The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[segelkatt]

I just read an article that two ingredients in nearly all sunscreen is harmful to coral reefs and marine wildlife. Hawaii is apparently banning those two chemicals. Apparently toxic levels is so teeny it's the equivalent of one drop in 6 Olympic size pools according to the article, and in Hawaii alone people put over 400 pounds of sunscreen in the ocean.

Well the question is what sunscreens are safe for marine life and coral reefs. But is that what the question should be? Most people in the US are vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D deficiency is tied to a bunch of nasty stuff, like low energy, depression, and is even increases the risk of breast, colon, prostate, ovarian, esophageal, and pancreatic cancer. Vitamin D deficiency while in the womb due to the mother's deficiency may even be a cause of schizophrenia and a partial cause of type 1 diabetes. And rickets has made a comeback since people aren't exposing babies to sunlight for fear of skin cancer yet vitamin D doesn't pass through breast milk, sun exposure is the only way for babies to get vitamin D. Speaking of skin cancer, melanoma is most common in areas that see little sunlight, and skin cancer rates have not dropped despite the aggressive no sunlight campaign.


Maybe the question shouldn't be a safer sunscreen. Maybe the question should be why are we even bothering with sunscreen at all? Maybe the question should be why aren't we trying to prevent all these horrible things by recognizing there's a reason our bodies synthesize vitamin D directly and allow it to do its job by tossing the sunscreen.

Sunscreen Chemicals Are Destroying Coral Reefs And Now Hawaii Is Banning Them

Resurrection of vitamin D deficiency and rickets

I grew up in Germany and have lived in TX and CA for most of my life. I am a rather pale-skinned person but I hate putting anything on my skin which is why I have never put make-up on my face besides eye makeup and lipstick. When sun screen first came out I tried that but found I was sweating under that stuff so I gave up on that too. I have had only very slight sunburns and that was before the bad effects of sunburns were widely known. I have just simply covered up when I had to be out in the summer sun for extended periods. Being an avid sailor and gardener that meant covering arms and legs and wearing a big hat or large sunshade, sailing and gardening gloves. I have not had any kind of sunburn in 20+ years but I do get tanned just being outside. Thus I also get enough sunlight and the required amount of Vit D to keep rickets away. I have gotten some unsightly brown spots on my face and lower arms but they are not cancerous and at my age I am not that vain anymore. When I grew up it was common for moms to put their babies in their pram fully dressed and then put the pram outside on balconies, terraces or just in front of the door as it was assumed that babies needed fresh air. There is even now a general assumption that fresh air is good for everyone and so the average housewife will open all the windows in the morning no matter how cold it is as long as it is not raining or snowing to "air out the house". I still do that and my home never smells of anything and I don't need "air fresheners" which do not "freshen" the air at all, just cover up whatever smell there is.
With children in this country being kept inside most of the time it is not surprising that rickets has made an a reappearance. I say toss the kids outside in the yard and the bigger ones out in the street on their skates and bikes, away from all their digital devices, and let them explore the world a bit instead of hovering over them every minute of the day, protecting them from skinned knees and falling out of trees, they won't be kidnapped by strangers (most kidnaps involve people they already know) which is about as unlikely as being hit by lightning. They will come home dirty and tanned and tired enough to go to bed without a complaint.
I have also noticed that here in SoCal for the last few years many people carry and use umbrellas in the summer. The fashionistas should be at the forefront to make "parasols" a part of their outfits. They could match their outfits like shoes and handbags, carrying umbrellas could become a necessary addition to their wardrobe. I have several umbrellas of different colors, including a rainbow colored one with each panel in a different color in my car which I do use regularly.

 

[Katie M]

The longest English word you can type with just the top row of a keyboard is "typewriter"

 

[foxxycat]

I burn badly if I don't use spray on sunscreen but I sweat like heck too...and I am very sensitive to temperature so I usually lug around this huge umbrella stand and umbrella if I am in my garden. I am the type to sleep from 11am to 3 pm then go outside later on. As a kid I had really bad sunburns. My mom never burned, she got brown and my dad burned. Right now I do 30 min stints in the sun when on my bike. I don't wear sunscreen. I noticed my legs starting to get a bit of color. If I do go to the beach or boat during the day then I slather it on. My arms are permanently tanned. The left arm is darker than right arm from putting it outside the window lol. I do enjoy the summer sun but only in small bits.

When I used to set up at the flea market a canopy was a must. There were big hats I wore and sunscreen. Otherwise it was a horrible burn..because I sweat so much I figured.

Anyways this weekend I got the worst cold or ? I went for a bike ride Sat afternoon and sunday woke up sick. Sinus infection which is now in my lungs. Yay me. The fever was a pain so Tylenol to the rescue then got the doc to call in zithromax...sudafed, claritin and inhaled meds and I feel halfway human today if I don't move around too much. The albuterol really helped me this weekend...man allergies are a major pain in the butt!

 

[kashmir64]

Being half Indian (Seminole) I don't burn. I only had a sunburn once and that was right after I moved up here - higher elevation.
My sister, on the other hand, took the German and English genes. She has blonde hair, green eyes and super fair skin. She will burn within 10 minutes in the sun. The doctor told her without sunscreen, she will have skin cancer.
On the up side, here in Arizona, we don't have to worry about the coral reefs being destroyed if it's used.

 

[arouetta]

I had Outrageous Acts of Science on, they showed a clip of someone putting lithium in water. It caught on fire and then the glass exploded. Since the pharmacy screwed up and gave me extra lithium, I now have an irrational urge to dump a few pills into a (very) small glass of water to see if I can replicate it even though it's a salt and not pure lithium. The internet is being frustratingly vague in answering that question ("how does lithium carbonate react with water" brings up only pure lithium in water and only what lithium carbonate is and its uses) but it also brought up hits for pure lithium in hydrogen peroxide, so I also have an irrational urge to try that and vinegar with my lithium pills.

 

[foxxycat]

I would do the same..but then again.... I do like to experiment...vinegar and baking soda do funny things

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Scots, here, with a healthy dose of Norwegian (yeah...those raiders), and burn if I even THINK about the sun. Heck, I'm so pale that you can follow the track of my entire circulatory system on my skin! No sunscreen, though. I'm rarely in direct sunlight for more than a few minutes at a time. I have a positive aversion to it.

 

[arouetta]

Heck, I'm so pale that you can follow the track of my entire circulatory system on my skin!

Not being facetious, isn't that normal? I've got clear blue lines covering me all over too.

 

[Mother Dragon]

You folks are taking about skin cancers, but you forgot the effect of UV on the eyes. It definitely increases the incidence and severity of cataracts and may also affect macular degeneration. It's important to wear glasses or sunglasses with 100% both UVA and UVB protection.

When I was growing up, you were supposed to be deeply tanned. It was a sign of good health. Never mind that it would become leathery skin with deep wrinkles and skin cancer when you got older. Sunglasses were mostly for looking good and offered no eye protection at all. Check the stats on cataract surgeries on my generation.

If I don't use SPF 100, I burn quickly because of the meds I take. If I'm going to be out in the sun very long, I wear a Columbia or Magellan shirt with built-in UV protection, long sleeves and pants, shoes with socks, sunscreen on my face, neck, and hands, UV-proof shades, and a big wide-brim hat, preferably a Tilly hat with UV protection in the weave. I've learned my lessons well.

 

[arouetta]

Unfortunately it's the UV rays that triggers vitamin D production. Getting some sunshine does absolutely no good if you don't allow the UV rays to penetrate your body.

 

[segelkatt]

I have worn glasses since I was 11 and at one time I always carried two pairs with one of them being sunglasses. Don't know if they did any good regarding the UV but at least I did not squint against the sun which also causes wrinkles. They were also heavy as glasses were just that: they were made out of glass. Then they came out with glasses that got dark by themselves if worn in bright light so I did not have to carry two pairs anymore. Protection against UV? Probably not. Then came plastic lenses which were a relief but probably no UV protection either. At last they came out with glasses that did not only get dark by themselves, you also got coatings against glare and UV and for astigmatism and best of all: the plastic lenses now were even much lighter than the ones before and did not slide down anymore (you've all seen people who constantly touched the bridge of their glasses with their middle finger to push them back up, really nerdy).

 

[Willowy]

I've heard that even regular glasses block some UV rays, which gives slight protection against cataracts. Idk how true that is.

 

[arouetta]

I was using Clairol Nice and Easy Dark Brown. I thought it was Warm Dark Brown, but I'm new to dyeing and go a couple of months between colors. The box changed, I didn't see the word "warm" on any of them, so I went with plain Dark Brown. After all, my natural color is best described as dark brown.

My hair is now a perfect match with the ebony black tank top I'm wearing.

I really hope it lightens up a bit after a few washings.

 

[Willowy]

Is it dark black?

A friend of mine said, years ago, that she wanted to dye her hair "dark black" and we have never let her forget it, lol.

 

[arouetta]

Don't laugh too hard. I went on Clairol's site to see if I could find the color I had been using. These are their blacks:

Brown Black
Soft Black
Black
Blue Black
Burgundy Black
Plum Black

 

[Katie M]

A fifth of people hear sounds when watching silent GIFs. Do you?

I've noticed this about myself for years. I love silent film-ironically, though, I can hear it. If a character is using a teacup, I can hear the clinking. The same goes for ringing phones, car horns, and many other things.

I can hear the thudding in the pylon GIF too.

 

[arouetta]

The brain is really easy to trick, even if you know the truth. I think it was Brain Games that used to do crazy stuff to fool the brain. I read somewhere that our senses give only fragmentary data and the brain uses expectation and prior memory to fill in the gaps.

 

[NewYork1303]

Send good thoughts for my older dog. She's been feeling really sick lately and having a hard time getting around.

 

[kashmir64]

Good thoughts sent. I hope she feels better.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

NewYork1303 ,

I had Outrageous Acts of Science on, they showed a clip of someone putting lithium in water. It caught on fire and then the glass exploded. Since the pharmacy screwed up and gave me extra lithium, I now have an irrational urge to dump a few pills into a (very) small glass of water to see if I can replicate it even though it's a salt and not pure lithium. The internet is being frustratingly vague in answering that question ("how does lithium carbonate react with water" brings up only pure lithium in water and only what lithium carbonate is and its uses) but it also brought up hits for pure lithium in hydrogen peroxide, so I also have an irrational urge to try that and vinegar with my lithium pills.

Fun fact about lithium...it is actually soluble in water. Hot water leaches lithium from rocks (maybe a salt, for all I know). The reason that so many hot springs make people feel so much better is that they are braising themselves in lithium.

I would do the same..but then again.... I do like to experiment...vinegar and baking soda do funny things

Mentos and diet coke comes to mind...

Not being facetious, isn't that normal? I've got clear blue lines covering me all over too.

It is to a degree, but even my doctors have commented on it over the years. And when I get cold, I look like I'm wearing full-body red fishnet stockings from all the smaller veins and arteries that are very visible.

My next-door neighbor's small son attempted to flush a HUGE wad of tissue. Her entire apartment is flooded. The maintenance man just left my apartment making sure that there was no seepage under the shared wall. LOL, I'm making my bathroom accessible to them while the damage is repaired (plumber on site now). I can't imaging having three small kids and no potty! THAT would be a horror story, indeed!