Category: Health

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White meat chemistry experiment

Last night, I had the urge to go to McDonalds. It happens every great once and a while. More likely than none, it’s after I’ve had an alcoholic beverage or two when the thought pops into my head. There’s the part of your brain, obviously weekend with stupid juice, that says, “you know, that does sound good.”

On the way home last night, we stopped by one of the three locations that are all within easy reach from our home, all separated by an average of four blocks in the downtown area. When that spark lites in your head, it’s pretty hard to detour around it. You’re too weak to tell yourself that you’ve seen Super Size Me[imdb] enough times to run away. However, the other side of you says Harold and Kumar[imdb] went to White Castle, and they had a wacky adventure. I can totally do this.

Hollywood… you have failed me once again. Miserably. I guess I could blame the lack of common sense, but we can all just assume that one, right?

No worries, though. I’m not completely sick, and no, it’s not the effects of the tasty beverages. I’m “experienced” enough to know what is and isn’t. I even get upset when Rebecca gets McDonalds, so you can bet that I am kicking myself doubly over this one.

It gets better though. Going to the McDonalds website, I decided to look up exactly what crap I put in my stomach last night that’s still making me feel like the Hamburgler has setup a refugee camp in my intestinal track.

White Meat CHICKEN MCNUGGETS: Chicken meat, water, modified corn starch, salt, chicken broth powder (chicken broth, salt and natural chicken flavouring), seasoning [(vegetable oil (soybean and/or canola), extracts of
rosemary, mono, di and triglycerides (from sunflower oil) and soy lecithin)]. Breaded with: water, wheat flour, yellow corn flour, modified corn starch, salt, baking powder, spices (white and black pepper, celery seed), wheat starch,
whey powder, sodium aluminum phosphate, corn starch, partially hydrogenated soybean oil (manufacturing aid), (par-fried in partially hydrogenated soybean oil, corn oil, TBHQ, citric acid and dimethyl silicone). Cooked in 100%
vegetable oil (Canola oil with added THBQ, citric acid and dimethypolysiloxane). [mcdonalds]

It all starts making sense within a few words, doesn’t it? Forget that the menu even lists them as being “white meat”. And “dimethypolysiloxane”? I tried to do a quick search on it and came up with nothing after just a few tries. If I can’t go to Google and come up with a fairly quick explanation, then you know that can’t be good.

What I did find mentioned dimethypolysiloxane as a polymer in some sort of environmental science study, and the other website listed it as an ingredient in some sort of skin cream for applying to areas of your body that had laser surgery. Wow! A million and one uses. And you can eat it, too!

Sadly, it doesn’t end there, but I’ll bypass the explanation as to what’s in the barbeque sauce. Yet another thing that I hardly, if ever, consume. I will say that if you have to have sauce with your nuggets, go with honey and steer clear of everything else. It only has three ingredients, and it doesn’t get more natural than the stuff that bees make. All your other options have ten or more. Who knows what science experiments or cosmetic products you can create with them.

I guess I could rephrase that opening thought. Last night, I had a horrible idea to go to McDonalds.

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The iPod is making running pretty neat

This is the kinda of stuff that I dig. Make the joy of running even more geeky and you can count me as happy. As if the Nike+iPod wasn’t good enough, Amp+ puts the controls on your wrist with real time feedback about your route. That’s slick.

Nike is adding a new product to the Nike+ iPod line, according to Men’s Health. The Amp+ is a Bluetooth remote bracelet that not only lets users control playback without touching their iPod, it displays relevant information from a player (such as running statistics) in real-time. The data is projected through an LED readout tucked under the black matte surface of the bracelet. The Amp+ should be released sometime in 2007 for the price of $80. [electronista]

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We can drink the water again

Drink the water in Vancouver again

It’s never tasted so good, and at least it smells a hell of a lot better than it did. We might be buried under the snow, but we can drink the water again in Vancouver[cbc]. Thank god because it’s been cramping my workout routines a little bit. I think I’ve been borderline on the dehydration side for a few days now. Gets expensive to keep buying water.

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After all, it’s just an advisory

Stacks of water at 7-11Rebecca hit the nail on the head when she called this boil water advisory blogging gold[miss604]. You might be saying that this is getting old and not worth reading about anymore. If that’s true for you, then skip this post. You can say that I’m whining, but this is more about documenting a short lived nuisance to exhibit potential bigger problems that I highlighted in my last post about this situation.

I bit the bullet today and started in on the pile of dishes in our kitchen. Quite honestly, it’s been driving me nuts. I blame my mother for instilling this element of a neat freak in me, nicely balanced by my dad’s ability to achieve zen through delicately controlled messes.

I did boil a large pot of water to fill up an empty gallon jug for various needs, mainly to make coffee. The water still smells a bit funky, even after boiling. I’m not brave enough to ingest it, and that includes cooking. Once again, it’s a matter of the smell translating into funky taste that steers me away just slightly.

A recent post on Metroblogging Vancouver caught my attention when someone posted the following comment.

I was talking to a hydrological engineer yesterday, and she speculated that the current water “crisis” has been blown out of proportion and prolonged to drum up public support for the expensive $600-million water filtration plant that’s currently under construction on the North Shore. She’s been drinking the water out of the taps for the past week and she tests water quality for a living. No contamination has been discovered in our water and no one has been reported ill. That’s pretty amazing considering 2 million people were under the boil water advisory at one point. Health officials have only ever reported “increased risk” of contamination.

Interesting theory, and one that she said was widely held at her office. I should note too that she supports the new plant, probably because it will create more work for her and the engineering consulting company she works for.

Posted by: Chris at November 20, 2006 07:42 PM [mbv]

I was waiting for the “theories” to start popping up, but there is a lot of truth in that statement. No one has been getting sick from the water, and there hasn’t been any evidence of harmful bacteria being found through testing.

On the same post, a recent resident to Vancouver from France is amazed at the poor response the city has given to the locals. They site that the city has done poorly to provide water to those in need, which is somewhat true. I’ve heard more reports of radio stations and businesses giving out free water than local authorities. I’m not going to lay blame anywhere, but it is interesting to note.

The advisory, for the most part, is basic over caution, but it’s expected to go on for a while longer than I imagined[cbc]. Several days? Couple weeks? Ridiculous. I doubt that all of this has been done intentionally for the support noted above. However, it has much more support than ever before, that’s for sure.

It’s just nice to have clean dishes again. With Thanksgiving coming up, of which we will be celebrating in this household, it will make cooking a tad interesting. Like I said, I’m not ready to drink it, and the leg of lamb we intend to make might take some careful prep. The side dishes will need a little finesse as well. Would the water give potatoes a strange tint?

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Speaking of distilling water

You can never be too prepared, so in an effort to find out some information to refresh my idea of being able to distill water in a pinch, I found this site with some good information. I’ve lived through a few tornado hits in my lifetime to understand that it’s rare to find anyone who is truly prepared for disaster. Maybe this will help you if the situation arises. I pray that it never does. Continue reading “Speaking of distilling water”

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Going to beat this until it’s good and dead

This boil water advisory has gotten old, fast. This goes beyond whining. I’d consider this a matter of concern for every person in the GVRD. If a bad weather system can leave us fighting for bottled water, think what an earthquake can do.

Posted AT 12:17 PM EST ON 20/11/06

B.C. water warning could last weeks: official

TENILLE BONOGUORE
Globe and Mail Update

Stark water warnings forcing almost a million B.C. residents to boil their tap water could be in place for weeks to come, the Greater Vancouver Regional District has warned.

Weekend storms and continuing rainfall added even more sediment to the already-turbid water supplies for Vancouver and Burnaby.

District spokesman Bill Morrell said Monday that, without a prolonged stretch of clear weather, the water supply had little chance of clearing.

“The sediment is very, very fine, and it will stay suspended in the water for some time,” Mr. Morrell said.

“It’s very difficult to speculate when it will be within acceptable limits. Our operations folks are of the opinion it may be weeks before this is settled out.” [globeandmail]

In a pinch, I could fashion together a setup to distill our own water, a la MacGyver. Amazing that high school chemistry taught me something and I remember it. Kinda. Thank you, Mr. Nelson.

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Exercise helps decrease your risk of getting colds

I knew the miles upon kilometers of pavement and trails weren’t all for nothing. Now that science says it’s true, then you have to believe it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A long-term moderate exercise program can reduce the risk of colds among older women, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

In the first randomized clinical trial to investigate the impact of moderate physical activity on the common cold, researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center found that post-menopausal women who worked out regularly had about half the risk of colds as those who did not exercise. […]

The researchers found that the ability of moderate exercise to ward off colds seemed to increase over time. In the last three months of the study, the group of women who were only stretching were three times as likely to catch a cold as those who were exercising regularly. […]

“With regards to preventing colds, it seems you really have to stick with exercise long term,” Ulrich said.

The results were seen as important in understanding the health benefits of exercise, Ulrich said.

“It may apply also to other age groups, it may apply to men,” she said. “In the past, immune studies have been quite consistent among men and women. I wouldn’t expect that to be different.” [reuters]

In the seven years that I’ve been running and working out, I find this to be pretty true. College is a petri dish of illnesses, and it seemed like it would be a yearly event that I would go through the various, air born whatever-it-was that was going around. My days prior to that were constant illnesses, some of them linked to a condition that I have called Gilbert’s syndrome[wiki]. It seemed that the “thing that’s going around” would always hit me about a week before it reached the masses.

Working out helps all of these things, not to mention the lack of colds. If and when I have colds now, it’s either very subtle or horribly painful. When something is able to break through your immune system and get you, chances are, you’re going to go down pretty hard. I probably make more effort to get sleep now compared to my high school and college days. That always helps.

Knock on wood, but it’s been nearly a year since I had a run in with a case of strep throat, the flu, and a sinus infection. Oddly enough, that was all a short time after I moved to Vancouver. I chalk that all up to being exposed to new surroundings and getting my initiation to the lower mainland. What a way to welcome me to my new home.

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WILT: PodRunner

If you like podcasts and are someone who enjoys a nice, sweaty workout like myself, then you should subscribe to this. PodRunner is a weekly podcast that is music for your workouts. DJ steveboy sends this out for those who are into running, spinning, or however you workout, and the mixes are all of his own creation.

Here’s the description that pops up on his RSS feed in iTunes.

Like to run or workout to fast, energetic music? Check out PODRUNNER: nonstop, steady-bpm, one-hour mixes from L.A.’s own dj steveboy. A new mix every week to help you groove while you move, whenever, wherever, and however you work out. iTunes reviews are appreciated, and suggestions and comments are always welcome at steve@djsteveboy.com.

If you’d like to be notified whenever new mixes are online, visit the “Mixes” page at www.djsteveboy.com.

I’ve done a few running routes while listening to his stuff, and they are a really great change from the mix of music and podcasts that I usually stick on my iPod mini when I venture out. 170 BPM(beats per minute) is a little fast to set a constant pace to, and I found myself keeping up with the beat more than a few times this morning. That can get tiring if you’re not careful.

Still, this makes your environment pass by with a slightly different perspective, and I do get into the electronic side of music. I don’t know much about who is who, but I dig it. This is great to set your breathing rate to and get a nice pace on your route. You can also use it to tell how long you’ve been running if you press play at the very start of your run and measure by how much time has elapsed in the podcast.

Every episode that is released usually has a name and a short intro of him talking about the mix at the beginning. In addition, every podcast has the BPM in the title. My next trial will be something in the 135 BPM range.

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Compression is not in the NPR dictionary

Dear National Public Radio,

I really enjoy listening to your podcasts. Being someone who used to work in the network, I understand the content that you guys offer with your podcasts. The new is incredibly informative and a great addition to my playlists when I go running. The five minute updates clue me into news happening around the world that I’ll usually look into future among my many RSS feeds.

I also like the other content that you guys offer. The Whad’Ya Know stuff is great. I’ve been listening to Mr. Feldman for as long as I can remember. Although it’s just a small portion of the weekly program, his satire is quite humourus.

What I was to know is… why do I always have to crank up the volume when I listen to your podcasts? It’s annoying. I get that there is a certain “style” to the way NPR does things. I have also run into a number of arguments in the broadcast engineering world to know about the dislike for compression among public radio enthusiasts. To each their own, but this is podcasting we’re talking about.

When I’m in the shower, CNN podcasts are perfect. Once your news update hits, I get nothing but some mumbling. And if I decide to switch my playlist up when I go running, my ear drums get blasted when music follows said news update because I have to turn up your stuff just to understand the content. Listening to Feldman on the podcast produces some of the same mumbling followed by laughter from the audience. I completely miss what was funny and shouldn’t have to rewind to catch it.

And for the love of god, shorten up the intro and outros. That beginning music is one thing, but you can be way more brief in telling me thanks for downloading your five minute news summary. Perhaps it’s the ads that drive me even more nuts. The non-commercial rule of thumb doesn’t apply so much to podcasts, and I doubt the FCC is going to or can regulate that.

Just give me the news, and let me be able to hear it without having to crank the volume all the way up.

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Sponsor us in the Run for the Cure 2006

CIBC Run for the CureOn Sunday, October 1st, I’ll be participating in the CIBC Run for the Cure 2006 in Vancouver. The run is held in various communities across Canada helps to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. It will be a heck of a way to finish out my first year in Vancouver, the next day being my one year anniversary since moving here.

Technically, you are unable sponsor me directly if you would like to make a donation online. With there being two of us, it makes more sense to donate to one of us rather than deciding which person you like more, me or Rebecca. I also have a sneaking thought that she’d win in that debate.

What we have decided to do for the event is have all donations go to her, as she needs to raise at least $150. Of course, we would love to raise more than that.

To make a donation, go to the “Support a Participant” area of the CIBC Run for the Cure website, put “Rebecca Bollwitt” into the corresponding fields, our location is “Vancouver”, and follow the rest of the instructions to donate online. Credit cards seem to be the only way you can make your contributions via the web, and you also get a tax receipt for doing so.

The last 5k run that I did, I finished around 22 minutes. I’m not sure that I can do this one as well as the last, but if there were a challenge made in terms of a donation, you’re welcome to entertain the possibility. I’ll step up the training these next couple of weeks in anticipation.