For those of you overseas, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28shopping%29
We started out sharing an omelette at the Swinging Doors, our favorite pub: they had 50 dollar gift cards for 25 if you showed up at 7 for breakfast. So we’re getting 100.00 worth of dining out for 50.00.
We then went to Lowe’s, where we decided half price on big saws which mean accurate cuts for our home repair projects is a good thing. They were sold out of the 69.00 table saws, but honored the price via a desk order; so we got that; we were able to pick up a mitre saw for the same price (cuts at angles better than a table saw). And with that we can do the basement flooring ourselves, and redo a number of hated rubber baseboards, not to mention putting actual framing molding on the door we installed this summer. We also were able to replace our Dremel, which had gotten wet and rusted beyond electronic safety, for 30.00. And with that we can do a lot of little projects.
Doing some of the things we do with a little hand-held finishing saw is challenging on the one hand and not as accurate or as safe as a table saw with proper guides. So figuring our fingers are precious, we got equipment that can do a job in a proper way. [Yes, we do know about knotholes, boards bucking, wet wood, hidden nails and other surprises. We usually don’t work with re-used wood; and if we do, we’re really careful. Our dads taught us from way back, with homemade saw guides, etc, and no protective shields, so we know about careful!]
Anyway, we decided this would be worth it.
Revised from my Facebook page: Was at the university, teaching today. The usual–asthma attack, aching eyes, sore throat, and headache. Glad to be out of the place! I’ve been running an air filter at my desk, but it doesn’t seem to be good enough. My GP upped my prescriptions to see if we could get on top of it. I’ll be talking to the health and safety officer on Thursday. Key phrases: “it’s affecting my health,” “I’m asthmatic, and it’s causing asthma attacks, aching eyes, nasty sore throats, bad headaches.” “This has been going on since early September.” I don’t think I’ll mention that my neuroscience lab is currently stored in my office until they decide where to relocate it–I’ll just let the inspector find it; it’s not the cause in any case. My GP describes me as “hacked off”. Anything I forgot?
Dear me.
For me, in California, it’s eucalyptus trees. Kills me.
If you’ve got any joint or muscle aches, toss those in.
I’d suspect a few possibilities there, from a past discussion with friends in a dorm.
One was rarely allergic. The other had occasional attacks compounded by bad luck (or klutziness).
* One bout in which the campus had sprayed with some sort of chemicals on the lawn and plant beds, then cut the grass. The guys were outside, plus had their windows open. Result: Both guys had strong allergic reactions, and didn’t initially connect it, because one mowed lawns regularly back home.
* Some sort of new cleaning products used in the dorms. Result: the rarely allergic friend broke out, severe rash, respiratory symptoms, possibly from interaction with meds, and they both went home for a week or so before symptoms subsided. Probably not so good for their grades.
* Followed shortly thereafter by a similar reaction for the other roommate after the air/heating ducts and rooms were cleaned out, then fumigated. Oh, the joy.
So, anything used to clean the room, any fumigation, any air duct cleaning (or need of cleaning), and any possible (and quite likely) moisture or mold/mildew problems with air or water pipes, all might be culprits.
What about the products used for the chalkboard or whiteboard or overhead projector? — Whiteboard markers and Sharpies can give me headaches and unhappy respiratory symptoms. So I try to limit use or inhalation of fumes, there. Consider also the erasers and dust, whiteboards or chalkboards, either one.
Was this your office or a lab or a lecture hall/room? — I’m always amazed uni profs can ever get anything done in those tiny office cells.
I had allergy trouble and respiratory trouble all through fall and winter, less so in spring and summer, when I was growing up. Right around college age, that began clearing up. I occasionally have allergy trouble now or respiratory stuff, but not nearly so often, and I can generally trace why. Fatigue, a bad cold, weather, products, house/office air, etc. Rarely, thank goodness, food.
According to a poll on Consumer Reports wep site 35 million americans hate having to be nice during the holidays. Lines and shopping seam to be a big part of it. http://news.consumerreports.org/money/2011/11/americans-top-holiday-dreads-being-nice-makes-the-list.html
Scrooge lives!
Success at the grocery store! My local Kroger’s moved absolutely *everything* in the store, about a month ago, and I am only now starting to feel like I know where anything is. I think once I’m used to it, things will be easier to find…unless they change the layout again. 😉 I get the impression several “international” or “ethnic” foods have been moved right next to their “American” counterparts, aside from some that remain in a large foreign foods aisle.
I have been looking for udon and buckwheat noodles, ever since CJ suggested them for a recipe, a month or so back. (And I may have to hunt that up, I forgot to copy it.) So today, finally, I found them! Hmm, I’ll try to memorize what the Japanese characters look like. I’ll recall where they were on the shelf, probably, when I go back. I also saw a miso tofu soup envelope, and got one to try. I’m sure my store carries tofu and maybe miso in the refrigerated sections, but I’ll need to look for them. (Possibly with the non-lactose substitutes?)
I still haven’t found quinoa, despite looking, and will have to ask.
Think I’m going to buy an Asian cookbook for myself for Christmas. Any suggestions are welcome. Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, I’m game to try more, and really only know Chinese-American cooking styles, but I’ve rarely cooked such myself. I want to learn how. I did buy a couple of Latino cookbooks a while back, and now think I’ll have a chance to try those more. Cajun/Creole styles are also welcome, and Italian. Heck, anything that’s good to eat. 😉
I didn’t see any cranberries this time. Good thing I got some last week.
The problem is endemic to a large university building–lecture rooms, tutorial areas, and my office. It doesn’t matter where I am…
We found out after we’d been transferred to San Diego, that my ex-wife was allergic to eucalyptus. What seems to be the most prevalent tree around that area?
I’m not sure if it would have any bearing at all, but my mom used to say that the reason she discovered she was allergic to wax lagustrum (sp?) was because, in college, she walked by a large hedge of them, and got headaches and sniffles, and finally connected the plants and the symptoms. While it’s more likely to be in the buildings, the plant life could be…exacting revenge. — Possibly, they’re jealous of the neuro. experiments and feeling discriminated? You haven’t seen any Triffids or Audreys about, have you? Just in case!
The old coal furnace and dirty air-ducts in the house I grew up in used to have me wheezing all winter long, with several rounds of bronchitis thrown in per year just for fun. My sister hated me because I left a window open all winter, even in New England, but it was the only way I could survive. I think they only noticed one of them had a broken pane after I moved out and she took over that room! I thought that was NORMAL until I spent a winter working on a fishing boat in Alaska and didn’t wheeze until I went HOME. Quite a shock, let me tell you.
Ah, eucalyptus. My wife believed I could trigger an asthma attack at will with them. Useful if you needed to flunk a draft physical. Just make sure the asthma was documented and you *bring* the documentation, because the local board would *lose* it. Those were the days when they needed bodies, and the local boards weren’t too particular to follow the rules or the law.
Oh my…..I have 3 pretty large silver dollar eucalyptus bushes in the livingroom right now for the winter. They are marginally hardy over here on the wet side/western Washington but I’m not going to risk leaving them outside. Thank goodness I don’t react to them in the slightest as the garage doesn’t get enough light….and I LOVE the blue-grey leaves against whiskey barrel oak flooring. One of my hibiscus has apricot concolor flowers and is still blooming and the blue-grey backdrop is breathtaking (in a good way…at least for ME).
They are an interesting tree. I’ve been in a eucalyptus/gum tree rain forest near Brisbane, really huge, huge old trees, and in the forest silence, you can hear one sound, every few minutes—a branch breaking off in the canopy and falling to the ground. I was there a couple of hours on a still day—and during that time one branch that broke loose was about the thickness of a man’s leg, and came crashing down in a hail of other branches about three hundred feet removed from me.
Local legend, which is probably not legend, tells of numerous people killed while sleeping under a gum tree.
Its origins go back about 50 million years, just after the Chixulub crater and the mass extinction—and it prevails in areas of Australia. I believe the California trees are imports, though I could be wrong.
I cannot have a bouquet in the house that has eucalyptus in it; and I cannot take eucalyptus cough drops.
They do shed limbs, leaves, and bark. The California trees are imports. They’re hardy, grow fast, are fire-adapted, and tall–hence the limb-shedding. They’re descended from the Gondwana tree flora.