Smokin' recalls, loss of limb and a couple reasons to fall out of your seat.

While browsing the Sears recalls this morning, I crossed some doozies many of which are related to things catching fire. People don't seem to like that.

Coby portable CD/MP3/DVD player batteries overheat and catch fire. Which model? Click here.

Some Thermador built-in ovens have a gap in the insulation that overheats the surrounding cabinets during the self-cleaning cycle and, thus, causing them to catch fire. Models listed here.

Maytag, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag and Crosley refrigerators are have a relay that's overheating and catching fire. For more information, click here.

Frigidaire and Kenmore smooth-top ranges, 200,000 of them, in fact, have been recalled for switching on without human will, failing to turn on, and heating to a different temperature than desired. A lot of people have these, but I haven't heard anything about it in the news. More info here.

Get this, log splitters can cause people to lose their limbs. Who woulda guessed? But seriously, there's a fault in the MTD log splitter where the contraption fails to automatically shift into neutral. More information here.

And for those of you who don't mind a little smoke around the house and already may be missing limbs, I have something for you as well. Apparently, the MooreCo Ergonomic Office Chair is not so ergonomic after all, especially when it dumps one on the floor. I was sad that there weren't pictures posted at the information site.

You better sit down for this last one. Samsung is recalling their Jitterbug phone because it fails to connect the user to 9-1-1 when it's out of a service area. Is there something I'm missing? Isn't that what out of service means? See for yourself, here.

Dell battery product recall

I typed "quiet recall" into my search engine and found that Dell and Apple both have a "quiet recall" on certain batteries.

If you have a Latitude 110L, D530 or Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, 5160, you may want to check out this site.

If you're partial to Apples, watch out for 12-inch iBook G4 and Powerbook G4 and the 15-inch Powerbook G4. For more information, check out Apple's battery recall site.
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Querida reports that she was pretty tired returning from a work weekend at Riverview Bible Camp. So tired, that she checked her bed for Sophia before dumping her bags on it.
Some habits don't change.
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Tim saw that a hose is disconnected from the engine on the Subie. Maybe that's the source of it's jerkiness sort of problems (not the oil leaks, to be sure.)

Organic food and other stuff.

Does anyone else remember the Organic Garden show on PBS? This show was about growing a garden and growing it well, if I remember it correctly.

The term 'organic' has come to mean something it hadn't before. It means without pesticides, without all that artificial stuff. When I think of 'organic', I think of natural, alive, something grown from a garden.

So if only organic vegetables and fruits are all-natural, then does that mean that everything else isn't? "Oh no, keep those organic bananas far from me. I don't like the idea of anything that comes from dirt. Leave me the manufactured bananas."

While at Wal-mart tonight, my friend asked me why, if there's less pesticides and additives, why do organic fruits and vegetables cost more?

The answer is supply and demand. Since more people want the "natural" fruit than can get it, growers can charge more for it.

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In the news tonight, an $18-million lawsuit has been awarded to a grown sex-abuse victim against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The man said if he could help just one child, it was worth it. So who pays for the $18 million? Lawsuit insurance? If so, it looks like insurance rates will go up for the BSA members. Dues are already so high that many of these boys resort to scholarships to join. And not all leaders are abusers, most are just normal parents--like me! I was a den leader for three years before moving up to the troop level, where I was committee chair for one year.

But, I must say, abuse is sad stuff for everyone involved. The victim, the boys, the other leaders and now the whole organization must pay the price.

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It's been almost two weeks since we had Sophia put down. We're doing okay. Dempsey, our other cat, seems to be acting more like a pet these days. Weird stuff, animal psychology.

On a funny note, a friend of ours who helped put her down brought us a roast last week. I asked him, what's this? A mutual friend was standing right there and said, "Cat."

I looked at him for a part of minute. I couldn't believe he said it. "Dude," I said. "Really?" He didn't answer me, so I continued. "It's not even been a full week.

"What?" he asked.

Someone in the large group we were a part of explained that we had our cat put down.

Instant embarrassment. Poor guy. He was so sorry.

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This blog is here and there and everywhere, when it comes to blog entries. I am thinking about steering it a bit toward recalls. A friend of mine learned that many companies like to sweep recalls under the carpet and keep them quiet. When it's not an emergency, they don't have to inform the world. I guess there's no government mandate about it. (Not that there should be.)

I'll look into it, but if you hear of something, let me know!

Photojournalism Portfolio I

Movie review: Ghost Writer

If you’re looking for a movie with a hitchcockian style hearkening back to a different era, “Ghost Writer” will keep you busy looking for the next clue.

Director Roman Polanski may identify with “Ghost Writer” character Adam Lang, the ex-prime minister whose memoirs require a final edit from a ghostwriter before publishing. Polanski is currently under house arrest in Switzerland for a crime he committed 32 years ago. Fictional character Lang cannot leave the United States after an international court charges him with war crimes. Eventually, the ex-prime minister cannot sit in his living room without the prying eyes of the media upon him. This is not unlike Polanski’s victim, now 45, who has moved on and wishes the courts would drop the case rather than revisit it in the media every time Polanski earns an award or releases a movie, says Telegraph.co.uk.

The confident ghostwriter, played by Ewan McGregor, has one month to make something of the bland memoirs of Pierce Brosnan’s character, Adam Lang. His predecessor, who died under suspicious circumstances, left behind 600-some pages of hard copy. The drab memoirs put The Ghost to sleep, but Lang’s protective assistant, Kim Cattrall as Amelia Bly, keeps them locked up when they are not under construction. Ruth Lang, played by Olivia Williams, wants The Ghost to write her out of her husband’s memoirs altogether. As The Ghost digs deeper, he finds stranger and more complicated details of not only Lang’s past but also the previous writer’s death. It doesn’t take much digging for The Ghost to see the crosshairs of danger now lie upon him.

Depicting a man passionate about his work, his politics and his sense of right and wrong, Pierce Brosnan was authentic as a prime minister. McGregor has always done cocky well, looking back at his role as Frank Churchill in “Emma”, and he transitions his character from self-assured to overwhelmed with ease. Kim Cattrall should consider her performance as cool and professional Amelia Bly as a triumph. She played the role so well that it took me several scenes to recognize her as a “Sex in the City” actress. However, the show-stealer was Olivia Williams playing the moody Ruth Lang. Weeping one moment and seductive the next, Williams embodies a woman in constant competition with all of her husband’s distractions.

Aside from the all-star cast, the movie can boast of other well-known actors. Jim Belushi, Timothy Hutton, Tom Wilkinson, Eli Wallach and Robert Pugh were among the familiar faces gracing the screen.

The film begins quickly and doesn’t waste a single moment. Every scene is relevant, interesting and fast paced. The details require the viewer to pay attention and decipher quickly to discover the mastermind behind this who-done-it mystery. Polanski’s problems may not be resolving quickly but Lang’s come to a head with an ending that is difficult to foresee.

The dark side of 30 and school: how to save your back.

The second week of spring quarter was stressful. I was still overwhelmed with my classes and the drowning feeling that just seems hang inches above my face at every moment.

Tuesday night, after an afternoon at the computer in my publishing class and a couple hours at a table copy-editing the Easterner, I was stiff and sore. I brought my backpack into the bedroom and sat indian-style on the bed while doing homework. When I was finished, I put my laptop back in my backpack and turned out the light.

The next morning, I grabbed my backpack to carry it into the living room but set it down immediately. It was too heavy? I pulled the backpack out and left it in the bedroom.

After my 8:00 a.m. class, I stood up, barely. My back had seized up. Many of you know this experience, and I'm sorry for it. I waddled out of class among a population of mostly older teens and early twenties. I had almost made it out of the Computer Engineering Building but sat and pulled my lunch box out of my backpack. Anything to lighten my load.

It was an ugly day with some exceptions. The psychology department secretary set me up with a chair that seemed to help my back a little. She had an intern carry it upstairs and place it in my critical writing classroom. Every time I stood up, I was stiff and had difficulty moving. By the time my husband picked me up from school that night, I was in trouble, baby stepping out of the PUB.

The next morning, I needed to support myself to walk. I needed help.

Here's some tips that'll help your back while you're getting an education.

• Pay attention to your body. If you spend any amount of time at a computer, you may be distracted to the point of being out of touch with how your body is feeling. If your back hurts, even a little, while you sit, do something about it before it gets bad.
• Take breaks from sitting. Stand up and stretch occasionally. Standing? Sit occasionally. Crouch. Stretch out those back muscles. This is true for home as well as school or work.
• When sitting in a computer chair, lower it down as far as it will go. You want your knees bent a little. Find a chair with a firm back, or adjust your chair so the back doesn't give.
• At the PUB computer lab, look for the checkered chairs, says Carl Combs tech-eze guy. Stand, stretch and walk around every so often.
• Talk to your instructors about any issue you're having. Many of them don't mind rearranging the furniture for an extra, different chair or will understand your need to stand up in the middle of a lecture.
• Speaking of standing in the middle of a lecture, set yourself up so that you're not sitting in the middle of class. If you're unable to sit through a class without getting up, you want to be positioned so as to not distract your fellow classmates.
• When standing for extended periods at work or elsewhere, find something to put one foot up on that is three to five inches off the floor. This will help your lower back quite a bit.
• Do go to the doctor at the least sign of trouble. Head things off at the pass; you don't want to wait until it's so bad you can't sleep (like I did).
• If the doc prescribes anything, follow all directions. Double check your instructions. If you're in a lot of pain, you may not remember the exact dosage at the exact time. This is why it's also particularly helpful to take a friend with you for an extra set of ears. (This advice is true for anything traumatic doctor's visit. Have someone there to take notes.)
• Give yourself a break. Don't drive if you can't. Arrange a ride. Carpool.

Please, please post related advice in the comment section below. I love these sort of tips, don't you?

The wrong focus?

Obama has extended family visiting rights at hospitals accepting medicaid and medicare to married homosexual couples. We keep reacting to homosexual issues without looking at the issues that affect everyone.

As a Christian, I believe that homosexuality is wrong and that it hurts people, including those who practice it. But that opinion doesn't help anyone on either side of the arguement.

If homosexual couples are given marriage rights, it doesn't make the act right, yet many seem offended when states or the law extend those rights. Why? Does it change God's law? The civil law is a minimal code. God's law is a higher standard. (How would we live if it were reversed?)

By opposing homosexual marriage, do we change anyone's mind by refusing them civil unions under state law? Do we draw them closer to Christ? Do we hear them saying, "Oh, you won't let me marry, well then, I guess I'll follow Christ."

No. But it doesn't mean that I think we should all be cheerleaders either. I know from first-hand experience that sometimes people have to walk their own painful road and find the dead end before looking for a way that leads to life.

What about the issue of health care and family members? If two or more college-age roomates could save money by buying a policy together why isn't it allowed? Why are kids booted off a policy when they turn 18 and take a year off school to work? These are not policies that affect only homosexuals but all of us. The family that has an aunt living with them cannot put her on their policy any more than a homosexual couple living together without a civil union.

Instead of looking at these issues, an issues homosexual couples get around by marrying, we look at thteir method and criticize--and ostercize them farther from us, from love and from Christ. This is counter-productive.

Let him without sin cast the first stone.

Life's Spankings

In the May 2010 issue of Reader's Digest, global survey results are posted for the question: "What's the Best Way to Discipline Kids?" They claim that not one woman in America prefers physical punishment to any other kind.

This is shocking. I can't believe that no one in America wants to spank their kids. It's frowned upon but not illegal. And yes, I would prefer talking to my kids to teach them over spanking, but sometimes, spanking gets the point across more effectively.

For example, if your child bolts into the street, you're not going to give him or her a good talking-to. The worst consequence in this scenario is death; if you run into the street, a car could hit you, and you could die. Natural consequences. In the face of many natural consequences, spanking is nothing at all.

Natural consequences prepare us for grown-up responsibilities. This weekend, when my husband and his buddy tried to change the Beast's fuel filter, a fuel line broke. Natural consequence: my husband called AAA for a tow to the mechanic. The mechanic's bill was around $109. No transportation to Spokane meant the movie I planned to see for class was put off until Monday night. Now we know we should have taken the Beast to the mechanic in the first place. (The gas tank was in the way, creating a real hassle.)

We, as a country, need to understand natural consequences. You run up debt, you lose your belongings. You break the law, you are fined or go to jail. These are things we all need to understand as children. Maybe this why crime is high, unemployment is high, and the national debt is high.

But back to the Reader's digest article: what kind of useless question did they ask? Without understanding the circumstances, 150 respondents per 16 countries picked their preferred method of punishment. The minimal level of confidence considered standard by the media is 96 percent. When you calculate 150 respondents per country, you're left with a laughable margin of error of 16.7 percent. So up to 16.7 percent of American women prefer spanking their kids, and for American men, 0 to 22.7 percent prefer to spank their kids.

Hm... So what can we conclude from this survey? Nothing, really. I'm sorry to have wasted your time.

United States Postal Service's big break.

My 14-year-old son, Xavier, fundraised his way to Washington D.C. He went with his class over spring break. Last year, when they announced the trip, students needed $30 cash for baggage fees: $15 there and $15 back. By the time the final arrangements were made, the fee was up to $25 each way. Xavier was a little irritated and rightfully so.

Sprint airlines announced a $45 carry-on fee says the Associated Press. It's to encourage travelers to check their luggage for the $25 fee. Why all these fees? If costs are going up, why not include these fees in overall prince? Show us what we're paying for up front.

As it is, this might be U.S. Postal Service's big break; if they could ship travelers belongings for a cheaper rate than all these baggage fees, every hotel would have a USPS kiosk as the demand for their services would go up.

My side notes today:

• Sofia is not improving. Zarah, my ten-year-old daughter, has come to terms with her upcoming parting, crying about how the cat is suffering. I think we'll take some pictures and move forward.
• My cancer test results came back negative. No new cancer for me!

The stay.

This Easter Sunday was difficult. One of the family's two ten-year-old cats, Sofia, has been pulling her hair out and, occasionally, not using the litter box for her business. Querida, my 20-year-old daugher, had researched Sofia's symptoms and worried that she had, at best, a skin disorder, or, at worst, a neurological problem.

When the day quieted down, Q bathed the cat. During the easiest bath ever, she found hard lumps under the irritated skin. One of the things she learned on the internet was that missing fur could also be a symptom of feline cancer. Querida held a family meeting, discussing quality-of-life issues with her siblings. Sofia hangs out in the girls' room the most. Why wouldn't this be Querida's call? My husband made arrangements over the phone; Sofia had 24 to 48 hours left with us.

I couldn't sleep that night. It's easy to make a decision about how much money to dump into a car. When it comes to a family pet, it's obvious to say we don't have the money for the care she needs but so much more difficult to think of her death. About midnight, I finally cried as quietly as I could, waking my bewildered husband anyway. He asked me what was wrong, and I told him I was crying about Sofia.

I got up to blow my nose. I'd never sleep this way. I wrote Tim a note: Put off the plans. Don't let Sofia go tomorrow. Just wait.

Life with an oil addict.

I am happy to report that I am not the woman whose car caught fire on April 5 on Interstate-90. My Subaru has a bad smoking habit, but we're no longer enabling her oil addiction. We'll keep her lubed, but after our last rehab, we're not visiting the mechanic anymore. Subie must give way to The Beast, the truck we're paying on. It seats all six of us.

My husband, Tim, drove Subie to work for the last time on March 30. She hit bottom, barely pulling up Sunset Hill. He shifted down, revving the rotations per minute upwards of 4000. After the Medical Lake exit, he shifted back up, and the universe righted itself-- somewhat.

I couldn't accept Subie for her faults, and during a trip to Spokane on April 2, I lost power on a slight incline on the Michael P. Anderson Highway. I had to turn around and return to Cheney. So now, Subie's retiring to live out the rest of her days in Cheney, shuttling between home, school, friends' homes and the grocery store.

I guess it's time to accept Subie's limitations and inability to grow. Tim now carpools with a dear friend from church. I have asked a friend for a ride to see my doctor on April 8. I could take The Beast, but this has forced me to realize I don't want to be alone when I hear the cancer-test results from my spring break surgery.

We are transitioning from oil-dependence to interdependence.