agent erica

Here’s an interesting and amusing blog that relates to my previous blog titled, “Whats in the WATER??”:

 http://www.today.com/external.php?url=http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/boingboing/iBag/~3/161284317/list-of-the-worlds-w.html&reffurl=http://www.today.com/view/list-of-the-world-s-weirdest-stupidest-conspiracy-theories/id-500148/

I am responding to post #19 about FLOURIDE in the water.

No, we don’t have a choice if the government isn’t allowing us to vote on whether water is flouridated.  Furthermore, buying bottled water doesn’t alleviate the problem because we absorb a lot of water through our skin when we shower, brush our teeth and wash our faces with tap water.  And our skin just happens to be the largest organ in the body.

The choice should be the other way around, as I mentioned in my blog.  If one wants to use flouride, then one should be able to choose to buy products such as toothpaste and mouth wash that contain flouride.

I was recently listening to the radio when I heard that the government would soon be adding flouride to the water in San Diego.  “Whaaatt??” I said out loud - I thought those days were over.  I couldn’t believe my ears so I began doing a little research to find out the deal with the water situation in California. 

According to the San Diego County Water Authority (http://www.sdcwa.org/manage/fluoridation.phtml), former Governor Pete Wilson signed a bill in 1995 Authorizing the California Department of Health Services to require water suppliers to flouridate their public water supply.  The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California is not one that is required to flouridate, BUT they decided to flouridate on their own based on recommendations from the California Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

SCARY.  Why would they recommend such a thing when there is evidence that flouride can be harmful and why isn’t there a bigger stink about this??!!  Well, I aim to do my best to get to the bottom of this.

The SDCWA.org website says that, “Naturally occurring fluoride levels range from 0.1 to 0.4 parts per million, and water in San Diego County is currently at 0.23 parts per million on average. Fluoride will be adjusted to the optimal range for dental health of 0.7 to 0.8 parts per million.”  I personally don’t understand why we want to raise the natural levels of flouride in the water to levels that might be dangerous.  First I want to find out what scientists and health experts have to say about flouride.

 I found an article online from Fox6 written in late 2007 about the flouride controversy in San Diego.  A group called Citizens For Safe Drinking Water is quoted saying the the flouride added to water is, “not a natural product at all, it comes from the phosphate fertilizer industry “ (http://www.fox6.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=9113DA9C-216A-41F2-9CC6-322B7D5ACFA3&gsa=true).  Sounds even scarier…but read the article to see both sides.  The National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine is quoted saying that the plan will expose more than 64,000 children a day to unsafe fluoride levels.  Children may develop flourosis - a condition where teeth develop a dark stain - and in some cases, substantial erosion of enamel can occur.  But the general dental community seems to support the use of flouride in the water…so the conflicting viewpoints are still confusing me. 

Either way, I don’t understand why our government would pay (didn’t we just have budget cuts?) to essentially medicate the entire population without allowing us to vote on it (what happened to democracy!?) and especially when there is an alternative.  If one wants to use flouride, one can easily buy toothpaste with flouride in it or even mouthwash.  So WHY are we all being subjected to this?  Something is wrotten in the state of Denmark, my friends.  My first thought is that there must be some political reason…or perhaps I am missing something here.

According to another very informative article on SignOnSanDiego.com, “The annual cost of fluoridation ranges from 50 cents per person in large communities to $3 per person in smaller communities” (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070916-9999-1n16fluoride.html).

 And, not all dentists agree with adding flouride to water:

“Dr. David Kennedy, a retired San Diego dentist who opposes fluoridation, disputes those studies. He cites other studies – hotly contested by proponents – showing the dangers of fluoridation. “Do you think it’s appropriate for a government to put a chemical in the water that causes disproportionate harm?” he asked.

Green, leader of the anti-fluoride group, said fluorosilicic acid, the chemical used to fluoridate water, has not been tested to determine its long-term effects. The chemical contains arsenic and lead, which could lead to lung or bladder cancer, he said. “

Well folks…this debate is TO BE CONTINUED.  But I suggest doing your own research and reading the articles I cited.  One way to avoid drinking tap water and also avoid buying plastic bottled water (because of their harmful effect on the environment and also because almost all plastic bottles leach into the water) is to do like I have recently done and invest in GLASS containers for your home and then carry around a lighter aluminum container (sold at most eco-conscious establishments such as Whole Foods, Henry’s, etc. and Sigg water bottles are sold online too).  I recently bought a 5 gallon glass jug at a local water retailer that sells super-purified water which I can then refill at 35 cents a gallon (they have a giant several-tank system in the store that takes everything out of the water including flouride, chlorine and everything else - and if you want to you can remineralize the water yourself by adding salt or crystals, or so I’ve been told).  This glass jug sits atop a ceramic base (certified lead-free ceramic) with a spout (the spout is admittedly plastic, but tiny).  I calculated the intial cost of buying the jug and ceramic base will equal the amount I spend in a year on plastic bottles…and then after a year I will be saving money.  I’ve stopped buying plastic water bottles altogether and it’s been great for my peace of mind :) and darn if I didn’t reduce my carbon footprint by quite a bit!!  Now all I need to do is stop eating meat…

(Since I’m on the eco-friendly rant, I’ll explain what I mean by “now all I need to do is stop eating meat.”  A Japanese study done in 2007 found that every kilogram of beef you eat produces more greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution than if you drove three hours and left a 100 Watt lightbulb burning at home for nearly 20 days.)

Ok, petunias, I’m going to break this advice down into categories.  You may want to read them all though to check out what your competition is doing and because you probably don’t have a job if you are reading this, chump.  Just kidding, good luck.

The NEWBIE - you’ve never worked in a restaurant, the word hostess conjures up images of soft pastry goodness in individually wrapped packaging and you think Cuba Libre is a slogan that refers to Cuban nationalism.  Or maybe no one mentioned to you that your English/Philosophy/Anthropology/etc. major would mean virtually nothing outside of academia - in which case I completely feel your pain.  But regardless of why your brokeness led you to fixate on bartending as the key to your financial freedom, I am here to help you…or at least help you asses whether you can make it.  Now the subcategories will be broken down into rather superficial descriptions of what you look like so that you can understand the steps You need to take to be successful.  Be honest with yourself or I can’t help you.  Honesty is next to godliness is next to cleanliness, I always say.

- You are a Newbie ”Cute Girl” or “Super Hot Guy”:  [Meaning, when you go out at night you get hit on by men/women or you get checked out often (and not because your a** is hanging out the bottom of your pre-cracked-out-Britney-era cutt-off shorts.  No one likes a skank.  Unless, of course, you want to bartend in a strip club…which I hear is actually a lucrative career move).]  All you need to do is scour Craigslist for a cocktail waitress gig and then smile and flirt your way into a bartending position after that.  Or snag a bar back position and while you are getting experience by watching, apply for bartending jobs elsewhere or try to move up.  Of course, as a cocktail waitress you also have to flirt your way into getting one of the bartenders to teach you how to make drinks first.  And you may want to practice carrying a tray and balancing drinks on it…because if you can’t do that and you drop a drink on a patron’s head you’ll probably get drop-kicked out the front door of the establishment.  If you are a clutz, you may want to try another profession.  Read below for more options in case that happens to be you or you just realized you are not a Cute Girl nor do you posses the boyish charm of an Abercrombie model.  And come to think of it, your flabby abs belong in one of those before pictures on the wall of the gym.

-You are a Newbie ”Decent Looking Guy,” ”Short But Attractive Guy” or a ”Redeeming Feature Girl” (or a but-her-face, meaning you have big boobs or great hair or some feature that your skeezy manager thinks patrons will appreciate):  Well, you better also have some personality (can’t help you with that one, kid), have some connections, or get ready to pay your dues for a while.  You will likely need to take a job as a bar back for a while at a bar or restaurant.  This will be good though because you will learn what a bartender does and also be humbled by being someone else’s bitch (in case your less-than-satisfactory appearance hasn’t already given you complex and this is the reason you’ve resorted to bartending rather than having the confidence to follow your real dreams, in which case, you’ve got bigger fish to fry and I’m not equipped to handle that kind of baggage.)

-You are just plain “fugly”:  That’s nice that you are honest with yourself.  But geeeze, a little delusion never hurt anyone.  Get a personal trainer and some false confidence and see the advice above.

[SIDE NOTE!  Matriculation Not Necessary: Why I don’t recommend bartending school.            I know from experience, my friends.  The bartending school I went to required 8 classes of 4 hours each totalling a painful 32 hours spent in a janky old office set up like a bar where we practiced with bottles filled with colored water (sounds genius, but not so great because you can’t taste the drinks to see if you did it right).  The 32 hours they make you do could easily be distilled down into about 15 hours if the “teachers” weren’t so shitty.  At the fabulous school I went to, my first teacher was too white-trash for his own wife-beater tank top and also spoke some form of ebonics (awkward for all present, considering his race and location in Southern California) and spent more time telling stories about himself in 3rd person than teaching us anything (seriously, this guy was a loon).  Listening to him lecture for 4 hours felt like the equivalent of 8 hours of traffic school or perhaps equal to one hour of waterboarding.  And don’t even get me started on the owner of the school.  He was a recovering alcoholic and had not been to a bar in 20 years, yet he teaches some of the classes and has never heard of a jaeger bomb (needless to say, he didn’t have very relevant advice).  He also smoked cigarettes like it was his job (during class and inside the room) and supplemented this habit with a capuccino an hour which caused him to jolt around the classroom like a maniac…not to mention I knew twice as much about wine as him.  And also, some bars look down on going to bartending school.  Best to save yourself the time and money and just learn the skills on the job!!]

Well, I’m exhausted and that is all the advice I can wring out of my brain today.  And anyway, if you aren’t a newbie than you probably already know how to go about getting yourself a bartending job.

Stay tuned for more awesomeness…

Welcome to the fabulous world of ME.  I aim to entertain, so here goes.

My geo-identity:  I am San Diegan at heart and also due to current residence, although I’ve lived in Orange County, Spain and, most recently, Los Angeles.  Costa Rica holds the title of my favorite place to visit…but Washington D.C. and Italy are close runners up (I just loove that Uffizi)!

I’m curious about everything (among other traits I share with the cat species…like my general avoidance of getting wet…until my boyfriend whines long enough that I cave in and go surfing with him, which I do always end up enjoying)(I’ve also been told that I have reflexes that are “like a cat”)(a man I worked with randomly gave me a cat calendar one time because he, without me ever sayinga word about cats, decided it was something I would like)(in another un-related work incident, a co-worker gave me a birthday card with a cat on the front and said that it reminded him of me)(hmm…whaat does it allll meeeeannn??)

Anyway, the point I was going to make is that this blog is about everything because I am a curious kid.  Take what I write with a grain of salt.  And take your grain of salt with some tequila.

Hasta!