Hierarchy of HIV Risk

I was unable to find this particular hierarchy of risk online anywhere as a graphic, so I decided to make one and host it here. It is based on the risk structure used by the Canadian AIDS Society. Sorry about the quality.

Adventures in the Hospital

Sorry for the radio silence lately, my life hasn't been that interesting lately. I was supposed to have a meeting with the bus company yesterday regarding their terrible customer service, but I had to miss it due to hospitalization. Whoops, bad timing, I know. The real kicker: I spent 16 hours in the hospital to hear "rest and take some painkillers". I went in with severe abdominal pain, I came out with less severe abdominal pain, a bump on my head, a bump on my "good" knee and a whole lot of frustration. This adventure has led to the following list. Presenting UtterRandomness' Grand List of Things That Are Irritating About Hospitals/Health Care:

1.  Hospitals that only staff one doctor in the ER. Really? One doctor? How about two? 
2.  People who complain about the Canadian health care system but are unwilling to pay higher taxes. You get what you pay for, and personally, I'd be willing to pay more in taxes for lower tuition and better health care. 
3.  Nurses who complain about not being able to find a good vein in a person who is dehydrated. Of course they couldn't find a good vein, they wouldn't let me eat or drink after I came in, and after I'd been there 12 hours, you better bet my veins would be hard to find. You could have at least let me have a couple sips of water. 
4. Nurses who lie to keep themselves out of trouble. I fell off the hospital bed, onto my face, while I was waiting for a CT scan. I passed out, probably due to not having had anything to eat or drink since 7pm Sunday, by this point it was about 11:30am Monday. The nurse had me sitting on the edge of the stretcher, completely alone. When I got back to the ER, the nurse who came in to check for a head injury asked me what I tripped over. I didn't trip, I fainted. This mysteriously never came to be entered into my chart. I had no intention of blaming the nurse, but some kind of acknowledgment that I didn't just trip over my own two feet would have been nice. It might have also been nice if anyone had tried to figure out why I fainted.
5. People who complain incessantly that people who got there after them were taken in first. Two things for those people: first, the triage process determines who gets in first, it isn't first come first served. Second, shut up, complaining isn't getting you anywhere and it's just annoying the people around you. 
6. No one gave me an ice pack for my head. :(
7. The freaking Weather Network. If you're going to keep me in a room for however many hours, please put something more interesting than the Weather Network on the TV. 

All in all, it was a particularly unpleasant experience. I do not enjoy coming out of the hospital with more injuries than I had when I went in. Anyone have any other hospital/health care pet peeves/irritations?

Why I Find Fifty Shades of Grey So Entertaining

The above picture shows the top three books on the New York Times Best Sellers list for this week in Combined Print and E-Book Fiction. The books listed are all part of the Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy. I find this almost infinitely amusing for many reasons.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have not read the books, nor do I intend to at any point. Hetero sex isn't really my thing, I don't enjoy it, I don't particularly enjoy reading about it. The fact that these books began their lives as  Twilight fan-fiction is a turn off for me as well, but I can see how it would appeal to others. No judgement here, just personal preferences. Now, on to the list:

1. Shelves upon shelves, and displays upon displays of erotic fiction just sitting in the bookstores. This book isn't hiding in a dark corner with all the other "dirty little secrets" it's completely out in the open. To me, this screams sex-positivity.
2. In addition to sex positivity, this also brings the concept of BDSM into more mainstream society. Again, it's coming out, physically and metaphorically, of shadowy closets and dark corners. I don't know how well the book portrays BSDM, but it could definitely start a conversation. 
3. This one is the one that gives me the most, possibly perverted, pleasure. People pick it up by accident! They choose it because it's on a display, because it's on the New York Times Best Seller list, and they get home and it's erotica! How awesome is that?!

BLEACH?!

I read a blog post today that made me sick to my stomach. Apparently people are giving their children something called Miracle Mineral Solution in the hopes that it will cure their autism. Cure autism? I'm okay with parents working with their kids on social behaviours and coping mechanisms, I'm even somewhat okay with medicating kids for things like anxiety that often come hand in hand with austism spectrum disorders, but I am not okay with people chasing down cures and being willing to subject their children to anything in the hopes that it will make them "normal." Normal... what does that even mean?

I'm not telling anyone how to raise their kids, parents of kids with autism spectrum disorders certainly get enough of that, but I am calling out any parents who are willing to make their kids swallow what is essentially bleach. You read that right, bleach. As in, make sure it's in a locked or unreachable cupboard so your kids can't get into it, very poisonous, bleach. Not only is it bleach, it's the bleach they use to make paper white. Any parents reading this that are considering taking such a drastic measure to "fix" your child should note that the FDA has released several statements regarding the dangerous nature of this product.

I find this terrifying. I can't even wrap my brain around the idea that a parent would be so desperate for a "normal" child. Do you seriously think your child thinks that it's worth swallowing or trying out every single bullshit cure that comes along? Is it worth it? What if your child gets sick? Do you really think that swallowing a potentially dangerous chemical will improve their quality of life? You know what improves a child's quality of life, not having parents that think that there is something so wrong with them that they're willing to chance poisoning them.

Unconditional love doesn't mean bleaching your child.

Today Life Sent Me A Good Reminder

Things aren't always as they seem, sometimes good things come in odd looking packages, all those clichés.

The tea pictured here, which looks sort of like scummy pond water, tastes amazing! It might be my new favourite.