Making Yourself Sick, Pilots and Guns, Oil and Asparagus.

Amongst the many ezines I get to do with health, WebMD is one and this morning there is an article on 6 things we do every day which could be making us sick. One of those things is using pillows and mattresses. They explain why. Its enough to make one sick just reading about the amount of skin cells a human sheds every day and the dust mites which accumulate in our beds because of it. Pity you can't pick up your bed and shove it in a freezer for a while, that would kill off the little buggers. If you want to read this article on the things we do regularly, http://tinyurl.com/2c2s2us its here. Vacuuming is another - I think I have this licked by using a Hepa filter with a sold dust bag. Not that vacuuming gets done very often in our apartment. With only two of us, the place doesn't get very dirty anyway. Heres's a new one, 'gethomeitis'. Discussing the air crash in India they are considering that this is why the crash occurred. Apparently it is something pilots often get, they are so anxious to land their planes at their home airports, that they make mistakes, this is one of the advantages of co-pilots who can often stop this happening. I also learned, this morning, that some pilots now carry guns since 9/11 and that so far no pilot has had to use it although one pilot did shoot out his windshield during landing - er, what was he doing with his gun out during landing anyway?? This came out because of a row between a pilot and his flight attendant girlfriend and she reported him as possibly being suicidal. He was stopped when just about to board the plane with his gun which he was carrying quite legally, but... they are apparently given psych tests before being permitted to cary one. Not sure whether this is a good or bad thing. The oil spill continues pumping barrels and barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico. BP are now talking of stopping it with mud?? Won't that dissolve and float away? I have only one serving of asparagus left, so guess where I will be going shortly? Although the weekend is probably not the best time to go any more as they are so busy these days. There is a video of Tim Barrie talking about the asparagus farm and their store here http://www.localharvest.ca/ on the Local Harvest Site. You have to scroll down the page a bit to see it. This recipe comes from the Asparagus Growers of Ontario. Asparagus Sukiyaki 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 lb round or sirloin steak 1 clove garlic 1 tsp soy sauce 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup water 1 medium green pepper 1/4 cup celery 1 small onion 1 lb fresh Ontario asparagus Cut beef into diagonal strips with a sharp knife. Brown in hot oil with garlic for 10 minutes. Remove garlic. Add soy sauce, salt and water. Reduce heat to simmer and cook, covered for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut green pepper into strips, cut celery in diagonal slices about 1/4 inch thick, and chop onion. Add to meat and cook 10 minutes. Wash and break off woody ends of asparagus stalks. Cut asparagus in 2-inch diagonal pieces. Add, after the other vegetables have cooked 10 minutes, and continue cooking 5 to 8 minutes, or until asparagus pieces are just tender. If the liquid is too thin, thicken with a teaspoon of cornstarch mixed with water. Cook until clear. Serve with rice or Chinese noodles. Yield: 4 to 5 servings Have a great day