Today, I did lice-checks at Gila's school (I would link to it, but they don't have a website...interesting). Anyway, how did I get into this? Well, last week I got a phone call from a fellow parent who basically gave me three choices: 1)Check kids for lice, 2)Call other parents and recruit volunteers to check kids for lice, 3)babysit for kids who's mothers are checking for lice. If anyone knows me, they know that I'd rather have my hands in 50+ elementary school girls' hair than make soliciting phone calls or babysit random children.
Anyway, like I mentioned, I checked 50+ girls' hair. I had a few questionable scalps, but nothing turned into the real thing. Towards the end though, I found myself trying to make eye contact with the girls with the shortest and straightest hair so that they would come to my checking station. There are 2 boys in the pre-nursery and I practically ran over other mother so I could check them (I didn't get to them in time though...). I am horrible.
I now feel bad for anyone who ever had to check my hair when I was a kid. I had the curliest most unruly hair. To quote my mother many, many times, "no self respecting louse would ever set foot in Peninah's hair." So true.
Recently, three friends of mine have started blogs. Each of these blogs is insightful, well-written, and often times entertaining.
What I really like about these blogs is that they are written by: 1) Lanie, who is marrried to 2) Joel and 3)Alan, who is Lanie's brother. Confusing? Wait until you read their comments back and forth to one another (especially in the earlier posts). They are hysterical.
Anyway, Lanie's blog is titled "All in a days work" and can be found at http://helanis.blogspot.com/. Joel's blog is titled "Musings" and can be found at http://bloginator80.blogspot.com/ and Alan's blog is titled "Ponderings" and can be found at http://alanlaz.blogspot.com.
I have known 2/3 of these bloggers since they were little kids (14 years ago) and it is amazing to see how they have grown up from annoying/cute little campers of mine (I will always remember my first encounters with both of them specifically) to people I consider the closest of friends and role models. Enjoy!
FYI, I just heard that O.A.R. will be playing on THURSDAY NIGHT (that is pretty awesome) March 16 at Rams Head Live in Downtown Baltimore. I don't think tickets are on sale yet, but I will update this when they do go on sale so all you can get them ASAP...
What can I say, I am in the know.
Last night, WJZ in Baltimore had a piece on MP3players and hearing loss. Their report tended to be somewhat more cautionary than the Advance Article I linked to, but the message was pretty much the same.
And if you watch the video, you will notice that my favorite ENT (he did my sinus/deviated septum surgery and thanks to that, I can now breath through my nose when I am sleeping: trust me, that is a big deal), and yours (and Greg's as well), Dr. Andrew Goldstone was interviewed. Way to go Dr. G!
When I looked at my mail today, the latest print issue of Advance for Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists screamed out at me. The cover story was titled, iPods, Earphones & Hearing Loss: Audiologists set the record straight . I have sort of been ignoring the nagging voice inside my head that reminded me of all the audiology courses I took in undergrad. The voice that told me to lower my iPod because those tiny hair cells in my inner ear were probably dying (never to be replenished). This article made some good points about the issue. Here is an excerpt.
A lot of the MP3 player controversy can be resolved with common sense and, above all, patient education, noted Rachel Cruz, MA, CCC-A, FAAA, a research audiologist at House Ear Institute in Los Angeles, CA."It's about what you expose yourself to," she said. "Everyone knows that these things are loud, and loud sounds are bad for you. There are very few people who don't get it. In terms of the iPod and noise-induced hearing loss, I don't know that the iPod has been around long enough that a person could have clinically definable noise-induced hearing loss."
She likened the current controversy to similar public concern over the introduction of the Sony Walkman in the late 1970s and its potential threat to hearing health.
"A person could certainly, with any kind of personal listening device, give themselves acoustic trauma and acquire high-frequency hearing loss over a long period of time," she stated. "It concerns me that a particular device is being singled out. It's obviously not an issue unique to a single piece of equipment. The users should be made aware of any potential risks for hearing loss and how their behavior influences their risk level. Then they can make an educated decision on the appropriate 'noise dosage' they allow themselves."
Cruz does not dismiss the potential risk of hearing damage but urged reliance on clinical research, particularly in the area of user behavior.
"The risk depends on a lot of things, and duration of exposure is a big factor. I don't know that people are listening five, six, seven hours a day at 100 dB SPL with these devices," she said. "I'm leery about jumping on a bandwagon where people get very up in arms over the device of the year because next year it may be something else."
The nature of the acoustics of the ear dictate, in part, that in-the-ear earphones are capable of generating higher sound levels, Dr. Fligor noted. However, that does not mean people choose to listen at those higher levels.
I like the last paragraph in the article:
Cruz agreed. "Professionally, to me it's more important to educate people about what kinds of sounds put them at risk and what kinds put them in more of a 'safe zone' and let them decide. People are smart. We should encourage our patients to make healthy decisions and monitor their recreational sound exposure. The best way to do this is by providing accurate information about hearing loss."
OK, so to sum up. Yes, prolonged exposure to a very loud noise level (like 100 dB SPL for example) with the in the ear-buds can't be good. What will I do about this? I will probably go out and try to find a reasonably priced, comfortable practical set of headphones and I will keep an eye on the volume of the iPod. Maybe I should have taken a pre-iPod hearing test and one in a year. Oh well. Too late.
This post is in honor of two of my friends.
1. Esther: who thinks about certain "Baltimorisms" with a fondness that only someone who moved out of here and misses it can have.
2: Rena: who came up with the term OIB.
If, after reading this post, you decide to mention the term OIB, please reference it to Rena who is just so wise.
OIB is a term which stands for "Only In Baltimore". There are certain things that would only happen in Baltimore (specifically, in Jewish Baltimore, and even more specifically in Orthodox Baltimore). Anyone who has spent any time in this wonderful city will get this.
I believe Rena was overcome with the need to coin this phrase one day when she was on Park Heights avenue or another main street here and she was at a stop light. She looked over at the car next to her and noticed that the woman driving next to her was kneading her challah dough as she was driving. Let me repeat this. The woman next to her was KNEADING CHALLAH DOUGH WHILE SHE WAS DRIVING. Only one thing can be said about that: OIB.
That is one specific type of OIB. Another type of OIB occurs when annoying things happen in Baltimore, and we let them stand. Our lack of outrage helps the OIBness continue.
Here is a story that illustrates that type of OIB. It was the week before Rosh Hashana and one of the kosher butchers had been advertising that they would take orders before the holiday and be would be opened through Tuesday. My friend had made an order well in advance and she called the butcher on Sunday morning just to make sure they had her order. They told her that she had better come in quickly because they just decided to close the store at 12pm (the store was usually open until 5) and would not re-open until after Rosh Hashana. Hello?!? Why do we stand for things like that? OIB!!!
I should clarify something. I am a born and bred Baltimorean. OIBs bother me as much as the next guy, but I look at them as more annoyances and silly anecdotes than anything else. On the other hand, if some transplanted New Yorker, who has one foot back over the Verrazano Bridge were to start talking about OIBs, that would infuriate me.
Please feel free to leave your OIBs in the comments section.
I can think of at least 5 of you who read this regularly, so I have a question.
Does it bother you that they took a class of '91 mug and changed the 1 to a 4 when we graduated? I am drinking tea out of my class of '91 or '94 or whatever mug right now and I am annoyed. Our parents paid a freaking lot of money for our education and the least they could have done was given us a stupid mug that had the right year on it. Am I wrong?!?
annoys me.
This has been an awesome winter, in my humble opinion. No snow.
I planted 100 tulip bulbs in the fall. They started to bloom last week. Now there is over a foot of snow covering them. So much for the time and effort I put in to make my lawn look nice this coming spring. Argh.
I feel cranky...
Pleae join me in wishing my wonderful husband, Greg, a very Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday Greg.
For those who are interested, Greg shares his birthday with these famous people.
Please leave your birthday wishes here, or in the comments section in Greg's Blog.
My sister came up with a great new motto last week. Here it is.
I feel blessed, but stressed- and that is ok.
I think the first part of the motto pays homage to Josephine, our family's long time cleaning lady. Josephine is a saint. She has lost 3 children, she was in an abusive marriage, she finally got into a good marriage and her husband died soon after, she was recently diagnosed with cancer- she's seen all the bad that life has to offer. Yet, when you ask Josephine how she is, she always replies with an honest, "I'm blessed," and she means it.
My sister and I often talk about how stressed out we are. Between work, marriage, raising kids, keeping up the home, finances, things can get overwhelming. Yet, somehow, we always feel guilty because we really have good lives. Thank G-d, we are all healthy and happy. We truly are blessed.
However, that doesn't mean we aren't stressed. I might not be as stressed as someone who is taking care of a sick parent or child. I might not be as stressed as someone who has no income or family support. I might not be as stressed as someone who has children with major issues or who is a single parent. But that doesn't mean that I don't rightfully feel stress in my life.
Therefore, the motto came into existence. I feel blessed, but stressed- and that is ok.