Vaccinations really aren't that bad

I have been in a pregnancy and parenting group on Facebook since I got pregnant with Mila.  In lots of ways, it has been super handy.  Any time something came up with baby Mila I could post the question in one place and get numerous comments of advice.  I also like being able to pass on my experience for other new moms.  

Lately, that page has been a source of angst.  For some reason, the hot topic of vaccinating your children has come up a lot recently.  The majority of those women are anti-vaccines and it stresses me out to no end.  I think it is sad that so many children have been infected with measles when it is a completely avoidable situation.

I have worked in vaccine research and development for years now, so I have seen many examples as to why this work is done. Thankfully, one mom recently posted this amazing blog post with link after link after link to various sites promoting vaccinations.  It is a GREAT read and I recommend it if you have children or know anyone with children.  Keeping up with your boosters as an adult are key in preventing unvaccinated infants from becoming infected.

There is no way for me to convince someone to take in the CDC with even a modicum of trust when they have already decided they are corrupt.  But I am heartbroken for their children.  The best I can say is luckily for them they live in a country with great medical abilities, so if their children get avoidable diseases their chance of survival is much higher than those who live in countries without these vaccines.  People in third world countries would give anything to receive the vaccines that are so readily available to us.  It's saddening to think so many people throw this concept in the trash.

Time Scales

My dad went in for his bloodwork last week.  The creatinine was still too high for the CT scan so he has an appointment to go back this week and check again.  This waiting is driving me crazy!  But the doctor seems comfortable with the time scale we're working on right now.  He said its not a particularly fast moving form, so we don't need to worry about anything drastic happening between now and when they can get a good picture of the whole thing.  Plus, if he gets it now, the iodine might kill him.  So, you know.  Worth the wait.

Came across this video about a girl who wanted to learn to dance in a year.  It's impressive. 

Eating Metal

This is actually a little gross.


Magnetic Putty Magic (Extended Cut) | Shanks FX | PBS Digital Studios from Joey Shanks on Vimeo.

LOVE

A CGI Disney short that was made to look like the old school hand drawn movies I grew up with:

If you had 8 hands...

...and then laid on the piano...

Excuse me while I go all dorky on you

Every once in a while you hear about how amazing something is, but it's not readily available.  Why not?  Conspiracy theorists say the government is holding it back because they get money by supporting the alternative we currently use.  Years ago, corn fuel (AKA ethanol) was a good example of this.  Why aren't all cars run on ethanol?  It a renewable energy source and we wouldn't have to rely on foreign countries to get it.  Of course, since then some negative side effects have become known: higher VOC's than gas and it creates more carbon dioxide during combustion.  Trade-offs, I suppose.

Thorium is the new corn fuel.  In the past decade, a lot of research has been conducted to determine if it would be a good replacement for uranium in nuclear reactors.  It's cheaper, more stable and more abundant on Earth.  Read more here if you're interested.

Crazy Artists and their Talent

This was drawn with a ballpoint pen.  Amazing.

James Mylne ball point photorealistic portraits

Zombies on the Brain

Why do I look at these photos and think of zombies?

Gale force winds to the face

Seems like that would use a lot of memory

This is pretty intense. Not to mention that it could catch interesting things on camera, perhaps to be used in court at a later date?

Memoto - life-logging camera

Pop Danthology 2012

Popular music of 2012.  I wonder how long it took him to put this together...

No Explanation

There are numerous sounds that have been recorded underwater that have never been explained.  How weird is that?

The List of Unexplained Sounds

Here is one sound that HAS been explained:

SHOPPING!!!

We had a much needed lazy weekend.  Last week we had Halloween and celebrated my sister's birthday.  The weekend before that was filled with lots of festivals.  The weekend before that I was in Florida for work.  BUSY TIMES.  This past Saturday and Sunday we took turns doing fun things.  Saturday morning Travis took Aiden and went grocery shopping while I stayed home with Mila and cleaned around the house.  Then he took Aiden to play golf in the afternoon.  They had a good time riding around in the golf cart and hitting balls.  I'm glad Aiden enjoyed it.  Maybe that's something they can grow to do together.

Sunday I met my friend Linsey for lunch and went shopping at the outlet mall that just opened last month - WITHOUT KIDS.  It was great to get in some conversation without interruption.  I am so excited to get some clothes for work that are non-maternity.  I started my new job when I got back from maternity leave.  My new job requires casual business attire, which is the complete opposite of my t-shirt and jeans level of dress at the previous position.  I had one pair of slacks and a few tops that fit the bill, so I have been long overdue for these new clothes.  Two and a half outfits are nowhere near enough to complete my wardrobe, but it's a good amount to get me started. 

Sometime Friday night/Saturday morning, Mila's first tooth broke through the gums!!  I can't believe it!  She's only five months old.  I know all kids are different, but Aiden was eight months old when he got his first tooth.  It's crazy.  Mila has been a little fussy lately between this teething and her mild ear infection, so I've been giving her Tylenol every day.  Not every four to six hours, but once or twice per day (usually before bed to help her get through a night of sleep). 

I did some online searches and found that other moms have found a correlation between Tylenol and constipation.  I could not find any reputable sites that said there is a direct cause and effect here, except with Tylenol with codeine.  I know these are just mothers' opinions, but I'm wondering if that might be what's going on with Mila.  She has been having bouts of constipation and it seems to be around the same time as when I give her Tylenol.  Only one way to check - cut out the Tylenol.  There's only two weeks until she's old enough for Ibuprofen, thank goodness.  

If she didn't have a proper bowel movement today at daycare, then I'm going to offer some watered down prune juice.  It's just so sad!  I did see a direct correlation between rice cereal and constipation, so I'm not offering her that anymore.  I'm so bummed that it seems like constipation is a common problem for my kids.  I was hoping they would get their bowels from their father.  HA.  I suppose if we physically worked our butts off all day long and ate as much spicy food as he does, we might be able to keep up.  Instead, the kids and I are stuck relying on yogurt, probiotics and bulk fiber to take care of things.  Sorry if that was too much for some of you, but it's just life.

I hope my baby girl is feeling better tonight!  It breaks my heart when she's not her normal perky self.  Both of the kids are getting over coughs as well.  I am ecstatic to announce that we've gone five days without waking up at night from a coughing fit.  Even if it's not a full eight hours, having a night of consecutive sleep can do wonders for a person's psyche.

Vino Education

I came across this article about how wine corks are made.  I knew cork was a renewable resource, which is why it's considered a green project.  I wish I like how it looked enough to get the floors done in it...

How cork is made

I just might get this

A father takes artistic photos with his daughter:

World's Best Father

Disturbed

I used to really like a lot of Stanley Kubrick's movies.  But since becoming a parent, I've found my tolerance level for disturbing footage has shot through the floor.  He does have a way with drama though.

Sometimes Farts ARE Funny

HaHas for HooHas: The Fart That (Almost) Altered My Destiny

Pure Awesomeness

As terrified as I am of birds...

Men Throwing Rocks With The Other Hand

I'm pretty sure this is how I look when I throw, no matter the arm:


Men Throwing Rocks With The Other Hand from Juan Etchegaray on Vimeo.

Logo Fails

Several of these took me a few moments to see the fail...

Top 15 Worst Logo Fails Ever

WoW Attack

Thank goodness for fraud monitoring.  Yesterday after work, I got on the Interstate before I realized how low on gas I was.  My car had determined I had 20 miles left on the tank, so I figured I would be fine until I reached our exit.  I stopped at the gas station, put my debit card in and the screen told me to go see the cashier.  I was really annoyed because that means I have to get Aiden out of the car seat, lock the car, deal with the guy waiting in line behind me giving me the stink eye, etc.  I threw my card back in the machine.  I'm pregnant, I'm tired, maybe I just entered the wrong pin.  Nope.  Same thing again.  I tried a third time, just for good measure.  No luck.

I unload Aiden and head in to see if the cashier can reset the process or whatever.  Nope, she can't.  I have to give her my card in the store.  Problem with using my card in the store is I have to tell her how much to put on my card.  With the fluctuating gas prices lately, I never know if it's going to take $35, $40 or $45 to fill up my tank.  And I hate stopping for gas more frequently than I have to.  But!  I have no choice.  Put $30 on my card and be done with it.

It wouldn't go through inside either.  By this time I am SO frustrated.

"Do you know why it's not going through? Does it tell you that?"

"Insufficient funds?"  She shrugs her shoulders.

What?!  There should be plenty of money in there!  No reason I shouldn't be able to spend $30.  She didn't seem confident that this was the reason.  So, why would she take a stab in the dark as to why it wasn't working?  FINE.  Give me my card back.  I ran out to the car and used my credit card.  I HATE using my credit card.  I think I will feel better about it after Travis and I have paid off the rest of our credit card debt.  Til then, I like to avoid using The Card.

While I was waiting for my gas to pump, I asked Travis to check our account (he has easy access on his phone).  He called me back two minutes later and asked if I had spent $140 online today.  What?  No!  I don't make purchases over $50 without talking to Travis first.  Plus, even if I had spent $140, there should still be plenty of money in the account. 

After some more digging, Travis found something like 15 unexplained transactions adding up to $820.  All done yesterday at some video game website (most notably used for World of Warcraft, WoW).  Apparently, the bank noticed this unusual activity and cancelled my card.  That's why it wouldn't work.  They were already in the process of reversing the transactions and had it down to $140 left to fix by closing time last night. 

THANK GOD.  That is so much more doable.  The bank said if they are unable to stop the transactions before they go through, we will have to call back and dispute the charges.  Hopefully it doesn't come to that.  It's not a huge deal, just an annoying use of our time.  Travis called the website to see if he could find out who had made the transactions.  He was unable to find that out since they didn't do it on a specific account. 

They did say this sort of thing happens ALL THE TIME.  Ironically, it happened to a friend of mine from work yesterday as well.  I told my dad about this and he said the same thing happened to my brother a few years ago.  I guess those gaming folks know a thing or two about computers and the interwebz and such.  HA.

I'm hoping the rest of it gets taken care of without a hitch.  Both the bank and the WoW website people seemed to think we would be taken care of, no problem.  Here's hoping!