I was watching television on New Year’s Eve, when I was quite disturbed by the message of a commercial that came on. The setting was a group of men drinking at a bar. When the one man got ready to leave, he contacted a designated driver. He left with his designated driver. The overarching statement was, “with more cops out there, why take a chance on getting a DUI?” This commercial was sponsored by “safety” organizations in Virginia and this was the message? I thought that it was a good commercial, right up to that statement. In my opinion, the…
Browsing: Commentary
Hello and welcome back to the new but old version of the Dogpound. New because we are in a new year… but in this issue we are going back to 2015 for a visit. At work, the month of December is usually a very quiet month for us. We usually have our annual physical inventory the first weekend of the month and we plan for a shut-down at the end of the year for the holidays, which this year started on the 24th through the 4th. A very long and appreciated vacation after another hectic business year. However, management had…
You might get your wish if the New Year’s weekend is any indication. Clear skies blessed us and the soggy ground could have dry if the sun would give us a break. There are some interesting statistics offered by NOAA out of their Wakefield satellite station concerning our latest wacky weather. It’s no surprise that December was one of the wettest on record. The region had just short of six inches of rain (5.94), twice the normal amount, which was 2.7 above normal, .888 over last year. The most we had. On Dec. 23 – 24 we had a whopping…
To the Editor: I was reading Mr. Gray’s latest commentary “It’s Over” and found myself discouraged at the tone of the article and the division that Mr. Gray creates in an attempt to prove his point. Mr. Gray’s notion that today’s conservatism “has left America poorer, unhealthier, less united, and less secure than at any time since the aftermath of the Civil War” seems to ignore that conservatism has never had the governmental control that the progressive movement had during the last century and the first two years of the Obama administration. The Democratic Party controlled 2/3 of the government for the first…
Fatigue is a very common medical complaint among a wide variety of age groups. Anemia is just one of the possible causes. Literally, anemia means lack of “heme” or blood. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Without adequate hemoglobin, the body doesn’t get enough oxygen to carry out normal cell functions. The most common type of anemia is iron deficiency anemia. Iron is needed for the body to manufacture hemoglobin. Individuals can become iron deficient due to inadequate dietary intake of iron, during times of rapid…
Happy New Year! What is a gardener to do in the winter? Research and planning are both necessary steps in successful gardening. New or extended plant beds in the landscape is a common garden project that can be rewarding but also disappointing if not thought out thoroughly. Many gardeners rush around their yard in the spring looking for that perfect place for a new plant bed. They remove the existing vegetation, work the soil, install the plants, edge the bed, cover with mulch, and hurt their shoulder from patting themselves on the back because it looks wonderful. Then they walk…
In the early morning hours of Dec. 28, Hamilton, Ohio firefighters were battling a blaze in a single-family dwelling. The first arriving units had received information that there were possibly people inside. This information sets events into motion, namely the most dangerous mode that firefighters work under, the rescue mode. In this situation, firefighters are working without a rapid intervention team in place and may even be working without the protection of a hoseline. The end result of the Ohio incident is that there was no one home and a 28-year old firefighter lost his life, when the floor collapsed,…
Hello and welcome to the 2016 edition of the Dogpound. Seems strange saying that, but at least I have not written any checks using 2015 as the date. Anyway, the start of 2016 has not been overly pleasant. My old cell phone finally gave up the ghost. It would show me four bars but have no signal, or I would have no bars and it would work fine, or it would just show me the image of a phone with a cross over it. I took out the battery and SIM card, cleaned everything, put it back together, worked for…
How much do you love Christmas? When we were kids we just couldn’t wait until the day came. It seemed as if it took forever until the big day finally arrived. As the clock ticked, the anticipation increased to a crescendo, passion plays, practicing Christmas songs in chorus, games at school, decorating the tree, stringing lights, mom wrapping presents, making cookies and then the glow of Christmas eve. And, then it arrived; the happiest day of the year, even better than the last day of school in the spring. But the Christian aspect of the Holiday has taken a back…
Even though we have had an uncharacteristically warm December this year, the cold weather is just around the corner. Every winter season the focus of acute health conditions makes its usual turn toward the respiratory diseases. These include colds, ear and sinus infections, and the seasonal flu and its complications, such as pneumonia. Each year over 5.5 million Americans will get pneumonia. This figure does not include infections by individuals who are hospitalized or in a nursing home. Therefore, this type of pneumonia is referred to as “community-acquired” pneumonia. The lungs are responsible for bringing oxygen into the body. Oxygen…