Memorial Day Let us not Forget

[dayspring39]

Good Morning everyone... Memorial day has become more of a holiday than what it was meant to be... remembering our war hero's take a little time from the busy schedule you have to remember... I know they did at church yesterday...
Another HOT one today then it breaks on Tuesday to a high of 80... you ladies heading for AK need some of this heat to melt the snow...
Oh on yesterdays thoughts when we lived in FL I had a ss class of children... they were born and bred Floridians and they never had air conditioning! we never did either and we did not have a fan either... when I was married we did not have air in our first house nor our second... our poor kids... lol
I hope everyone has a great day maybe a swim for Soos in her lovely pond... Sue will work... not sure what others will do... bet Sarah has chicken for dinner... those chickens last forever when you are alone...
What ever is on your list to do enjoy...
Kathleen

[Christine]

Good Morning.... its a very cloudy dark morning here.. i am hoping it will brighten up some and get some "outside' time'... I have been enjoying watching the birds at my feeder... first ever, saw a Goldfinch' yesterday! I got so excited.. They love my front feeder i can see from here at the puter.. the one in the tree they dont like for some reason.. ???

No special plans as usual. I hope everyone has a great day. All of those who are traveling or on the road take care.

Thinking of all the soldiers who served or who are serving our country on this day....

[avalen]

good morning ladies
one of my friends and coworkers deploys today for Afghanistan. This is his 3rd time and he was just about
ready to be done with reserves and they called him up.

[Dawn309]

Ava, will be praying for your friend's safe return.

It's going to be a hot and humid day here. They are predicting thunder storms for later today. Hope we get some rain today.

Going to work on boxing things up for the girls after I get through with regular chores. Darla has been wonderful. She brought a lot of boxes yesterday and took everything I had already stacked up for the girls. She is so excited she is getting all my pictures and knickknacks. I am putting a few things back that I am going to try to put up in MH. If I don't have room, she'll get anything I cannot use. Decorative things in 5th wheel will probably stay with it because they were purchased specifically for it. Hope the new owners like them.

I will be glad when I have gone through everything in the house. Hopefully I will never collect as much stuff again. Good thing MH will be weight restrictive. LOL.

Hope CArol is doing better today and the Alaska bound ladies have a wonderful day. Enjoying Beth's adventures on the boat.

If you are on the road today, stay safe. If you are still today, enjoy this holiday in memory of our troops.

[Redetotry]

Our paper had a nice article in it this morning about the man who teaches the hypnosis classes I've attended. He is 90 years old, a WWII veteran and has been delivering meals on wheels since 1976 in my hometown. They said he has never missed a day, his wife used to help but she is no longer able to be out much. It is amazing how dedicated some people are to their community. I don't get that sense where I live now, neighbors speak and chat if you see them while walking but no one except the lady next door visits, then it is by specific invitation. I know several do a lot of work through their churches but it is not the feeling I remember growing up when the neighbors would pop in with some home made goody or come sit for awhile in the swing. I do see some areas changing, a woman on the upper part of our street, (it's U shaped) just had a front porch added complete with a swing. My DH would faint at thought or I would have on in a heartbeat.
Thinking about CArol this morning and hoping she will soon be well and able to continue the AK journey. Also wondering about Echo, has anyone heard whether she was able to change jobs?
Hope everyone is safe on the roads today.

[Colliemom]

Well, it's past morning here in MI, but Sue is chiming in anyway. No, I am not working today. Monday and Tuesday are my days off this week, so I happen to have the holiday off. But as is, I'm under the wather right now. Had a really tense "sinus headache" all day yesterday and by the time it was quiting time at work, I was feeling lousy. In fact I threw up after I got home. and I was so cold, coldn't get warm for anything. Finally gave up and went to bed a little after 6, was up and down a few times after that to close up windows and doors before night fell etc. Slept all night till this morning around 2:45 vwhen Sassy wanted out, then she Tessa and I went back to bed and I don't remember anything till after 7. Still was not feeling great when I got up and did throw up a couple of more times, but since then things are improving. I used my Silnus Rinse stuff in one side of my nose and that has seemed to help. I'm back to eating and my appetite is returning, so I guees I will live. Still not perky yet, but functioning. Spending the day watching military movies. Its very warm and mugg here today, so good day to do nothing. My poor furkids can't understand why mom isn't doing much and so do want to go someplace. Sorry girls. We did some intense floor scrubbing in one of our toilet shower buildings last week and we use a disinfectant on it when we do it. Gets a bit strong in there, scrubbing and spraying with a hose. I had a sore throat for two days after which makes me wonder iif it set this off too. I may very well be developing sensitivity to the cleaning chemicals we use after all these years. Fortunately, the boss is changing to a more eco friendly stuff, but nonethelsess, may be time to think retirement perhaps.

It's also very windy here today and if it's like that in the U.P., the wildfire, which as consumed over 22,000 acres and is still 40 percent uncontained is going to give the firefighters a good battle. The uncontained area is very inaccessible to get at. It has destroyed over 80 structures including a lakeside motel, the which of the owner (a widow) said she is not going to rebuild. Said thshe will pick up her life on see where she goes from here. So sad. Another well known resort and campground has also been destroyed as well.

My best friends from downstate stopped by the park on their way through the U.P. to WI for the weekend. Had time for a short visit. Tld them they were welcome to stay here on their way back but they had planned on staying in the U.P and wanted to head on home t to get ahead of the traffic. We will get together some other time.

I'm going to spend a little time here catching up on the AK blogs and see what'g going on with everybody. Hope you all have a nice holiday.

[Redetotry]

Hope you feeling much better by now Sue and yes, I would say your cleaning with those heavy duty chemicals caused your problem. Campground bathrooms are one of the reasons I don't like to go to most places. A lot of hotels seem to have got the message as so many people complained and they are using better products. Also I think Illinois has made a ruling about what the janitors can use in schools. So many more people now do have sensitivities brought on by cleaners, air fresheners and laundry products. So encourage who ever is in charge to get with the eco-friendly stuff. Let me know if you want me to send links to articles or Material Safety Data Sheets, which by the way, many of these are fake now and put out by the companies who make the products. Used to it was no problem to get them but things keep changing.

[Sandersmr]

[quote="Redetotry" Material Safety Data Sheets, which by the way, many of these are fake now and put out by the companies who make the products. Used to it was no problem to get them but things keep changing.[/quote]

As someone who deals with MSDS's on a daily basis, I would like to know why you think these are fake. Yes, they are put out by the companies that produce the materials. And you should be able to easily get them, either off the company's web site or by contacting the company directly. They are required by law (and not just US law) as to what information is to be included. One of the sections is toxicological information and another is handling information, including storage requirements and personal protective equipment (PPE). If you think there is something incorrect, there should also be a phone number that you can contact the correct people.

[Bethers]

I wish they'd completely get rid of the scented cleaning products. Everyone thinks something is clean because of the scent - and allergists are now saying that those scents probably are effecting as many as 50-75% (maybe closer to 100%) of the people breathing them. When we were cleaning the boat this past week, the college girl I was working with kept sneezing - using a general, basic cleaner. Saturday the one who came in to show us the ropes with the passengers said we should get PineSol to use on the galley floor. I out-and-out said I won't clean with it - as I get an immediate headache from the smell.

When people learn that if it's really clean it doesn't smell like lemons or berries, etc - it simply is clean - we'd all be better off. And those scents are chemically made - not the real thing.

OK, off my soap box - but the MSDS don't tell the whole story - but I don't believe their fake.

It's kind of like the pharmaceutical companies who sell us on the drugs we "need" to take. That's another rant ... lol

[Redetotry]

Maggie the reason I say there are fake ones out there is I was trying to find one for Lysol spray, my nephew was ill and his mother was spraying constantly with Lysol and using the wipes everywhere. I remembered I had seen a MSDS where this product can cause flu like symptoms especially in children. When I went back to search I could find nothing that referred to that nor could I find free a site, or one that you didn't need special permission to access to the MSDA reports. The one on Lysol is just an one example I've also seen where the ones put out by the company differs or is incomplete.

Could you recommend a free web site where I can find reliable information. There used to be one at one of the large universities but they pulled it several years ago. I became chemically sensitive while working in the Art Dept. at a university. They were using many products that they shouldn't and found ways to get around inspections. After I became ill that they started requiring a file for the safety reports. Sounded good in theory until of the grad students brought me a file when he graduated of reports on products that had been ordered (with $$$ they had raised ) without my knowledge and said I should know what was happening. That was back in the early 90's and I was allowed to work from home for 3 years but at that time no one recognized chemical sensitivities as real. Now that there are so many with issues, I get many calls from people wanting help but they don't really know where to start. And sometimes I just offer an unsolicited opinion

[Bethers]

Try this one:
http://www.msds.com/

[Colliemom]

BJ, we do have MSDS sheets on file at the park. It's a state requirement and they must be put in a place where any employee can access them. I have read through them on ocassion and am going to check out a few things this week when I go back to work. I'm sure I have developed a sensitivity to some of them and I know they have also changed the Pine scent disinfectant we use. What Pine Scent? It smelled better before.

Since we got the new bathroom building, we have had to do more scrubbing on the new 'low maintenance' floors that were put in. It's a new type floor that lets water just kind of soak down through to a point. Because it's a rougher texture than say a tile floor, dirt just grinds down in and no amount of mopping will remove it. So once a month we have to go in and give them a good scrubbing with long handled scrub brushes and the hose. Granted, the new Pine is much less noticed which is good. It will be a few weeks before we use the new stuff as we have to finish off the old stuff before the boss orders the new.

I agree with you ladies about scented cleaners. Scented doesn't always mean clean. Just a way to cover up odors.

[Sandersmr]

Redetotry - the manufacturer is the one that is required to provide the MSDS, not an independent agency. And they are required to follow a certain format. My company toxicologist to manage our product MSDSs, and our products are plastic resins, so toxicologically, they are fairly innocuous. We still have to provide them and we maintain them on our external website. We take it very seriously because first off it's the right thing to do, and secondly the fines are pretty hefty to have incorrect or fraudulent data on them.

I handle the incoming MSDS for our plastics additives and have to provide certain information to our Safety, Health and Environmental Dept. for the material to be approved to be on site - even if it's the same material from a different supplier. So I have to obtain the MSDS from the supplier and then they are usually in one of two formats - one that is internationally recognized and one that is US developed. Many times I can retrieve them from the company website, which makes my job easier but sometimes I have to call the company directly.

[BarbaraRose]

I have a lot of sensitivity to cleaning products. At work, if they use Pine Sol or bleach to clean the floors, etc, I have to literally leave the shop for up to half an hour until the smell disappears, as it burns my eyes and throat bad. Also, the spray we use to sanitize our clippers, etc, wreaks havok with my throat and I start choking when someone uses it near me. We are supposed to spray that after each haircut but luckily no one does, or I wouldn't be able to work there at all.

As far as the forest fires go, I feel so bad for the animals! Especially this time of year when there are so many baby critters that aren't able to get away to safety. So sad