This is something that Sally Field neglected to mention in that ad for Boniva where she’s frolicking with her dog.

Once again, I can’t help but think of all the R&D that has gone into medications for Erectile Dysfunction and feel angry all over again.

The bottom line is, people (especially women) need to try to get as much calcium as possible into their bodies now. Your bone mineral density peaks at 30 years-old and after that it starts to get reabsorbed by your body.

Oh, and you should also have an IRA (pre-tax), ROTH IRA (post-tax) or 401K started by at least 24 years-old because Social Security won’t be there by the time we want to retire. Just start squirreling away a little bit here and there now, and as you age, increase your contributions.

I don’t know why I’m so anxious about everyone this morning. I just want the people I care about to stay healthy and happy.

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[ Topic Health, Ridiculosity | No Comments ]

My Oral Fixation

By cari || January 30, 2008

is the unsexiest in all the history of oral fixations.

I refer, of course, to my ongoing dental woes. And woes they are. Lamentable, tragic and never ending. This Winter, if you see one movie, make it this one: the epic story of one woman’s journey into night (though there will be a dearth of wailing and gnashings of teeth as my bones can’t handle the strain).

The periodontist told me that my gums are actually relatively healthy, but because I’m missing a crown that I can ill afford and an implant that I can also ill afford (and may not be able to acquire), my front teeth have been overly stressed and are…not wobbly, but not as…steadfast as a young person’s teeth ought to be. In addition, my Eastern European dentist has been alarmed by the innate shortness of my roots for quite some time.

Apparently, due to a perfect storm of circumstances, genes and neglect, I have suffered quite a lot of bone loss around the roots of my teeth and I need some kind of buttressing type surgery, the name of which I cannot recall and I seem to have misplaced the business card where I had him write down the name of it so I could Google it once I got home.

There is a weakened area near where they removed the titanium screws last year (which is why I might not be able to get the implant, even if I had two grand lying around waiting to be handed to an eager periodontist. Which I don’t. Did I mention that?).

Perhaps I should put my various ailments on eBay and philanthropists can choose to fund whichever dental procedure tickles their fancy. I imagine the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would spring for the unnamed oral surgery because titanium screws in your skull seem pretty futuristic and techie. Each month they would receive x-rays of my mouth, the way those Christian Children’s Fund people on TV send you a picture of little !kung-a, eating the Pop Tarts your monthly support provided for him and his entire village. Plus, he had enough money left over to purchase his very own shoe.

Bill and Melinda, you have the power to make her life better. If you cannot find it within your hearts to help a poor Credits Typist in New York City get the oral surgery she so desperately needs, she may no longer have enough teeth to eat her Pop Tarts and will be forced to subsist on cocktails (to numb the pain) and that all-liquid Hollywood Diet that celebs use prior to photo ops but once they begin to eat solids, they gain all the weight back. Liquid diets wreak havoc on a person’s metabolism. They are unhealthy and ineffective. Just look at Oprah!

For only $100 a day for one month, you could make all the difference in a Cari’s precious life. Please, call the toll-free number on the bottom of your screen today. Operators are standing by. The first ten callers will also receive this stylish tote bag as our gift to you!

You can also visit us on the World Wide Web at www.carineedssomekindoforalsurgerybutcannotrememberthenameofitrightnowthoughitisacompletelylegitimateprocedureandthisisacompletelylegitimatecharity.com.

Won’t you help keep her future smiles bright?

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[ Topic Health, Ridiculosity | No Comments ]

Fat Cats

By adam || November 27, 2007

Contrary to what you might think, it’s not what you think! These are just cats. Not metaphoric cats elected to office and doomed to disappoint. And these cats are really, really fat. It seems like kind of a problem.

Fat Cats

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[ Topic Health, Society | 1 Comment ]

Nanny State Tactics Are Getting Out of Hand

By adam || October 10, 2007

Quit Your Smoking Bitch!The whole gang here is comprised of a bunch of ex/non-smokers these days (with one militant exception), so we were okay after recent chatter regarding a Beverly Hills smoking ban in outdoor dining areas. Of course we’ve all got the right to enjoy the lovely Southern California weather while we eat, but we’ve gotta draw the line somewhere, and a recent City Council decision in the California city of Belmont to ban smoking in multi-unit apartment buildings is just over the top. Not only does this present an incredible enforcement problem at a time when our law enforcement is already stretched to the limit, but it ought to be just enough to raise everyone’s libertarian hackles.

I’d love to think America is on a path to better, more health conscious habits, but let’s get real. Just because Whole Foods is doing business like gang busters doesn’t mean we don’t all eat the shit out of MacDonalds. Or better yet, do you wanna super-size that Jamba Juice? There’s a way to turn something healthy into…um….not so much. Americans in general have terrible dietary habits, and make incredibly poor decisions about what they put in their bodies everyday. But these are our decisions to make. My instinct might put me on the forefront of banning obesity so we stop the skyrocketing cost of healthcare in America. There are way more fat people than there are smokers, so isn’t that a worse problem than public smoking? Maybe it is, but in both cases, we’re talking about public enforcement of private activity on a scale and scope much larger than anything in my lifetime, and it’s starting to freak me out. After 9/11 we’re giving up civil liberties so fast it’s gonna take us years to figure out how deep in the hole we’ve dug down. This is a slippery slope situation, plain and simple.

Don’t get me wrong: I think everyone should quit smoking, and I’m quite happy that I have the right to tell them not to smoke near me while I’m eating my breakfast burrito on the lanai. But still, you’ve gotta put this stuff in context, and lately, the context is a dark, dark place.

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[ Topic Health, Ridiculosity, Society | 1 Comment ]

Watch What You Eat….If You Can

By adam || July 14, 2007

As part of a recent obsession I’ve developed with wanting to know when fruits and vegetables are “in-season” so I can be eating fresher produce, I’m apparently noticing more and more food news. So when I read that 92% of Americans support measures to label food products with their country of origin, I assumed this would be a slam dunk. Right? 92%? That’s a good majority, and that ought to buy you something in a democracy, right? We’ll see about that.In the meantime, our reading assignment is Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. It’s a fascinating treatise that exposes some nuance in the history of American food, and even sheds some important light on current “organic” food business.At the end of the day, we just think we all ought to know exactly what we’re putting in our mouths. Deliciousness can no longer be our only criteria.

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[ Topic Environment, Health, Society | No Comments ]

Sicko

By adam || July 1, 2007

SickoUse your new iPhone to find a local theater where you can go see Sicko (you can also use the newspaper…we’re told they have movie listings as well). This is an important film about an imminently important issue. Whether you’re a republican, a democrat, or whatever ticket Pat Buchanon ran on the last time around, you should agree that our for-profit healthcare system is failing every citizen of this country.

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[ Topic Health, Politics, Society | No Comments ]

The Lovely Bones

By cari || July 27, 2006

You will not find this kind of hardware at Home Depot, though it does require a screwdriver.

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hardware before.
hardware after.
before
after

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[ Topic Health, Ridiculosity | No Comments ]