Last night I had the privilege of being entrusted as the caretaker of baby Sophia for the second time ever. Although I'm an only child, I've alway been comfortable with infants and children. Throughout my teens years I babysat for various neighbours; and in the few past years, I've enjoyed babysitting once in a while for my couple friends. Other than being the nice person that I am, my willingness to babysit can also be attributed to mildly-non-altrustic reasons. Truth be told, I find it self-edifying that I can feed, change and if necessary, sooth a cranky baby without being their mom. I see it as a sort of character-building exercise.
This time, the gig started around 6 pm. Sophia and I played for a hour and visited with my friend Maxine who had dropped by with fresh baked cookies! By 7 pm, I began carrying out her bedtime regimen, as meticulously laid out in a note by Sophia's mum. Nothing too noteworthy during this time except for when Sophia had squirmed, kicked and flippantly attempted to wrestle her way out of a diaper change. Not yet a year old, and one can surely tell that this girl has got a mind of her own. It didn't matter to her that all her struggling would only amount to futility, she wasn't going to make it easy for me.
After the diaper change, I put her into the crib, left the room and went downstairs.
Not less than five minutes later, I hear her crying. Not the typical "I don't wanna go to bed" cry, but the high pitched howling of a very angry baby. Oh oh... maybe she needs another diaper change. I skipped back up the stairs and as soon as I picked her up, I knew (from the smell) that this diaper would not be clean like the previous one. I thought I was mentally prepared to face whatever mess that awaited me, but found myself caught off-guard by the shear volume and pungency of it. What a difference solid food can make to the poop! I was also unprepared to handle the combination of a massively soiled diaper and a strongwilled baby, who was now trying to twiggle herself out of my hand with the full vigor akin to that of a daredevil trying to get out of a stray jacket.
Suddenly, I was horrified with the realization that I could be seconds away from a feces catastrophe. Visions of poop smears on the wall, the change table and.... on Me were racing through my mind. Containment! Containment! I quickly used the clean part of the diaper to wipe off whatever I could on her tush, but she still wasn't clean. Then, a box of baby wipe on the shelf next to me caught my eye. I flipped open the lid, and found it empty. Drat! WHAT can I use to wipe her clean? With desperation, I looked around and grabbed the first piece of cloth that I saw; and as I wiped up Sophia, I realized that I had just sacrificed one of those nice hooded baby bath towels. Oops... I quickly rationalized that not using it would only have led to a much worse fate for the contents of this nursery. And through all of this, Sophia continued to fully "assert" herself - all 20 Ib or so of it - twisting and flailing about, trying to kick her ankles out of my grip and escape the maddness atop the change table.
Fear not, for I am happy to report that I indeed won the Battle of the Pink Change Table. Nevertheless, I was not freed from having to console the losing party, who took another solid 20 minutes to cry herself asleep in my arms.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Things I love
One of my former classmates in public health has a maddeningly addicitive blog, with a speak-for-itself url of http://www.weddingobsession.com/ Engaged or not, it's easy for a girl to get hooked on the stunning samplings of artistic wedding photography; close-ups of sweet delectables, shoes and accessories; and the infectious enthusiasim by which the blogger gushes about "all things wedding".
In today's post, she presents a series of framed, sap-oozing clip art images that a bride might consider using for brightening a space or table at the wedding or in the home - all of which I felt pretty ambivalent towards, until I saw this one.
*Sigh*... some day a man might find home in my heart along with my two favorite things.
In today's post, she presents a series of framed, sap-oozing clip art images that a bride might consider using for brightening a space or table at the wedding or in the home - all of which I felt pretty ambivalent towards, until I saw this one.
*Sigh*... some day a man might find home in my heart along with my two favorite things.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Water – it’s in my blood
“I googled your name before our interview last year”, my team lead at Alberta Environment unexpectedly confessed, during the water team’s weekly ritual of Friday steak sandwiches at the Highrun Club.
“You did? Did you find anything incriminating?” I replied in my characteristic teasing manner. I was not concerned; after all, this was 2006 and pre-Facebook. Even now, he wouldn’t be able to find anything more questionable than unsolicited shots of me displaying some very unbecoming facial contortions, or snoozing on a bus ride with mouth agape – perhaps accompanied with a string of drool running down my chin, annnnd other zany poses (you know – smooching cows, and biting babies, nothing unusual really)
“I didn’t find any dirt on you. But I did come across a website that explained the origins of your last name. Did you know the name ‘Hong’ originates from a tribe of people living along the Yellow River, well-known for their irrigation and flood control expertise?”
“No… I didn’t.” I felt remiss to learn that he knew something about my heritage that I didn’t. “BUT, I do know that the character ‘Hong’ is associated with water and flood.”
“Well then it’s very fitting that you’re now a hydrologist isn’t it. Obviously, it’s meant to be.”
So I only lasted as a hydrologist for nine months – the length of the maternity leave that I was covering for. During that time, I learned a lot and had an amazing mentor. I enjoyed assessing the return periods of precipitation events, developing naturalized river flows models, reviewing the hydrology sections of the Environmental Impact Assessments of oil sands projects, and relished in the luxury of attending all sorts of watershed management and hydrology seminars and conferences. It was a great first post-graduation gig, and at the time, I don’t think I truly appreciated how good I had it as a recent grad.
Since then my work experience has scattered in every which direction – oil sands, public health and now, municipal solid waste. Yet, I find myself often reminiscing with fondness about working in hydrology, or of my other short stints with water, like in water treatment at EPCOR, or building water filters in Cambodia.
I think water must be my first professional love, akin to some people’s first meaningful romantic experience that didn’t last, like how some would refer to it as, “the one that got away”. Fortunately, for me, water is not a person, and I don’t think there will be much emotional baggage from this on-again-off-again relationship. But it would sure be nice to commit to an area professionally, to stay put long enough for in depth growth and to see one's work make a lasting impact.
Today is World Water Day, and once again I’m reminded of my past love. There is so many pressing and emerging issues to be tackled in this field and its many subspecialties (i.e. climate change mitigation, integrated watershed management, transboundary policy, privatization, water treatment for removal of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors, water and sanitation development in resource-poor areas, so on and so forth).
However, nostalgia is different than conviction, and I do not feel compelled to chase after it and to rekindle the affair. Someday the stars might align that our paths cross again. After all, great opportunities have been known to serendipitously fall out of thin air. Even still, they will amount to nothing if not actively pursued. Nothing great happens by living on default mode.
“You did? Did you find anything incriminating?” I replied in my characteristic teasing manner. I was not concerned; after all, this was 2006 and pre-Facebook. Even now, he wouldn’t be able to find anything more questionable than unsolicited shots of me displaying some very unbecoming facial contortions, or snoozing on a bus ride with mouth agape – perhaps accompanied with a string of drool running down my chin, annnnd other zany poses (you know – smooching cows, and biting babies, nothing unusual really)
“I didn’t find any dirt on you. But I did come across a website that explained the origins of your last name. Did you know the name ‘Hong’ originates from a tribe of people living along the Yellow River, well-known for their irrigation and flood control expertise?”
“No… I didn’t.” I felt remiss to learn that he knew something about my heritage that I didn’t. “BUT, I do know that the character ‘Hong’ is associated with water and flood.”
“Well then it’s very fitting that you’re now a hydrologist isn’t it. Obviously, it’s meant to be.”
So I only lasted as a hydrologist for nine months – the length of the maternity leave that I was covering for. During that time, I learned a lot and had an amazing mentor. I enjoyed assessing the return periods of precipitation events, developing naturalized river flows models, reviewing the hydrology sections of the Environmental Impact Assessments of oil sands projects, and relished in the luxury of attending all sorts of watershed management and hydrology seminars and conferences. It was a great first post-graduation gig, and at the time, I don’t think I truly appreciated how good I had it as a recent grad.
Since then my work experience has scattered in every which direction – oil sands, public health and now, municipal solid waste. Yet, I find myself often reminiscing with fondness about working in hydrology, or of my other short stints with water, like in water treatment at EPCOR, or building water filters in Cambodia.
I think water must be my first professional love, akin to some people’s first meaningful romantic experience that didn’t last, like how some would refer to it as, “the one that got away”. Fortunately, for me, water is not a person, and I don’t think there will be much emotional baggage from this on-again-off-again relationship. But it would sure be nice to commit to an area professionally, to stay put long enough for in depth growth and to see one's work make a lasting impact.
Today is World Water Day, and once again I’m reminded of my past love. There is so many pressing and emerging issues to be tackled in this field and its many subspecialties (i.e. climate change mitigation, integrated watershed management, transboundary policy, privatization, water treatment for removal of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors, water and sanitation development in resource-poor areas, so on and so forth).
However, nostalgia is different than conviction, and I do not feel compelled to chase after it and to rekindle the affair. Someday the stars might align that our paths cross again. After all, great opportunities have been known to serendipitously fall out of thin air. Even still, they will amount to nothing if not actively pursued. Nothing great happens by living on default mode.
Monday, March 8, 2010
International Women's Day 2010
Today being International Women’s Day, it’s hard to not write something related to gender inequity, or women’s rights. However, rather than regurgitate a whole bunch of statistics to validate my point on the world wide struggle of women for equal access to education, freedom from domestic violence, and equal participation in economic productivity, I actually just want to make a few generalized observations on the odd differences in perspectives and choices between the wide majority of women in the world, and those of us females in developed countries.
Many women from impoverished families in developing countries yearn for the opportunity to be able to generate income for their family, in order to be seen as valuable rather worthless to their husbands. Women that contribute financially to their families will more likely be allowed some level of independence by their husbands, and is less likely to get beaten.
And...
Many middle and upper class women in developed countries glorify the role of the doting housewife, the domestic diva – one, who’s sole purpose is to cook, clean, and meet their husband and kids’ every need. I’ve even personally heard some say, “I’m so lucky that my husband makes enough so that I don’t have to work.”
Many women in developing countries yearn for their kids to go to school, especially their daughters, so that they can break the cycle of poverty caused by the lack of education, early marriage, early first birth, large number of children, which leads to the increased likelihood of some or all of the children not going to school due to household duties or work. Without education, the cycle continues.
And...
Many women (ok, and men) in the developed countries are weary of the free and public education system. Some are quite distrusting of teachers, and concerned over messed up curricula and political agendas. Never mind their kids may also be surrounded by hyper-sexually precocious students, lurking in every corner, ready to initiate booty calls in the washrooms, offer up crack cocaine, and methamphetamine, you name it. The kids could be manipulated, brainwashed, and lured into becoming little social deviants, or worst – a bleeding heart, fiscally irresponsible, lefty! So these women (and men) decides to play it safe and have their offspring home schooled.
Many women in developing countries wish that they could afford vaccinations for all their babies, so that they would not die from preventable childhood diseases, and so that they themselves would not be forced to bear the pain of birthing and raising more children, whom might also just end up succumbing to a similar fate.
And...
Many women in developed countries are terrified of early childhood vaccinations, having been convinced by essentially a single, albeit reputable, medical journal article that connected the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine to autism, which since has been retracted. Nevertheless, the controversy continues…
Many women in developing countries are forced to give birth under dangerous, unsanitary conditions in their own homes - some alone and some only with the help of a traditional birth attendant. Barriers to having hospital or health centre births include the lack of transportation, financial resources and/or lack of support from husbands. As a result, the maternal mortality rate can be orders of magnitude higher than in developed countries – 2100 in Sierra Leone and 1800 in Niger, as compared to 7 in Canada per 100,000 live births (WHO, 2005). Women in some developing countries can easily have between 5 to 10 births. Therefore in a country like Niger, a women has a 1 in 100 to 1 in 50 chance of dying during child birth.
And...
Many women in developed countries have begun to embrace a form of back to the basics and back to the home style of birthing. To avoid the stresses caused by the lack of privacy, ugly fluorescent lighting, pushy nurses, neglectful doctors, they have forfeited institutionalized birthing for a more comfortable, flexible home birth. You know... I’m all for sticking up to overbearing nurses that are too trigger happy for subduing anxious, hard-to-control women in labour with epidurals. BUT, do these women realize that they’ve also just traded in the peace of mind that comes with knowing that if anything does go wrong, they are only a few minutes from a modern and well-equipped operating room, staffed by highly qualified health professionals?
The lives of women and the choices that they make seem so vastly different depending on where they come from. Yet, all women and mothers are motivated by the same things, no? Fear and guilt. Hope and love. We women all just want the same things - to love and be loved, to be seen as beautiful and desired, to provide a warm and inviting home, to raise children that live to their full potential. I'm not a mother, but I'm guessing that this is what mothers want :)
Well...I have nothing more to say than that I’ll be taking a moment today to stand in solidarity with the rest of my sisterhood around the world.
To my sisters everywhere, you are strong, resilient, beautiful and beloved. No matter all the dirt, ugliness and shame that this fallen world forces upon you, you were still made to be cherished. Created by your heavenly father, your presence is a reflection of his beauty, gentleness, and romantic nature. Indeed, some dare say that you ARE the crowning glory of all of his creation.
To read more about why women’s issues are still relevant, here is an excellent, excellent piece in the New York Times - "Saving the World's Women"
Many women from impoverished families in developing countries yearn for the opportunity to be able to generate income for their family, in order to be seen as valuable rather worthless to their husbands. Women that contribute financially to their families will more likely be allowed some level of independence by their husbands, and is less likely to get beaten.
And...
Many middle and upper class women in developed countries glorify the role of the doting housewife, the domestic diva – one, who’s sole purpose is to cook, clean, and meet their husband and kids’ every need. I’ve even personally heard some say, “I’m so lucky that my husband makes enough so that I don’t have to work.”
Many women in developing countries yearn for their kids to go to school, especially their daughters, so that they can break the cycle of poverty caused by the lack of education, early marriage, early first birth, large number of children, which leads to the increased likelihood of some or all of the children not going to school due to household duties or work. Without education, the cycle continues.
And...
Many women (ok, and men) in the developed countries are weary of the free and public education system. Some are quite distrusting of teachers, and concerned over messed up curricula and political agendas. Never mind their kids may also be surrounded by hyper-sexually precocious students, lurking in every corner, ready to initiate booty calls in the washrooms, offer up crack cocaine, and methamphetamine, you name it. The kids could be manipulated, brainwashed, and lured into becoming little social deviants, or worst – a bleeding heart, fiscally irresponsible, lefty! So these women (and men) decides to play it safe and have their offspring home schooled.
Many women in developing countries wish that they could afford vaccinations for all their babies, so that they would not die from preventable childhood diseases, and so that they themselves would not be forced to bear the pain of birthing and raising more children, whom might also just end up succumbing to a similar fate.
And...
Many women in developed countries are terrified of early childhood vaccinations, having been convinced by essentially a single, albeit reputable, medical journal article that connected the Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine to autism, which since has been retracted. Nevertheless, the controversy continues…
Many women in developing countries are forced to give birth under dangerous, unsanitary conditions in their own homes - some alone and some only with the help of a traditional birth attendant. Barriers to having hospital or health centre births include the lack of transportation, financial resources and/or lack of support from husbands. As a result, the maternal mortality rate can be orders of magnitude higher than in developed countries – 2100 in Sierra Leone and 1800 in Niger, as compared to 7 in Canada per 100,000 live births (WHO, 2005). Women in some developing countries can easily have between 5 to 10 births. Therefore in a country like Niger, a women has a 1 in 100 to 1 in 50 chance of dying during child birth.
And...
Many women in developed countries have begun to embrace a form of back to the basics and back to the home style of birthing. To avoid the stresses caused by the lack of privacy, ugly fluorescent lighting, pushy nurses, neglectful doctors, they have forfeited institutionalized birthing for a more comfortable, flexible home birth. You know... I’m all for sticking up to overbearing nurses that are too trigger happy for subduing anxious, hard-to-control women in labour with epidurals. BUT, do these women realize that they’ve also just traded in the peace of mind that comes with knowing that if anything does go wrong, they are only a few minutes from a modern and well-equipped operating room, staffed by highly qualified health professionals?
The lives of women and the choices that they make seem so vastly different depending on where they come from. Yet, all women and mothers are motivated by the same things, no? Fear and guilt. Hope and love. We women all just want the same things - to love and be loved, to be seen as beautiful and desired, to provide a warm and inviting home, to raise children that live to their full potential. I'm not a mother, but I'm guessing that this is what mothers want :)
Well...I have nothing more to say than that I’ll be taking a moment today to stand in solidarity with the rest of my sisterhood around the world.
To my sisters everywhere, you are strong, resilient, beautiful and beloved. No matter all the dirt, ugliness and shame that this fallen world forces upon you, you were still made to be cherished. Created by your heavenly father, your presence is a reflection of his beauty, gentleness, and romantic nature. Indeed, some dare say that you ARE the crowning glory of all of his creation.
To read more about why women’s issues are still relevant, here is an excellent, excellent piece in the New York Times - "Saving the World's Women"
Monday, March 1, 2010
Hybrid drivers, no need to panick over batteries
Apparently some hybrid drivers (including a friend of mine) have been feeling a bit touchy with constantly having to be on the defence about their decision to purchase such a "risky", emerging green technology. Some have accused car companies of green washing hybrid vehicles - i.e. touting it as environmentally friendly - when the environmental benefits may yet to be clearly established. Prominent claims made against hybrid vehicles include: uncertainty over the battery life, high battery toxicity and lack of disposal options, and the lack of coverage in serviceability.
Through my brief literature review, it would appear that such claims by the naysayers are more or less unfounded, especially for the 2nd generations of hybrids. With respect to battery life, standard warranty range between 8 to 10 years, and the automakers have boldly stated that the batteries are designed to last the life of the cars. Secondly, according to a 2008 Newsweek article, Honda says that out of the more than 100,000 Honda hybrids on the road, less than 200 have had a battery fail after the warranty expired; and Toyota's out-of-warranty (Criteria: 8 years or 100,000 miles) battery replacement rate has been 0.003% on the 2nd generation Prius that debuted in 2004. The same article also stated that the price of replacement batteries from both automakers have dropped - for most vehicles it will cost around $3,000 or less - due to improved technology and lower production costs.
In regards to battery toxicity, nickel metal hydride batteries are much less toxic than lead batteries, which in the near future may be replaced by even less toxic lithium ion batteries. Interestingly, another unrelated driving factor behind the development of non-lead batteries is due to lead batteries' inability to meet the electrical demands of new vehicles that are holding more and more electronic gadgetry.
Lastly, hybrid vehicle batteries are highly recyclable. To encourage a high rate of battery recovery, Toyota has implemented a $200 bounty for every battery that is returned to the company. As the 2nd generation of hybrids are expected to reach end-of-life in the next five years, dealerships, garages, and auto scrap yards are expected to take advantage of this program.
Just to shift gears, another one of the widespread "fact" that's been circulating in the public realm is that of the heavy environmental costs associated with the mining of nickel for batteries. Most of this came about from an article published in November 2006 by the Daily Mail, a right-leaning, British tabloid paper, which bore the slanderous title ‘Toyota factory turns landscape to arid wilderness.’ The article claimed that the mining of nickel in northern Ontario for Toyota was single-handedly turning the land into moonscape. As for my rebuttal - firstly, the environmental damage in the area around Sudbury, Ontario is the result of the accumulative trauma from mining that first started in the 1800s; and mining and smelting practices have largely improved since the environmental reformation of the 70s. Secondly, out of the Inco-Sudbury mine’s 174,800-ton output in 2004, Toyota purchased 1000 tons, just over 0.5% of its output. Ultimately, the British paper must have received so many complaints that it decided to retract the article in May 2007.
Drivers should also know that many vehicle components contain nickel regardless of whether it's hybrid or not - trims, rims, stainless steel, engine alloys (pistons, rings, liners, etc.) so on and so forth. The larger the engine, the more nickel is used. Until everyone stops driving, there's no reason to lay the blame on hybrid drivers as the cause for ripping up the earth for nickel.
I am certain that most hybrid drivers aren't naively thinking that they are saving the environment through their vehicles, and the same goes for vegetarians, recyclers, solar panel users, etc. But I applaud them for voting with their money and for being the pioneers whom play a pivotal role in both helping to establish a new cultural norm for using higher efficiency vehicles, and for quickening automakers' progress towards making more vehicles that may tread just a bit lighter on the earth.
Through my brief literature review, it would appear that such claims by the naysayers are more or less unfounded, especially for the 2nd generations of hybrids. With respect to battery life, standard warranty range between 8 to 10 years, and the automakers have boldly stated that the batteries are designed to last the life of the cars. Secondly, according to a 2008 Newsweek article, Honda says that out of the more than 100,000 Honda hybrids on the road, less than 200 have had a battery fail after the warranty expired; and Toyota's out-of-warranty (Criteria: 8 years or 100,000 miles) battery replacement rate has been 0.003% on the 2nd generation Prius that debuted in 2004. The same article also stated that the price of replacement batteries from both automakers have dropped - for most vehicles it will cost around $3,000 or less - due to improved technology and lower production costs.
In regards to battery toxicity, nickel metal hydride batteries are much less toxic than lead batteries, which in the near future may be replaced by even less toxic lithium ion batteries. Interestingly, another unrelated driving factor behind the development of non-lead batteries is due to lead batteries' inability to meet the electrical demands of new vehicles that are holding more and more electronic gadgetry.
Lastly, hybrid vehicle batteries are highly recyclable. To encourage a high rate of battery recovery, Toyota has implemented a $200 bounty for every battery that is returned to the company. As the 2nd generation of hybrids are expected to reach end-of-life in the next five years, dealerships, garages, and auto scrap yards are expected to take advantage of this program.
Just to shift gears, another one of the widespread "fact" that's been circulating in the public realm is that of the heavy environmental costs associated with the mining of nickel for batteries. Most of this came about from an article published in November 2006 by the Daily Mail, a right-leaning, British tabloid paper, which bore the slanderous title ‘Toyota factory turns landscape to arid wilderness.’ The article claimed that the mining of nickel in northern Ontario for Toyota was single-handedly turning the land into moonscape. As for my rebuttal - firstly, the environmental damage in the area around Sudbury, Ontario is the result of the accumulative trauma from mining that first started in the 1800s; and mining and smelting practices have largely improved since the environmental reformation of the 70s. Secondly, out of the Inco-Sudbury mine’s 174,800-ton output in 2004, Toyota purchased 1000 tons, just over 0.5% of its output. Ultimately, the British paper must have received so many complaints that it decided to retract the article in May 2007.
Drivers should also know that many vehicle components contain nickel regardless of whether it's hybrid or not - trims, rims, stainless steel, engine alloys (pistons, rings, liners, etc.) so on and so forth. The larger the engine, the more nickel is used. Until everyone stops driving, there's no reason to lay the blame on hybrid drivers as the cause for ripping up the earth for nickel.
I am certain that most hybrid drivers aren't naively thinking that they are saving the environment through their vehicles, and the same goes for vegetarians, recyclers, solar panel users, etc. But I applaud them for voting with their money and for being the pioneers whom play a pivotal role in both helping to establish a new cultural norm for using higher efficiency vehicles, and for quickening automakers' progress towards making more vehicles that may tread just a bit lighter on the earth.
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