No canary? :eyebrow:

No canary. I guess we were the canaries ...

Not all of them do, you don't have contact with the others so that's what you see. What percent succumb to your worst case scenario and why them and not others. Was it because they weren't supplied or couldn't be bothered to use safety equipment?

It's the same question for the football players. They both voluntarily destroy their bodies for us in exchange for good pay. I didn't realize miners were paid that well. We've come a long way since the company towns would turn them into virtual indentured servants.

I wouldn't do either job, and wouldn't want my kid doing either job.

I wouldn't want that gig. You mentioned poultry production at the beginning and I might place that below coal mining, unless done in the Joel Salatin manner. A friend of mine in environmental testing went to a kosher chicken plant where everything seemed to be done well. He was super careful the whole time but the guys working there were very into the big physical handshakes. He ended up hospitalized with a campylobacter infection.

Black lung dropped from about 11% of miners to 3.3% in the late 1990s, but by 2009 had risen again to 9% in some areas (eastern Kentucky, southern West Virginia, western Virginia, in a geographical area now known as the 'hot spot'). After each recent disaster (Sago, Utah, Big Branch) more safety equipment and regulations have been added. MSHA is required to inspect every mine in the country, and does.

Nevertheless, the industry doesn't have a 'safety first' culture, although the supervisors at the mine I toured stressed it. Still, things could have been better. No miner is going to complain too loudly when it means losing his job. Mine owners aren't overly concerned about safety relative to production because black lung benefits are largely tax-funded at the state and federal levels. That said, the rules are crazy enough that quite a few are denied on technicalities.

It's strenuous, dangerous work. Disasters still happen not infrequently and miners die horrible deaths. Between that and black lung, it's a high price in human lives.

Thanks for the long write-up orthodox, it was really interesting

I'm a tad apprehensive because I just bought a tenor saxophone off eBay. I know it's a bit beat up, but I hope it's playable.

I'm tired of paying $30-40 a month to rent a nice new one from the music store and I'm hoping this $200 one will work out just fine. It's for my son, and he knows it's all beat up and scratched and stuff, and he's fine with that. But it better be playable.

At least it's cheap enough that I can replace a bunch of pads and still be ahead. And it's a good model for a middle school kid like him.

New saxophones are ridiculously expensive.

I know you all have been on pins and needles waiting to see how it turned out, but the sax got here yesterday. I can't play, but my son played it and said it functions perfectly. It's 46 years old and quite scratched up and missing finish, but it sounds very good.

Perfect timing too, since we can return the rental on Saturday, which is the last day of the rental month.

This purchased sax will pay for itself in 6-7 months of no rental fees.
Cutting out a $30 monthly expense is a good thing.
:thumb:

With a well maintained musical instrument of reasonable quality originally age doesn't matter. The consumables are easily and cheaply replaced. I wish your son much musical joy!

Sent by thought transference

Probably less likely to get stolen, also.
I agree with limey, glatt. You're giving the kid a fantastic gift.
Even if he graduates and never plays again, you'll have given him the ability to understand how music is constructed, how it's created, and enjoy the nuances. Good on you. :thumb:

And will give him instant cred if he decides to play jazz.

Yep, Coolest kid in the horn section!

Ultrasound and labs tomorrow. I've been having left-sided symptoms. Probably nothing, and it's time for a follow-up anyway. I just wish someone close to me was tuned in, had taken notice somehow.

Whatever. What will be, will be. If it's too much to bear I'll just help things along.

Good luck.

Thanks, glatt. I'm sure everything will be fine. I just get antsy the day before, in spite of knowing that the odds are in my favor.

Eta - and, sorry about grumbling over my son's photos. I was having a pity-party. Embarrassing.

Vague, hazy, and indistinct feelings of restlessness and foreboding.

My G-son, Sam, is at the top of the eligibility list for a new job with ODFW.
He got a call this morning
- the State has declared a state-wide hiring freeze.
- but they said he would remain at the top of the list

Nothing in the news yet, but it seems strange at this time of Oregon's fiscal year.

Pray for an early thaw. :thumb:

last night I rolled over a big ass deer with my car and I tore the muffler away from the cat and then dragged along the ground for a while fucking up more shit as it rolled along.

Nice.

Talked to the ins. co. and they'll come see it tomorrow or the next day. $200 deductible.

I'm pretty sure they'll cover it.

Did you get to keep the deer?

Between whoever hit it first and me rolling over it, I didn't want it. Someone else did though. It was gone this morning.

F3 Your post of vague, hazy, and indistinct feelings of restlessness and foreboding took 13 days to manifest ...wooo scary... ;)

I thought the insurance company got to keep the deer?

I've been working with my new Mac and trying out new financial software.
This involved moving files from my old Mac to an external drive
and then onto the new Mac.
In testing the software, I've moved various files into the Trash.

Well, since a few of these files held financial and personal data,
I decided to do an (irreversible) "Secure Empty Trash" deletion.

To my terror, an Alert window came up saying it was deleting 26,828 files :eek: :eek: :eek:
That was 3 hours ago... there are still 4,000 to go :facepalm:

Hahahahaha. Ouch. Yeah, that'll take a while.

Uh oh. The boy is puking this morning.

I'm dreaming of a stomach virus Christmas...

House guest (MIL) due to arrive tomorrow and sleep in his room, and him on our floor. May need to rethink this.

Bad timing.

Around here its been running about 24 hours. Am trying Cream of Rice now.

F3

Yes, I get those constantly. They start when I get up and stop when I go to sleep. Otherwise known as 'life' in my case, I'm sorry to say.:eek:

Uh oh ... sorry to hear this. GI viruses survive on surfaces, so it's probably best to leave your son where he is and find other quarters for MIL. If you're fanatical about disinfecting surfaces and hand washing, you may contain it. Hand sanitizers work best for viruses.

I hope the rest of you escape it.

My hands are already getting a little dried out from all the hand washing I've done this morning. I'm going through the motions but feel like it's a lost cause. Part of me thinks we should all just deliberately infect ourselves now in the hopes it will run its course by christmas. Also, Clorox wipes are convenient, and I just fired up the humidifier to knock airborn viruses down to the floor. I still feel like it's a lost cause.

Hmm.
He's stopped puking and is happily sipping ginger ale. All perky and not happy that I'm confining him to his room. Maybe it wasn't a severe stomach virus after all. Or maybe it's that famous 4 hour stomach virus.

*raw, sanitized fingers crossed*

the eye of the storm?

Rooting for you all.

Don't give up, glatt - it IS possible to escape it. And maybe it'll be a fairly mild thing, or even a bit of food poisoning and not nearly as infectious as rotavirus or norovirus.

... or the brown eye of the storm

Hey, it seems like it was not much after all. He's had a couple slices of plain toast and a bunch of ginger ale, and is feeling a little tender but is holding everything down.

Good news!

Good deal.

Looks like Son of Glatt was more contagious than we thought: Minifobette just puked in her sleep. Not to worry though, it mostly just got on her face, her body, her hair, her pillow, all the sheets and blankets, the nightstand, and the carpet. No biggie. :rolleyes:

Not at all, until minifob does the same. :yelsick:

Sorry, Clod ... hope the pain is short-lived.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

The boy has a slight headache but is otherwise ok. Just needs some fluids.

Where will the cellar contagion land next?

... right here at home. Lil' Pete has my version.

I'm sorry.

I hope it stops with her.

Facebook is starting to be peppered with similar stories across the country.

And as I type this, I realize I was just rubbing my face without knowing it. It's no wonder these viruses are so successful. Did I wash my hands since I got off the Metro? Can't remember. Don't think so.

I'm sorry, griff. I hope Lil' Pete bounces back quickly.

It's difficult to train yourself not to touch your face, but it can be done (at least for defined high-risk times). Probably a good practice when in public areas.

Yeah, we should be conscious of our hands. This entered my classroom maybe 2 1/2 weeks ago. We wash hands rigorously but I messed up somewhere.

Some Alaska Airlines flights won't fly today due to their pilots' flu

Not necessarily. Some are airbourne. Short of living in a germ-free bubble, there isn't much you can do.

I read last year that a humidifier is good because the moisture in the air makes the airborn viruses get soggy and fall to the floor. Dry indoor air is the perfect environment for viruses to just float around where you can breathe them in. And it's the main reason illnesses peak in winter months.

That ... and the little mobile Petri dishes are not outside playing.

...aaaand now Minifob is puking. Took the gold in both distance as well as number of items sullied--it was nothing less than over and past the nightstand for this champ. Tomorrow at 9 am, we head out for seven hours in the car followed by three days with the in-laws. Merry Christmas everyone, you'll never guess what we brought you!

Don't do it to yourselves ... stay home. You have the best of reasons.

Road trips with sick kids suck. There's still a puke stain on our headliner from years ago that you can only see if you know where to look.

Gallon size zip lock bags are useful and double as a rough measuring device.

And I agree with Ortho. You gotta be a little crazy to get into a car with a sick kid to drive AWAY from your home.

My wife confirm what Glatt says...

She drove all the way down the west side of the Canadian Rockies
with 2 of our 3 girls spouting randomly... not fun.

My wife can confirm what Glatt says...

She drove all the way down the west side of the Canadian Rockies
with 2 of our 3 girls spouting randomly... not fun.

Yeah, stay home. Its ripping through my sisters house and we saw them on the Eve... Update Lil Griff started hurling at 2:30 this morning. Pete is the last standing.

Yeah, staying home wasn't going to happen. But he ended up puking a total of 8 times last night, so by the time we were getting in the car, there was really nothing left for him to get rid of. He dry-heaved a few times on the trip, but strategic towels were enough to handle it. We'll see how tonight goes (he managed to keep a little water down, so we let him have 2-3 bites of food at dinner.)

But the really exciting thing is now I'm feeling very crampy and nauseous. Mr. Clod, at least, says he's still feeling fine.

Sorry. :(

Bummer.

Oh nooo ... sorry.