The Dirty Truth

Howard Hawks was clearly compulsive about cleanliness and phobic of his notions of germs, but "OCD" is being way overused and has devolved into a meme. Spalding Gray, the really talented troubled bisexual comic monologuer (Swimming to Cambodia) ended his life by jumping off a NYC bridge because he was vexed by his very extreme sexual urges (which he wrote about and which is hard to read) but primarily to escape from the torment of OCD.
If he was looking around NYC, he had to find some positive or lucky image and then close his eyes. He wouldn't turn off the radio unless he clicked it off precisely the nanosecond after an uplifting or promising word was spoken, before another word got out of the announcer's mouth. It could thus take him hours to leave his apartment and go somewhere.
 
What is meant by the issue of cleanliness and the immune system needs clarification. Inflammatory bowel disease does not exist in the third world. It came into existence in developed countries after the implementation of kosher practices. In the third world, flesh is rife with parasites, and they infect you, and that's not a bad thing. It creates an appropriate level of tolerance in the immune system so that the immune system doesn't attack you (lupus, scleroderma, autoimmune hepatitis, Crohn disease, ulcerative colitis &c).
 
Remember the bit in James Herriott's first veterinary book about the Darrowby renderer who came around to pick up dead animals (usually dead from infectious disease) and devise ways of disposing of them? The renderer's kids were always playing around and among the corpses, and Herriott writes that they were the healthiest kids in the region.
 
Solid data (a study done and published by my ex-wife during her PhD work) shows that singly-washed hands elaborate far more bacteria than unwashed hands, as the first soaping just dislodges grunge and flora from the pores. Echt cleanliness requires two latherings seriatim. Since the free fatty acids of soap form micelles that merge with and then disrupt all bacterial cell membranes, all soap is antibacterial. Adding brain-damaging stuff such as chlorhexidine to force soap into having antibiotic properties---that's jumping the shark.

ALL soaps are 'antibacterial'. Good old Ivory works as well as anything if you use it right. The new claims of 'antibacterial'-ness are just advertising, which we know is often less than candid.
So take 30 seconds to wash your hands, and
Worry not about Candida albicans...
 
And our John is absolutely correct about being too clean. People are programmed from birth to fear their own natural smell, to assume that their feet are offensive to others, their house (remember 'housitosis'?) must be chemically scented; and then there's static cling omg, and any number of silly frets.
When I tell my students that I've never used deodorant or antiperspirant, they are shocked, horrified, the front row leans backwards, eyes wide.
I've never had any complaints.
Soap and water and a little Chanel nombre cinq is all I need. There are people with problem perspiration and persistent body odor, but stopping their pores with aluminium, a toxic metal that may be involved in Alzheimer's development, is not the answer. As many Asians will tell you, most Westerners smell bad no matter what we do.
It's the diet.
Too much protein and fat and toxic chemicals (preservatives, artifical flavours and colours, and so on), too many animal products, not enough fruit and vegetables. The same old story. Not only does it kill us, and most unpleasantly, but to add insult to injury, a diet high in processed foods and animal protein makes us smell bad too.
What a buzzkiller!
Oh, and you can clean pretty much anything in your house with white vinegar, baking soda or hydrogen peroxide.
Don't mix them unless you're looking for some excitement...
There's plenty of science linking all those unnecessary household chemicals to the rise in allergies, asthma, and cancers too. And all those 'personal hygiene' products? It's good to remember that whatever you put on your skin soaks through to some degree. And any chemical strong enough to actually kill bacteria on your skin, rather than just remove transient flora, will probably take some of the skin off too.
 
Simplify-you'll feel better!

 I still drink water from my garden hose so you can probably guess that I view the use of anti-bacterial soap outside of an operating theater as a bunch of hoo-haa, smoke and mirrors, too-little- too-late, like sticking your finger into a hole in the dyke to stop the flooding (no double-entendre intended) or running faster in the rain to stay dry. 
On the other hand, if we were to all walk around in a protective bubble...... did I mention that my favorite colour is green? 

talk amongst yourselves, I'm feeling verklempt.........

As regards the history of soap, the tremendous contributions to Soapology of Marilyn Chambers (recently deceased...in pace requiescat) should always be borne firmly in mind.

Exactly, Karma!   Handwashing is a mechanical event, not a chemical one!
 
I think in an old MMWR is an article about women in a third-world country, maybe somewhere in South America, eating clay while pregnant because it gave them enough stimulation of the immune system but did not harm the baby.  Just enough exposure to the parasites that keep the intestines from going berserk.  Of course, they did not know all the ins and outs, just that it had worked for generations.  Also, somewhere I read about a fellow who is breeding sterile intestinal parasites and dosing patients who have asthma to see if it makes a difference.  It does.
 
sorry to be so vague and probably inaccurate but both are actual articles...

God, I'm late on so many things, but thankfully not on the thing that matters most to most women.....

 Peter Lake - a friend just suggested I read Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale.  I haven't been able to yet, past the first chapter.  That you?

My mother used to be horrified when my kids sat in the dirt and ate it too. They got a bath at the end of the day, of course, but I didn't run about with a washcloth whenever they came in from playing.
Now come 'antibacterial wipes' at the grocery store, to make sure you don't get any cooties from the shopping carts. And the gym. And where next? Will we carry around a little packet of them, to wipe the door handles before we go in and out of public buildings? 
Balderdash.
The marketers of paranoia and a spurious purity via ever-more-dangerous and ubiquitous chemicals have achieved, through relentless propaganda, an almost hieratical dominion over the consciousness of the ignorant (as always, I use this term in the proper sense of not knowing) and unwary citizen. In the hospital, washing your hands often is good infection control. In the natural world, an idle immune system often turns to mischief.
Keep it busy, and stay healthy.

I just started a second job at the little coffeeshop where I write.  We're supposed to wash our hands all the time.  It has gotten better now that we don't serve food, but some of the people who have worked there before would go home with raw, painful, red hands.  Somehow, that doesn't seem healthy.

I believe what you all perceive:exposure to various germs keeps you strong. I offer up that in my daily toil, I have my head inside those great big air handling rooftop units. You can picture,if you have a home furnace that contains a filter,one several orders of magnitude larger,that contains a dozen or more filters. And blower wheels the size of washing machine drums,often multiple on a single shaft...I always consider that this machine contains every hiccup,fart,cough,and sneeze,of all the people that have passed under it in the last month.  As well as bug spray,window cleaner,carpet shampoo,and off gassing,and that doesn't even consider the really awfull things.      Yes, I do remember Legionair's disease. Yes, I do have an OSHA approved filter mask and breathing apparatus, but consider that irritants could enter my eyes,and ears,and be just as deadly. Guess what? I'm rarely sick,and I wash my hands fastidiously before preparing food for my lovely bride(she of the repressed immune system). So I am going to side with the proponants of the old fashione,non-anti gang.     I do propose,and install those ultra-violet (252nano)lighting systems in the air handlers, and they DO keep the slime and mold from growing on the damp humid surfaces,usually covered with human cellular detritus-dust and hair.

So  is  chronic  texting,  or  even  posting  on  this  website,  also  a  form  of  obsessive-compulsive  disorder?   OCD  is  a  legitimate  medical  diagnosis,  but  perhaps  there  is  a  danger  of  having  us  try  to  generalize?   Each  case  is  unique  in  many  ways  to  a  particular  patient.   Heck,  perhaps  this  posted  topic  will  bring  out  the  hypochondriac  in  some  of  us?     In  an  age  where  science  has  made  unprecedented  gains  in  certain  areas,   the  danger  is  to  assume  that   we  can  pigeon-hole  "one  size  fits  all"  labels  to  every  situation.    The  same  thing  applies  to  law.    The  reason  that  medicine  {psychiatry}  and  law  are  licensed  professions  is  because  they  involve  much  more  complicated  disciplines  than  some  of  us  admit.    Every  bookstore's  section  giving  readers  "fix-it"  books  is  often  the  biggest  amount  of  shelf  space.   Just  some  thoughts  to  ponder  before  generalizing.....

Bona fide OCD is quite rare, and in neither of the first two paragraphs of the lead-in article are cases of authentic OCD. We all need to keep in mind that compulsive and obsessive traits have done much to assure the survival of the species. Chronic worriers who feel compulsive about doing things in what they perceive to be the right way both live far longer than others with different predominating styles of cogitation, and also achieve great heights of happiness when a project is completed. Obsessive compulsiveness is a powerful and useful bundle of attributes to have,
 
Pica and/or allotriophagy are above all else common in severely anemic patients. Severe perpetual anemia sets off a craving for clay to be eaten. Swallowing bizarre things is a sociopathic prisoner stunt to fly the coop for a few days and get some zonk medicine. So they swallow sizes A and B batteries, thumbtacks, pencils and pens. I hate removing stuff such as that endoscopically.

Maybe I will rethink my hatred of germs.On the other hand the invention of hand sanitizer has been a horrible invention for schools. I work w/ so many teachers who take their class to the bathroom & don't let them wash their hands w/ soap & water, but instead squirt hand sanitizer. A whole generation of kids think it's ok to not use soap & water.These are also the same people who have the absolutely lung polluting plug in "air fresheners"- another gross & seemingly dangerous invention. Seriously, bring back soap & water to kids-please!

Kudos to the anti antibacterial summit---we have gone to far with are desire to stay "clean".  This brings back a found observation I made spending seven steamy days and seven opaque nights in the lower Waria Valley amongst the Zia tribe.  What wonderful inhabitants of the Morobe Province. However, there is a belief among them that any washing of the skin will wash the fields and women barren so no crop or future generations will grow. At dawn of my second day, as a foul stench wafted thru my adobe, wearing only my Lacy Flannel Skirt  it became clear to me that this belief was making a mockery of Western Science. It was at this pivotal moment were I made it my personal quest to introduce these tribesmen to a better cleaner way of life--it was then that I introduced them to the sweet smell of Dominica Bay Rum (No 1044).  The rest, as they say, is history.  I often revisit my friends of the valley and with there new smell has come a new understanding of life.

good morning eyester's.  there it is, another beautiful sunrise!
 
maybe they should run some of the budget proposals over anti-logical scanners then on over to the anti-scam, anti-ego and anti-constitutional detectors.  finally rinse would detect if they've been read before being passed, by each voting electorial offical......
 
 
 
 

clay eating third world country? That sounds like my neighborhood. I read yet again where someone described the lotery as a tax on people who are not good at math. I believe hand sanitation is in the same category of  tricks. However, for those who want to wash their hands correctly, NPR recently provided this clever gauge of when you have gone far enough: If you sing Bohemian Rhapsody through to the Galileo part, you have scrubbed enough. Find your own danged link. I have to go to work.

OFF TOPIC: RE, FORMATTING...I'm having excellent results composing postings in Notepad (Programs > Accessories > Notepad).  It's not a bad idea to create a shortcut on one's desktop for ease of access... The way things appear in Notepad are how they show up here.... simply cut the posting out of Notepad and paste in the PE 'What do you think box'.... So far it's working for me....

on a somewhat more of a serious, and personal note, my daughter that i've mentioned before, suffered a spinal cord injury that included c2-c6 in 03' at 19 years old, classified as a quadriplegic, she functions somewhat as a paraplegic. she came home with a delicate immune system.  her natural surroundings were adapted into easily, she needed only to be cautious with unfamilar bacteria brought in or she was going into.  she leads a "normal" bacteria filled life, such as having a in house dog, a 3 year old nephew, and husband, etc.  she even swims (actually floats) in the water of greers ferry lake.  our immune systems are amazing. 

back to doc's off topic.....why can't you just key into the box directly?

It's a bit counter-intuitive, but each of us is really a complex 'cooperative' consisting of cells and bacteria, among other things.  Our energy makers are little 'captured bugs' called mitochondria, which pass along the female line.  They are responsible for keeping us at a toasty 98.6 degrees F.  (more or less).  You'd never know from the media that our guts are filled with E.Coli (hopefully not the 0157 h7 variant), and a gazillion other little critters (gazillion is a technical term used by folks too lazy to research further...).  Our mouths are filled with bacteria (remember that when french kissing).  Ditto our hands, feet, and so on...  Long live bacteria!!!!!!!  Now, some bugs ain't so good.   (I'll let the physicians explain how antibiotics don't kill off the good bugs and exterminate the human race; I never have figured out how they do it...).  And now, to another topic... 

Why do Westerners smell bad?  Well, actually, the question is backwards.... The real question is why don't Asians?  Answer: the apocrine sweat glands.  To avoid sending ya'll off to the Wikipedia (again!), here's the scoop:  "Apocrine glands are composed of a coiled secretory portion located at the junction of the dermis and subcutaneous fat, from which a straight portion inserts and secretes into the infundibular portion of the hair follicle.[1] East Asians have multiply fewer apocrine sweat glands compared to people of European or African descent, and it may be for this reason that they are less susceptible to body odor."

Poor Annie Leibovitz. She borrowed millions of dollars and now they want her to pay it back. Is this really fair?    http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/fashion/02annie.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=annie%20leibovitz&st=cse

In case you hadn't noticed, the (ahem) area around the netherworld has a tendency to stink.  And for those nervous about commercial deodorants, alcohol does the trick when detergent/soap  and water aren't availabl.  If you read the labels of those 'hand sanitizers' carefully they're mostly alcohol (62-64 percent), and the rest is to keep your hands 'soft and smooth' since alcohol dries out the skin.  If find it fascinating that the TYPE of alcohol is ethanol, synonym, ethyl alcohol.  Folks, that's the stuff in vodka (or wine!).  So, if you have a bottle of Everclear around (check your liquor store) you have access to a potent germ killer.... (It goes on the OUTSIDE of the body! Drinking it causes cell death and bizarre effects on the central nervous system, aka, 'being blitzed'.).  I get a bit nervous about other members of the alchohol family (e.g. methyl or wood alcohol, or isopropyl alcohol), b.  Apparently germs living on the skin don't just get drunk when imbibing; they die (hmmmm..... alcohol poisoning!).  And now I have to go to work......

 
Gents only... and even they won't be thanking me.

In the men's room at the local multi-plex theater, about twenty guys were queued up quietly waiting for one of the five urinals to make itself available.

The tall man in the middle in jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, having finished up, leaned back and looked to be engaging the not completely unheard of but always unwelcome, spin dry cycle. It caused the men on either side to flinch and lean away.

That was followed by his turning completely around before beginning and completing the reinsertion process. A first in my experience among persons not known to be drunk.

As odd as those two bits of business were, it was that he wiped his hands on the front of his shirt and walked out, that caused someone to comment:

"I hope he isn't in the food and beverage service."

"Not to worry," I offered to comfort him, "he is an orthopedic surgeon."

A couple of men scoffed in disbelief before five or so confirmed that they knew it to be true.

Hand washing became the order of the evening.

Geraldine:  If  we  just  take  the  time  to  learn  more  about  each  other,  it  becomes  obvious  that  none  of  us  are  dealt  a  problem-free  hand  of  cards  in  the  game  of  life.  Perhaps  this  little  posse  of  sharing  higher-functioning  adults  makes  it  a  tad  easier  to  get  you  through  the  day.  If  that  is  the  case,  then  my  theory  is  correct.

  
 
 
What does not kill us makes us stronger. Just natural selection at work.
 
I never bought into the antibacterial soap craze. Most resistant bacteria result from the incorrect use of antibiotics, eh Doc?

 
Before we decide to go back to the good old days all together( like bathing once a month etc) Lets remember smallpox, polio, measels etc. Some food and water borne diseases will kill too.
 
Most children , up until fairly recently historically , didn't have  good odds on living until their 5th birthday. It's still that way some places on the planet.
 
I'm going to sound like a heartless jerk(so what's new) but overpopulation is the major problem the planet faces today. Should we let nature take its course and withold food, clean water, vaccines etc from the develpoing areas of the planet ?Everyone but the "strong' would die off from disease, hunger etc and the populations in those areas would stabalize. 
I don't think any sane person would go along with that idea.
  
 Going Green is the thing to do.But let's not be OCD about shunning pratices that have helped us reach the life expentancies, and for most of us, the quality of life we have today.

    
 
 
Stoney, funny story!
 
 
 
off to ortho-bionomy.Have you been lately?

There are, of course, instances where a little cleanliness would be appreciated (the peanut horror of some time back; e-coli in our lettuce).  But for some time I've believed that part of the problem with the flu scares and dying rivers and bays, is the influx of antibacterials.  We're killing off the good bacteria along with the bad and not giving ourselves and our children the opportunity to develop an immunity to a little dirt. 
 
There was a little thing going around the internet awhile back about when we were young.  Mothers were cooking hamburger and we were taking a taste of raw meat; things were falling on the floor and being picked up and eaten; hands were washed (maybe) before dinner with regular soap, maybe with just plain water. 

OCD is serious and life-controlling to those who have it.  But so annoying when trying to deal with those people.  My husband has a client who must call and ask the same question three times and if the answer isn't the same, he will call three more times.  An old friend of ours would wait n the men's room until someone came in or out (depending on which way he was going) so he wouldn't have to touch the door handle since he noticed that a lot of men don't wash their hands....he gave up taking his children to the men's room, he couldn't deal with it.  Another friend always showers after she bathes because of all the "dirt" floating around in the tub.....this same person asked if I would have sex with my husband after he had evacuated before he took a shower; I replied "I don't ask him".  As well as bacteria, numbers seem to take on a whole new meaning with OCD's; things must be done a certain number of times each time they do them.  We all have our superstitions, but when it gets in the way of living, it's time to get help. 

I have been calling those hand sanitizers  ouch-a-hol because they burn the little cracks and cuts ever present on MY hands (tradesman's badges). But another thing I use,is superglue. I apply it right over a cut,after the ouchahol,to seal,and allow me to go back to work. I have been told it was a "field repair" developed by the Armed Forces,and I can see how well it works.

Thanks for a really good tip RoadYacht :)  Makes sense.

  A funny thing and more related to cleanliness than sanitation, but I have noticed that the mechanics, if that is what they still call themselves, at Pretentious Motorcars up the valley, have taken to wearing non-sterile vinyl gloves.

The young man with whom I spoke about it claims that if the company stopped providing them, he would buy his own. They are even better able to pick up small parts and grip tools than with bare hands and an enormous amount of less than successful hand scrubbing has been eliminated.

The company's primary motivation was to safeguard against the odd grubby handprint causing consternation and unhappiness among the owners of Mercedes, Jag, BMW, Land Rover and, probably as an afterthought, we modest volvo drivers. 

Willie Trask: I read that article about Annie Leibovitz.  And I just have to ask myself . . . why didn't she hire an assistant to take care of her accounting needs?  She could have paid some fresh-from-college accounting major a 6 figure income and saved money.

I'll go along with the comments about people who do not wash after using the bathroom, big nono in my book, and add that I hate it when someone who is going to prepare my food order is also the one handling the cash, somtimes even with their gloves on their hands.
My sister is an epidemologist, when at the store she asked the deli worker to change her gloves because she coughed into her hand.
Some of the others waiting to be served gave us THE LOOK.
We really didn't care.
When I'm gardening I have to scrub my hands before I go to the bathroom. A lot of the ladies will understand that. My doctors advice "Don't garden". Right!

Shandonista, That's my Peter Lake.  He's my favorite character from my favorite book.  He's who and when I would be. John

Michael,  I am sure, for a million or so, we could have fixed Annie L's troubles.
 
Now, let's examine JP's original sentence. Add just one letter, s.v.p.: A man in Melbourne (Aus? FL?) doesn't like to leave the house without putting on capE, mask and gloves.  Perfect sense- he's Batman.

Michael,  I am sure, for a million or so, we could have fixed Annie L's troubles.
 
Now, let's examine JP's original sentence. Add just one letter, s.v.p.: A man in Melbourne (Aus? FL?) doesn't like to leave the house without putting on capE, mask and gloves.  Perfect sense- he's Batman.

w.t.  i do believe your on to something there, in both cases.  ya'll are cracking me up!

#1 I happen to love the show Monk although part of it may be because Tony Shalhoub is a hometown boy. 
 
#2 I am amazed at what kids CAN"T do today. drinking out of the Garden House, using J&J baby powder, notbeing able into a public restroom.. It amazes me.. Heaven forbid we dust of the hotdog that fell off of the stick into the ashes & eat it while camping out and cookie dough, OMG HOW DARE people buy the companies uncooked prepackaged brand & eat it without baking it, pull it from the shelves STAT!!!!
 
I always eat raw cookie dough always have, my grandmothers allowed us to, along with making canibal sandwhiches rye bread, raw hamburger, onion or a crakcer works if theres no bread(although I would NEVER make it using todays store bought meat though, we always had a farm cow butchered.) and my thought on all of it is ~ if it was healthy by Grandma's standards then its healthy by mine.
 
I will admit though while in my 20's I always had a pack of tissue with me when I went out to the bars because the pulls on some of the towel machines in the restrooms look like they were NEVER EVER cleaned & that grossed me out to wash my hands & than touch that. Now it's not that big of an issue cuz most of them are motion automated or pull out of the canister now days.
 

If you use the handle type paper towel machine, do the towel thing first, just let it hang there till you have finished washing, then grab your towels, dry you hands and use the towel to open the door. Pitch the towel in the trash which is hopefully by that door.

Olivia, I may need your verification here, but as I recall, my brief connection with a Univ Coll Dublin coed included this revelation about her regular boyfriend:
 
He and his teammates from the football like to get (overserved) and ride out to the Blarney Stone where they (micturate) on it. 

Willie: I'm Batman.

Hey! I'm a batter man.   Little flour,egg,milk,and srimp....

But back to germville...ever watch where those big water jugs get stored? you know the ones;get turned over into a water machine...after being stored in a closet,and maybe having the top bug sprayed....or how about those yeasty beers, where they dip the neck of the bottle into the beer?eyew...

Rings,a little something to consider; back in the day,your Gran would throw away a stinky egg....the machines that prepare todays cookie dough do not, and if you pay attention, the big factories would rather pay a claim than throw out a days mega production of tainted food....just sayin....

Korthal ~ That doesn't really work at the bars on Thu, Fri, or Sat nites...

RINGS:
Haven't been to the bars lately. They were non-productive.

vac·cine [ vak sn, vák sn ] (plural vac·cines)

noun 

Definition:

1. inoculation: a preparation containing weakened or dead microbes of the kind that cause a disease, administered to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against that disease

2. protective software: a software program that protects a system against a computer virus

I always wash my hands after opening strange emails- - you don't know where they've been

Mark is absolutely right about OCD-especially with children, it's over-diagnosed and over-treated. Most of these kids are just antsy because they have so recess, no Physical Ed  classes, no music or art or anything but sitting in a desk memorizing test questions. Who wouldn't be antsy and a little crazy?
So they are sedated with drugs in what is essentially an experiment to see if they can survive zombification. This was begun with no significant research on long term effects on growth and development, and now that results ARE coming in, they are grim. I'll avoid a rant here, but if teachers and misguided doctors are telling you that your child should be drugged into submission to the bizarre form of classroom pseudo-education now prevalent in American schools, I recommend resistance because it's likely that the child is exhibiting normal resistance to inactivity.
*NOTE-There ARE some children who need careful evaluation and titrated medication, but as our Swami intones, it is RARE.
BEWARE!
bebe is correct about hand sanitizers too. Studies show that they are largely ineffective, and only provide a false sense of security. WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water. Too many people uncritically accept the dictates of 'authorities' who are really product proponents in sheep's clothing.  
Doc-thank you for your Notepad testimonial. I have wondered if it was good for anything. Word has always worked so much better for my purposes to the point that I wondered why Microsoft even bothered with Notepad, it seems so crude.  
Stoney-thank you! In my experience, the worst offenders with regard to infection control in the hospital are DOCTORS. For some strange reason, many believe that they are immune to the effects of microorganisms, and are apparently not concerned about exposing their patients to the various flora which they have encountered in their peregrinations. Many of the clinicians in the critical care units, myself included, have admonished these scofflaws to follow protocol and protect their patients, only to be met with patronizing expressions or indifference or scorn or worse.  
John-I like you better. I'm glad you're YOU.   
William-I can neither confirm or deny that practice. I stayed in the motor, which I was driving, having resisted 'overservice'.  
Another good day at the Eye-thank you all!

*NO recess
 
I hate typos! Sometimes brain work faster than fingers...

Great.  You've all made me hungry for cookie-dough.

ry, sometimes one needs a good eye washing too, lest it migrate to the brain in the cran.

I agree with you Olivia & MArk ~ Kids ar eno longer allowed to be kids today & that's WHY they are all told that they have ADD or ADHD or whatever they call it these days.. If I were in school today I would be a kid they would like to have on the mind numbing drugs without a doubt.. 
 
Micheal if you're going to eat cookie dough thenso am I ~ if I can find a package of it somewhere...

In the raw cookie dough department I find that homemade tastes better. Not all the preservatives which I think taint the flavors, just like with cake mixes. They just don't taste the same as homemade. Raw or baked.

you may,SHOULD reread that 12:28 post...

Rings90: I'll split a tube of sugar cookie dough with you if you'll bring over a movie.  I'll supply the spoons.

Mark is absolutely right about OCD-especially with children, it's over-diagnosed and over-treated. Most of these kids are just antsy because they have so recess, no Physical Ed  classes, no music or art or anything but sitting in a desk memorizing test questions. Who wouldn't be antsy and a littl crazy?
So they are sedated with drugs in what is essentially an experiment to see if they can survive zombification. This was begun with no significant research on long term effects on growth and development, and now that results ARE coming in, they are grim. I'll avoid a rant here, but if teachers and misguided doctors are telling you that your child should be drugged into submission to the bizarre form of classroom pseudo-education now prevalent in American schools, you should resist, because it's likely that the child is exhibiting normal resistance to inactivity.
*NOTE-There ARE some children who need careful evaluation and titrated medication, but as our Swami intones, it is RARE.
BEWARE!
bebe is correct about hand sanitizers too. Studies show that they are largely ineffective, and only provide a false sense of security. WASH YOUR HANDS with soap and water. Too many people uncritically accept the dictates of 'authorities' who are really product proponents in sheeps' clothing.
 
Doc-thank you for your Notepad testimonial. I was wondering if it was good for anything. Word has always worked so much better for my purposes to the point that I wondered why Microsoft even bothered with Notepad, it seems so crude.
 
Stoney-thank you! In my experience, the worst offenders with regard to infection control in the hospital are DOCTORS. For some strange reason, many believe that they are immune to the effects of microorganisms, and are apparently not concerned about exposing their patients to the various flora which they have encountered in their peregrinations. Many of the clinicians in the critical care units, myself included, have admonished these scofflaws to follow protocol and protect their patients, only to be met with patronizing expressions or indifference or scorn or worse.
 
John-I like you better. I'm glad you're YOU. 
 
William-I can neither confirm or deny that practice. I stayed in the motor, which I was driving, have resisted 'overservice'.
 
Another good day at the Eye-thank you all!
 

RY:
 
I was talking about tainted FLAVOR nor tainted FOOD.

Should be not, not nor. lol.

shot hour club car...first call
 
http://www.divine.ca/en/food-and-home/virtual-bartender/c_41_i_4437/cookie-dough-1.html
 
 

might want to wear your night vision goggles, bert!

CUUKOO:
 
Can't make the club car tonight. Sorry, I think I'm cereusly giving birth tonight but won't know for an hour or so.
 
I Wish I could bring this plant onto the sepiatrain but it's too heavy to carry.
 
And I just hate it when I leave and it has to labor alone without my cameras.
 
These will be the first blooms of the season for me and the first are always very exciting.

Willie T,Today's topic brings to mind Pauly Walnut's rant about never, ever, tying your shoes after peeing in a public urinal.  I wonder if he had any concerns about blood borne pathogens.... that could have nipped his very productive career in the bud.

PeterLake, Maybe that is why Pauly always seemed to favor slip-ons.

  
 
 
 
 
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,536583,00.html?test=latestnews
 
 
 
 
Cuukoo.......shots for the whole club car !!!

If you're not watching www.whitemarlinopen.com/marlincam they just weighed in a 93.5 lbs white marlin, biggest white marlin since 1978 which it tied for weight.

What a week for me cereus, white marlin!

good one miss blue...!!! *****

  
 
 
 
  sorry,korthal...but I always root for the fish.
 
 
 
cuukoo....I drink therefore I am!

For everyone who doesn't know, this is a catch and also a release tournament.
 
If you don't think it makes minimum weight you release it. Ya get points.
 
Most fish brought to the dock for weigh-in are also consumed for dinner or given the the Maryland Food Bank.
 
It'd the largest White Marlin Tournament in the world.

   
 
 
 " Shprygin"
 
 
 
 
even his name is a liquor!!! You cannot make this stuff up.

MISS BLUE:

Sometimes the fish wins.

And today I'm torn between the weigh-in at Harbour Island and the blooming of the cereus.
 
But the cereus has it since it will only bloom tonight (I think).
 
And the weigh-in will be every night till Friday and I can watch the live stream on my computer.

There are minimum length for each class of fish and a formula to calculate the weight so most anglers don't make the mistake of keeping an under weight billfish, they release the billfish that don't qualify and get points. The others, tuna, shark, dolphin, and wahoo are food, dinner or the food bank.

Still off topic, but yesterday there were 5 white marlin weighed but 60 were released.

korthal,It sound like you are faced with a win-win situation.  Hope you capture your bloom under the just beginning to wane moon.

Miss Blue: Can my shots be Jameson's?  If I'm going to be healthy, I might as well enjoy it.

 korthal, you stay right next to that plant, camera in hands. If it takes all night...I want that picture!        And remember to boil water, that's what is done at birthings right?  I don't know why but they do it and births happen, so boil water, okay?           Une petite cereuse, c'est si belle, si blanche, si merveilleuse,  la fleur magnifique, de toutes les fleurs c'est la plus meilleurs..           Oh how much fun to throw in a little french now and then, non?     Makes one sound so I've  been around-ish.  Ya know?
 

PL: JOHN:
 
I'm still waiting for the bloosom but am taking hourly pictures and It's kind of holding off on me.
 
Usually by this time I'm pretty certain but tonight it's a difficult bloom.
 
And with the marlin cam I'm back and forth between the deck, the computer and soon the TV for Jeopardy.

If we really were all so worried about germs, would we really trust such a large part of the food service industry to teenagers?

PARK:
 
I understood most of that French. It was great and YES I have that camera ready and have been taking those pictures every hour or so for you et al.

Oh that sounded mean-spirited what I wrote, above, about the french insertions, and I didn't mean it to be.  I'm experiencing computer interuptus, resulting from me  spilling a drink directly onto the keyboard.  Directly, I tell you.  I couldn't have done it better had I been aiming.  And the keyboard is fried, soaked and fried, and I ordered a new one and it will take one week, he said.   Right now I have my daughter's but she's about to walk out the door and take it home with her, what an ungrateful child she is, isn't she?  ....Anyhow, there's a moral to this story if I  wanted to look for it, but I don't.  All I can say is if you spill a drink on your keyboard, make it something exotic or chic, so when you tell the computer guy what it was he'll be suitably impressed with your taste anyway (not really, just joking).  I spilled chocolate milk, Ovaltine, and that's just kind of embarrassing.    The tech geek got a kick out of it when he was writing out his bill ...  sayonara for the duration mes amis et amies (I just can't help it), and sorry if I was rude.  I didn't mean to be, honest, but computer interuptus has a way of making a girl cranky.

RINGS90- I had totally not thought about the little hamburger balls rolled in salt that my mother & I would make & pop into our mouths when we were making burgers for the grill until you mentioned the much more sophisticated cannibal sandwiches. They were so delicious, but only a wonderful memory as I would not do that now.
DOC NOLAN- I use bottles of isopropyl alcohol to sanitize & wipe down tables etc at home & school. It's a cheap alternative to antibacterial wipes- you use paper towels & then recycle.Should I re-think isopropyl specifically?
This post has made me boldly decide to not purchase any more antbacterial soap- a start!
If you have children or grandchildren in school- you should check into how much hand sanitizer they are getting per day- you would be shocked at the amount schools use.
If you go the bathroom in a public space & don't wash your hands- you are scary. this summer I was travelling & stopped at a rest area & a woman came out of a stall & went right out the door. She looked so normal & clean. I'm sure her cobbler is eaten up enthusiastically at the church potluck...
 

Tiberius and DreadPirateRobers:
I intend to rent a copy of "The Duellists" this week and enjoy it once more.
 
Now about today's topic:
I'm reminded of three people who had a fear of germs and at least two who had OCD with a fear of germs.
The first was Thomas Jefferson who didn't like touching others' hands and would shake hands with a twelve inch Hickory stick. Smart man, he lived longer than the average man of his day.
The other is Howard Hughes. His OCD was often incapacitating. What's remarkable about Hughes is that he was able to function despite his OCD.
The third person is a younger acquaintance of my family who had an obsessive need to clean everything with anti-septic wipes. He died acouple of years ago from an infection.
 
Come to think about it all three of the above are dead.
 
Doc Nolan:
As a fellow Vietnam Veteran I remember that in our special unit we would eat and drink only what the Vietnamese ate. That way the enemy didn't "smell" us as we approached.
I don't know if it made any scientific sense (military intellligence being an oxymoron), but I'm still here! 

And, lest we forget, the world was saved in H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" by germs. The poor Martians had no resisitence.

Earlier today I also thought about Howard Hughes, but got relly involved in my OC life.
 
So let's not forget Michael Jackson, I think he also was a LOT OCD.

Spent  my  day  interviewing  client  and  witnesses  in  a  maximmum  security  correctional  facility.  After  posting  early,   I  kept  thinking  how  many  people  were  obviously  ill,  physically  or  psychologically  or  both.    I  must  have  a  great  immune  system,  just  to  do  this  routinely.  Not  sure  I  want  to  scrub  so  much  that  I  lose  my  resistance  to  "garden  variety"  viruses,  germs.  
 

I can remember when I was a housewife, back in the day, a friend that visited a lot and spent much time in my kitchen, wanted to know why I washed my hand so often.
 
I never thought about it,
 
I just did it.
 
I had kids, dogs, cats, birds, turtles, fish and snakes (3 BOYS, ya know?).
 
I couldn't think about touching the food without cleaning my hands.
 
And silly as I was at the time, the rule was get washed and put on a shirt before you come to the table.
 
That's still a RULE at my house and table when they're here.

Olivia~ I too go without deodorant or anti-perspirant (occassionally). But working in close quarters, in a hot office and being a bit of a schvitzer, I need to wear it when the humidity rises. And yes, most Westerners do smell bad, at least those with poor diets (a certain smelly co-worker comes to mind). I do confess, however, that I am guilty of using the wipes at the market, but only to de-sticky the handle (I really don't want to know why I always get a sticky cart).

Mr. Lake~ I can't remember the last time I drank from the garden hose, but I did play in a sprinkler today while on my evening run. Seriously, playing in a sprinkler when there is no one around seems about right in an August sunset.

Mr. Trask~ I'm sorry but I'm a bit biased towards Annie. Too much staging and fakery in her work if you ask me. But if she did borrow the money and did not pay it back, well then this is a life lesson she is learning very late.

Doc~ Everclear is illegal in the Commonwealth. Unless of course one buys it at the PX, but then one would need a military ID or an associate with one. What does this Everclear taste like?

Andy~ While Lady Red does like the chemical things that make the house "smell better" I still partake of the __second rule. She makes a face everytime I do it even though I've seen her do it on occasion with chocolate.

Michael~ re: teenagers. I laughed so hard I almost spit Scotch all over my keyboard. Will write soon, want to get some better paper other than yellow legal pads.

All~ According to the DSM-IV-TR, the criteria for OCD is quite lengthy and incredibly rare. After reading it, it's truly amazing how often the disease is misdiagnosed, abused, and joked about.

ExPat~ "Come to think about it all three of the above are dead." Between you and Michael, I am going to spit Scotch on the keyboard.

PARK4~ If I spit Scotch on the keyboard, will it be Scotch-Guarded?

Korthal~ I read somewhere that Michael Jackson wanted to be like PT Barnum. Wonder with all of his eccentricities, if he was OCD as well.

Well Hasil Adkins in playing, and it's Lady Red's turn to make dinner tonight (mmm Kilbasa). Time to take out the trash. I'll wash my hands with soap and water.

DZ:
 
Put on a shirt too.

Please.

PARK:
 
Not mean at all and now you're lost out there without the connection cord to our wonderful world.
 
How will ever send you the pictures of the event to hopefully happen tonight.
 
I've got them stored and will add to then as things progress.
 
Let me know when you reconnect to the real world of the EYE and sepiatrain.
 
I'll forward the complete file.

I swear, you people are trying to kill me!  I didn't eat lunch today, didn't have any food around the house so I went grocery shopping.  And what do I end up buying?  Strawberry cheesecake and sugar cookie dough.  The cookies are baking.  The cheesecake is in the fridge (very small section of a full cake . . . about 2 slices).  I ate two of the cookies raw.

No one has mentioned giardia (so I will). Hikers sometimes make an unpleasant acquiantanceship with these critters (flagellated protazoa, NOT bacteria).  Unfortunately, our immune systems are not used to handling these guys.  Even more unfortunate is that they thrive in our intestines, a great place for establishing colonies!  Giardia isn't a danger BUT it's no picnic.  Once suffereing, you do NOT want to reintroduce more giardia through what's politely known as fecal-oral transmission!  Hence the use of alcohol gels by long-distance hikers (in case you haven't noticed, it's hard to wash your hands with soap and water alongside most mountain trails!)  At the risk of grossing some of you folks out, it's well known that Arabs (especially bedoins) always and only eat with their right hand.  Guess what the left hand is exclusively used for, gang.  Yup!  So each culture seems to avoid overloading the immune system in its own way... And I'll leave it to the professional MDs here to explain the details of T-cells, etc., and how the immune system works (and sometimes malfunctions and attacks parts of our own bodies....).  For the courageous, enter the world of immunology here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T_cells

The good news is that everyone here has survived a lot of attacks by 'hostile forces'.  Of course the bad news is that everyone has forgotten those who didn't survive....  And for the realists among us, the really bad news is that even if we never die of infections, we're not going to survive indefinitely anyway.... Oh, well.  Eat, drink and be merry! And take all the 'routine precautions'....

Doc.......I'm thinking that giardia is what we like to call 'beaver fever' since it inhabits other mammal's systems as well. 
 
And, since I;m too tired to adequately write anything memorable.....I just wanna say that after 2 weeks on the internet wagon, as it were, today has reminded me that the Eye effing ROCKS!!

Right now Primetime is having a show on OCD.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this & I have learned alot- which I like.It is making me re-think some things I use & maybe need to stop using. Annie L.- she definitely has some iconic photos, but she is overexposed (I can never make puns- it came out naturally & will be one of the few I can count on my hand when I die) & Daniel Zev is correct- they -her photos -are often too staged & set up. She is definitely no Avedon. It does seem bizarre that someone so successful could be so BAD & clueless about business decisions. I also remember reading that she took some very creepy photos of Sontag after her death- her son was not happy.

Doc Nolan let's not forget about Helicobacter pylori. Endemic in south and central america( and other developing areas). Now becoming a major problem here in the US due to the infux of infected people from other parts of the world. It is communicable and causes ulcers.Again, our old friend fecal-oral.
.I knoe they say we eat a poound of dirt before we die, That may be so, I just don't want to eat a pound of poop too.
 

Certainly I would defer to Swami on H. pylori but it's not all that bad a dude, from what I've read.  It's actually endemic worldwide but due to use, or overuse, of antibiotics in developed countries, the incidence is slightly less than in developing nations.  Transmission can be oral-oral, also. 
 
Some experts hypothesize that it is normal stomach flora.  Considering how much of our weight and our genome is bacterial, that seems like a reasonable idea.

Good sense prevails! Hand washing is accepted as the rule,not the exception.Germs are given their due. It's not us they want to hurt,it's just what they do.RAw cabbage juice,a glass twice a day, will render ulcers (H.Pylori)hardly a bother.Cranberry juice(from fresh cranberries,squashed)will rid the urinary tract of most 'bugs'And lots of clean water,to make good coffee,and mix with good vodka,and make ice.What's not to like?!?

Some weird stuff amongst all the useless trivia rattling about in my head:
 
Pretty much everyone on the planet has some form of herpes virus, and has swallowed a spider in their sleep.
Ground meat of all sorts contains feces from the source animal, rat hairs and rat feces, ground up cockroaches or their parts, and other insects. A fast food hamburger especially is a roll of the dice...
 
Bon appetit!