One of the nastiest weather situations is when you are in the warm sector of a complex low. If the low along a front is deep enough it will significantly bend the front until the is a wedge of warm air surrounded by cold air. It results in a lot of precipitation and general misery. One the cold front passes, the weather will return to more normal conditions.
It doesn't sound too bad, except in the winter.
Last night it warmed up quite a bit and rained most of the night. The nice part of the rain is to did beat back a bunch of snow but now the cold front has passed and everything is starting to freeze. Weather like this reeks havoc on a city. The roads ad sidewalks turn to skating rinks. The plummeting temperature combined with the whipping wind makes being outside miserable and it worsens by the second. It's not nice at all.
Today in Ottawa, we are experiencing this.
There are a few lakes from the rain and if you are parked in the lake, you may be there until the next warm day. I was standing in three inches of water on top of ice and the wind was blowing me along. Thankfully I did not fall down, that would have ruined my day.
The good part of bad weather is it does not last forever. This will pass and we will be back to typical winter weather, where if you dress for it, you can be outside. Travel to where you need to be will get easier and life will resume.
Ottawa has been having a rather vigorous winter. The Rideau Canal was open before New Year's Eve for the first time in a decade. It's been cold, it keeps snowing and it doesn't look like its going to let up anytime soon.
Being Canadian means you like to talk about the weather and right now the weather is not nice in the nation's capital, but like all things, good and bad, it will change.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Immunize
Despite some very convincing scientific evidence there seems to be an ongoing debate on immunization against infectious diseases. I came upon a rather lengthy, heated, and interesting debate on Facebook. I weighed in but I have a bit more to say.
In my mind, unless you are going to have an allergic reaction, you should be immunized. The benefits to yourself and your community far outweigh the risks or costs (at least in Canada where universal health care provides the vaccination and injection service without direct cost to the end user.) That being said, a lot of people are dead set against immunizing themselves or their children.
One of the biggest problems in the debate about immunization is the people who work in public health and know about this kind of stuff are really smart. Now, don't get me wrong, we want smart people in charge of this kind of stuff. The problem is people tend to live, work, and socialize with people similar to themselves. So these really smart people spend the vast majority of their time with really smart people. Now, smart people like to be accurate in their communication, and as such, they usually develop very deep and broad vocabularies.
This is where the problem starts to set in.
Wait a minute, immunization is a very serious thing. We are exposing millions of people to the disease we are trying to prevent. Don't we want the people in charge of this to be very accurate when they are doing what they do to make and test vaccines? When the smart people are talking to each other we absolutely do, when they are talking to the general public, maybe not.
Since changing jobs and dealing with the public on a regular basis I have relearned that most people communicate in a simple way. A lot of people don't like 'big words' and would rather use three or four simple words than one obscure but accurate word to get their point across. So when the really smart people argue with science, too many people tune out and turn to pseudo-science or celebrities for their information.
Jenny McCarthy has been a strong advocate against immunization and a lot of people are buying her message. She's not a scientist so, why?
As a matter of full disclosure, I did have posters of Jenny McCarthy hanging in my house when I went to university. However, it was not her scientific knowledge that I was admiring. Since my mom reads my blog from time to time we will just leave it at that.
I don't know how deep or broad Jenny McCarthy's vocabulary is but when she speaks publicly, she uses simple words and short phrases. It's easy to understand. So when she presents her argument, everyone understands what she is trying to say. It doesn't mean what she is saying is correct but if you are not educated about immunization, what she says is plausible and understandable. Her message gets through, which is critically important.
The idea of immunization is scary. Vaccinations are constructed in a lab and contains the very disease you are trying to prevent. That's not very natural. There are a lot of people that believe if it is natural it can't be that harmful. The has long been central to the argument provided by the pro-weed lobby. That's not a very strong argument. Arsenic is natural, it's not made in a lab or a factory. If you ingest it, you will end up good and dead.
Another argument you often hear is you can take natural herbs to boost your immunity, they are plants and not harmful. If your argument is something is safe because it's a plant, feel free to roll around in poison ivy and let me know how that works out for you.
There are a few things that don't look good for immunizing yourself. Some people take the vaccination and still get sick while others don't take it and don't. Many vaccinations are delivered by needle and a lot of people don't like needles. Most people feel a bit under the weather for a few hours after taking. Some people have bad reactions leading to long term problems. These are tough things to overcome.
Today, I don't know what the message should be to get everyone who can be immunized to take the vaccine. I'm not educated in that area but I know something about communicating.
The message must be delivered so that a dishwasher at an all-night diner understands and accepts it. It can't use scientific terms. It needs to get the point across without using percentages, outliers, or any rate. If you use numbers they need to be small whole numbers. The really smart people need a message that makes sense to someone who doesn't see the value in finishing high-school or washing their hands after using the toilet.
I admit it is not an easy task but if Coca-Cola can convince hundreds of millions of people to regularly consume a beverage that has no value or benefit then there is hope.
In my mind, unless you are going to have an allergic reaction, you should be immunized. The benefits to yourself and your community far outweigh the risks or costs (at least in Canada where universal health care provides the vaccination and injection service without direct cost to the end user.) That being said, a lot of people are dead set against immunizing themselves or their children.
One of the biggest problems in the debate about immunization is the people who work in public health and know about this kind of stuff are really smart. Now, don't get me wrong, we want smart people in charge of this kind of stuff. The problem is people tend to live, work, and socialize with people similar to themselves. So these really smart people spend the vast majority of their time with really smart people. Now, smart people like to be accurate in their communication, and as such, they usually develop very deep and broad vocabularies.
This is where the problem starts to set in.
Wait a minute, immunization is a very serious thing. We are exposing millions of people to the disease we are trying to prevent. Don't we want the people in charge of this to be very accurate when they are doing what they do to make and test vaccines? When the smart people are talking to each other we absolutely do, when they are talking to the general public, maybe not.
Since changing jobs and dealing with the public on a regular basis I have relearned that most people communicate in a simple way. A lot of people don't like 'big words' and would rather use three or four simple words than one obscure but accurate word to get their point across. So when the really smart people argue with science, too many people tune out and turn to pseudo-science or celebrities for their information.
Jenny McCarthy has been a strong advocate against immunization and a lot of people are buying her message. She's not a scientist so, why?
As a matter of full disclosure, I did have posters of Jenny McCarthy hanging in my house when I went to university. However, it was not her scientific knowledge that I was admiring. Since my mom reads my blog from time to time we will just leave it at that.
I don't know how deep or broad Jenny McCarthy's vocabulary is but when she speaks publicly, she uses simple words and short phrases. It's easy to understand. So when she presents her argument, everyone understands what she is trying to say. It doesn't mean what she is saying is correct but if you are not educated about immunization, what she says is plausible and understandable. Her message gets through, which is critically important.
The idea of immunization is scary. Vaccinations are constructed in a lab and contains the very disease you are trying to prevent. That's not very natural. There are a lot of people that believe if it is natural it can't be that harmful. The has long been central to the argument provided by the pro-weed lobby. That's not a very strong argument. Arsenic is natural, it's not made in a lab or a factory. If you ingest it, you will end up good and dead.
Another argument you often hear is you can take natural herbs to boost your immunity, they are plants and not harmful. If your argument is something is safe because it's a plant, feel free to roll around in poison ivy and let me know how that works out for you.
There are a few things that don't look good for immunizing yourself. Some people take the vaccination and still get sick while others don't take it and don't. Many vaccinations are delivered by needle and a lot of people don't like needles. Most people feel a bit under the weather for a few hours after taking. Some people have bad reactions leading to long term problems. These are tough things to overcome.
Today, I don't know what the message should be to get everyone who can be immunized to take the vaccine. I'm not educated in that area but I know something about communicating.
The message must be delivered so that a dishwasher at an all-night diner understands and accepts it. It can't use scientific terms. It needs to get the point across without using percentages, outliers, or any rate. If you use numbers they need to be small whole numbers. The really smart people need a message that makes sense to someone who doesn't see the value in finishing high-school or washing their hands after using the toilet.
I admit it is not an easy task but if Coca-Cola can convince hundreds of millions of people to regularly consume a beverage that has no value or benefit then there is hope.
Friday, January 3, 2014
It's Winnipeg Cold
Cold weather does something to people. If you know how to handle it or are just simply willing to put mind over matter, it will help you rise above others. A lot of people are simply defeated by the cold.
I don't like the cold but I don't let it beat me. Yes, I will spend less time outside and yes, it's not ideal but you cannot let the air temperature rule your life.
What makes it really Winnipeg cold is it is bright and sunny to add to the frigid temperatures. It looks cold. The snow looks crisp there is a lot of exhaust fog coming from every vehicle on the road. It's one of those days when you sit in your car, the springs don't compress.
I moved away from Manitoba to get away from, amongst other things, the cold winters. The good part is it is not nearly as dark in Ottawa in the winter, the sun comes up earlier and goes down later than in Winnipeg. i even noticed, that even though the sun was not up at 7am, the sky wasn't pitch black. This brings the hope of spring and renewal.
There are a couple of ways to put your mind over the cold. You can tell yourself it's not cold, but lets be honest, that only works so well. You can remind yourself that days like today make spring and summer so much better. That helps if it isn't cold for too many days in a row.
To really beat the cold you have to be tough. You have to make sure you don't give in, you wear warm clothes and you stay out of the wind. It's really the only way.
Ottawa has cold days but really doesn't have a cold winter. It's going to warm up, I'm going to grab my skates and I'm going to enjoy the canal because using the weather to your advantage is the best way to beat it.
I don't like the cold but I don't let it beat me. Yes, I will spend less time outside and yes, it's not ideal but you cannot let the air temperature rule your life.
What makes it really Winnipeg cold is it is bright and sunny to add to the frigid temperatures. It looks cold. The snow looks crisp there is a lot of exhaust fog coming from every vehicle on the road. It's one of those days when you sit in your car, the springs don't compress.
I moved away from Manitoba to get away from, amongst other things, the cold winters. The good part is it is not nearly as dark in Ottawa in the winter, the sun comes up earlier and goes down later than in Winnipeg. i even noticed, that even though the sun was not up at 7am, the sky wasn't pitch black. This brings the hope of spring and renewal.
There are a couple of ways to put your mind over the cold. You can tell yourself it's not cold, but lets be honest, that only works so well. You can remind yourself that days like today make spring and summer so much better. That helps if it isn't cold for too many days in a row.
To really beat the cold you have to be tough. You have to make sure you don't give in, you wear warm clothes and you stay out of the wind. It's really the only way.
Ottawa has cold days but really doesn't have a cold winter. It's going to warm up, I'm going to grab my skates and I'm going to enjoy the canal because using the weather to your advantage is the best way to beat it.
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