pretty random

"Every $1 invested in fluoridation saves approximately $38 in dental treatment costs, according to the C.D.C. The cost of a single filling averages $140, and that’s only the beginning. Through the years, a filled tooth is likely to require further repairs and maybe even extraction and replacement with a bridge or implant costing thousands of dollars.

None of this, however, has quelled the controversy over the safety of fluoridation, which dates back to the first studies in the 1940s. In addition to being labeled a Communist plot and an unconstitutional form of mass medication, fluoridation has been accused of causing a host of medical horrors: heart disease, cancer, Down syndrome, AIDS, allergies, Alzheimer’s disease, mental retardation, osteoporosis and fractures, among others.

None of these supposed risks has ever been established in scientifically valid studies. The only proven risk, a condition called fluorosis, which results in white and sometimes brownish markings on the teeth from too much fluoride, rarely results from a normal intake of fluoridated water."

Let's assume your relationship is a refrigerator. One day, a problem arises in your relationship--the refrigerator quits working. You walk into your kitchen, there's a puddle on the floor, and all your frozen pizzas and ice cream are a gooey mass in the bottom of the freezer. There are a few things you can do at this point, once you've mopped up the mess and scraped the remains of last night's lunch out of the fridge. One solution is to fix the refrigerator; another is to replace it. A third solution is to leave the refrigerator exactly where it is and change your life around the problem--"From this day forward, I will bring no frozen or refrigerated foods into this house." - http://ping.fm/dBTNc

• Still healthy. I went to the internal medicine specialist clinic a couple weeks ago and they poked and prodded, and then decided on more blood work and a CT scan. In fact they misdiagnosed something** it seems, at least according to my regular doctor. I hope they find something to explain the weirdness, and I also hope it's incredibly minor. "Eat more broccoli," they'll say. "No," I'll reply. They asked me to track my temperature each day over the holidays too, so I bought a digital thermometer to do so. I'm very consistently between 35.3 and 36.7 degrees. (I check before and after sleeping, so my body is kinda shut down at the time.

• Still working for the back-medication-sounding company**. Moving out of recruitment and desk work a bit in 2008, back to teaching more. Somewhere between 50% and 75% seems to be the thought of my boss, but somewhere between 40% and 60% is my plan. Lot of benefits, including better compensation (to be determined) and plans to work with the IT team on internal programming and testing projects. Could lead to some fun stuff and a completely different area. Biggest benefit: getting to play with exciting new technology*** again. Should all happen in February or so. This company has a habit of dragging things out****, so who knows.

• Christmas has been fun. My parents are taking 1_2_ready_go  and me to Hawai'i January 9th, so we planned to skip their house for the holidays and just do New Brunswick. We flew to Saint John on Sunday, and flew back this morning. Quick trip! Nice to get down there though, as I haven't seen Vin's family in a couple years. My mom is a little insistent about us visiting though, I think because of my health, so we're going to head up there on Saturday for the night. Another quick trip, but at least the travel time is shorter.

• Bizarreness Bulletin: We will be in Hawai'i January 9-18*****. I recently learned that my boss, our Toronto Branch Manager, and some local friends will be there at that time too. A little creepy. 

1. Menopause
2. Idiopathic hyperhidrosis
3. Infections
4. Cancers
5. Medications
6. Hypoglycemia
7. Hormone disorders
8. Neurological conditions

• Groups of people screw stuff up (in government we call this bureaucracy and red tape, but it exists in business too) but in government the overall goal is different than in a business (very roughly: "help" instead of "profit").
  
• A business is legally obligated to make money for shareholders, while governments don't have that restriction. This is not a bug, it's a feature.
• A so-called two-tier system (where the rich folk can buy faster care) would cause the better medical professionals to go where the money is, and then the care would worsen in quality and speed for the rest of the population.