8.04.2005 ||> I can't see for miles or miles
I went to the optometrist last weekend to get new glasses and contacts, and they were having a special where 2 pairs of glasses and an eye exam was $65. Naturally, it cost me $270, but I hadn't had a check up in three years so there you go.
I'm apparently at 400/20 or something which makes me officially as blind as a bat. Or maybe bats are 420/20, I don't know. It's scary. They gave me the "blind as a bat" certification though, which was cool. Too bad I can't see it.
Also, as I was waiting for my contacts (they didn't have any in my prescription), the optometrist came out of his hole, took one look at me and exclaimed, "Geez girl, you need to get some sun!" See, I had been getting lazy, or tired of sitting around my apartment, waiting for my sunless tanner to dry and I was in my natural state. According to pushy people with no inner monologue, that's a bad idea. I'll get some more tanner on Saturday.
Another ill to add to smoking: it will make you fat. According to this Reuters article
All things equal, you are almost five times more likely to develop the metabolic syndrome if you are exposed to secondhand smoke," Weitzman added. "Active smoking increases the risk to at least six times that of a non-exposed individual.What is metabolic syndrome? Well, apparently those people who insist that they're fat because of metabolism (instead of say, a habit of eating Cheez Doodles on the couch all day) were right all along and those work-out junkies judging them aren't.
Even if you are not overweight, if you are an adult smoker you tend to have central obesity," Weitzman said. Central or abdominal obesity means the fat collects in and around the organs, and is associated with more disease than under-the-skin fat.The scary part for me is that I'm exactly the person that this study is referring to. Both parents and step-parents were smokers, and I've definitely inhaled enough for a league of innocent non-smokers. Wasn't it enough that I have sports asthma from it? Why should I have to do a million sit-ups every day for the rest of my life?
However, I'm a bit leery of this as well. I think there's a couple of pit falls that people can get into with an article like this. First, the idea that it's no longer a person's responsibility. "I have more fat because my mom's a smoker, so I'll just sit on my ass all day and not exercise." Well, I think this study shows that it put more onus on second-hand smokers to exercise. It's doubly important for us because we have more risk of disease. The other thing I don't like is the license that this study gives (and it needs more proof anyway - there is a lack of conclusive evidence in the article) to use the dreaded "for the children" excuse. You know those people who, when faced with something they don't like, use children as an excuse for banning it. I think it would be very easy to jump on that, and since that rationale has always annoyed the crap out of me, I hope they make everything conclusive before it comes out in the mainstream news. It's scary enough as it is.
Like when they have to take a simple word like "Lunasa" and turn it into "Lughnassad." But I used to do the same thing, so I shouldn't complain. It's just funny because Gaelic derived words look confusing enough without making them worse than they already are.
I was also doing a technocrati search on Lunasa today and it seems that so many Wiccans celebrated it yesterday, but I have always thought of it as being on the 2nd. Maybe we didn't read the same books when we were thirteen. So anyway, if you're Wiccan and you're reading this, Happy Lunasa/Lammas! If you're not Wiccan, well, your holidays are probably government sanctioned, so you're one up on me anyway. And if you're totally confused about this whole post, then you can check out witchvox and find out what I'm talking about.
Since I've been back, I've been trying to be a better Wiccan (like not forgetting when the full moon is), so I'm excited to get back in the swing of things today.
