With our famly scheduled to move in our new home just 3 weeks from now, I catch myself thinking of new issues to consider as we will be moving in. I suppose radon is something I need to learn more about. So to get started and inspired, I’m sharing this infographic:
![RadonIsReal.org [Infographic]](https://i0.wp.com/www.radonisreal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/RadonInfographic-1000.png)
Courtesy of RadonIsReal.org
4 years, 1 month.
Dear Jack,
With our closing date just 3 and a half weeks away (January 29th), when we go to visit the progress on our house now, it’s not so much “oh look what they put in!” as much as it is “what else do they need to do before our closing date?”
At this rate, we’re mainly just lacking carpet, sod for the yard, and the fence!
So now our new home has the dark brown hardwood floors we chose (currently covered with cardboard for protection), shelves in the closets, the toilets, the microwave (which we’ll never use but we know would help the resale value should we ever move, though we never plan to), the dishwasher, and the oven.
As for the washer and dryer, those are our responsibilities, but as I recently mentioned, Mommy and I bought those during Christmas break.
And as a family, we bought our refrigerator at Lowe’s, using the 10% off coupon we received when we moved out of our town home.
(I’m still not ready to write to you about that because we’re still unclear how much money we made off the deal… I feel that story is yet unsettled.)
You talked Mommy and me into buying you a plastic candy cane on clearance for 50 cents, there at Lowe’s.
After we left Lowe’s, you had way too much fun with that thing when we stopped at Whole Foods to buy groceries.
You created a wagon by attaching the candy cane to a grocery basket. While Mommy did the shopping, I ushered you to emptier aisles so that you wouldn’t run into anyone.
For the record, the “emptier aisles” at Whole Foods were the soda/beverage one and the one with dog food.
I admit, there’s a certain amount of stress and anxiety in Mommy and me having to orchestrate the move and all the details that must come together the weekend of January 29th.
Like, for example, I’m in the midst of asking around who I should get Internet through, in Spring Hill.
We used AT&T at our townhome in Nashville and we had no problems at all, but I do wonder if we could save some money there?
What we’re used to paying is $50 a month for just Internet, since we only watch Netflix on our TV.
While the big day approaching will be exciting for our family, I’ll be glad once we get all these loose ends tied and I can know for sure we actually get to move in the weekend of January 29th; and our appliances are installed and working along with the Internet.
Love,
Daddy
4 years, 1 month.
Dear Jack,
Last January, our family drove to Huntsville, Alabama to see Monster Jam 2014 because the Nashville arena only had show dates at night, which would have kept you up way past your bed time.
However, this year, with you being 4, Mommy and I can get away with letting you cheat your bedtime every once in a while like we did a few weeks ago for Marvel Universe Live.
Well, turns out that this year in Nashville for Monster Jam 2015, there was a Sunday afternoon show date. So we went!
Yes, that is an anteater in your arms. That was one of the specific things you asked for your birthday in November.
You named her “Annie.” And she apparently loved the monster truck show as much as you did!
One of your favorite monster trucks was there: Grave Digger.
Not to mention, Son-uva Digger showed up too.
Something I have learned after seeing two Monster Jams is that the location of the venue determines which trucks will show up, because I supposed that’s based on which drivers live closest to the arena it’s being held. (We were at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.)
As you can see from the shots of the crowd, it was a packed stadium! Nashville shows up for monster trucks, that’s for sure.
I think your favorite part was seeing both Grave Digger and Captain’s Curse flip over and have to be rescued by the machine.
They also had some ATV racers there as well. Which, speaking of, I hate it that we’ll miss the Arenacross event at the end of this month. However, that’s the weekend we move into our new house!
We sat next to the winners of the ticket giveaway I did on the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog. They had a blast as well.
Granted, I should define “had a blast” when referring to 3 and 4 year-old little boys like the two of you.
You weren’t necessarily screaming and cheering the entire time… That’s because typically when something overwhelmingly entertains you like that, you just sit there and soak it all in.
From there, you will go on to tell all your friends and teachers about it at school for the following weeks. Going to the show also feeds your ongoing interest in playing with your growing collection of toy monster trucks.
It was no surprise that as soon as you got home, you began racing your Monster Jam trucks on the bedroom floor: “Vvvvvvvrrrrroooo! Eeeeeeccckk! Jch-jch-jch!”
You are a kid who loves Monster Jam. And your anteater, too… at the same time!
Love,
Daddy
I’ve been saying this for years, but there is good reason to question why it is that so quickly so many major brands paint themselves pink in the name of finding a cure for breast cancer.
Sure, we all want to there to be an easy medical cure for breast cancer and we all personally know someone who has been affected by breast cancer.
It’s a deeply emotional subject. Therefore, it’s natural to want to show our support to find a cure for breast cancer.
However, what I want to point out about our society is that we’re much, much, much more concerned with finding a cure, having been throwing money at Susan G. Komen since 1984, than we are concerned with actually preventing breast cancer.
I subscribe to the philosophy of Albert Einstein: “Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.”
The thing is, the cure for cancer was discovered decades ago. Just watch the documentary Forks Over Knives on Netflix. You’ll see testimonials from women who diagnosed with terminal cancer back in the 1980s and 1990s.
You will be able to learn the reality that “the cancer switch can be turned on and off” through a plant based diet:
They switched to a plant-based lifestyle (they stopped eating animal products and artificial flavors and colors). Turns out, they are still alive and as of the taping of the documentary were still cancer free!
The overwhelming evidence is there.
However, this truth is annoying. It requires a person to change their lifestyle in order to not get cancer.
Our society instead places a higher value on fixing the preventable problem after it has already happened.
Just take a look at the infographic at the very bottom of this post, which illustrates which health issues we raise the most money to find a cure for, versus which health issues are actually killing us.
What you see is that the diseases that kill us the most are the most easily preventable; through proper diet and exercise; yet our passion is in “finding the cure” for the more disease that kills the lower number of us.
As for the Susan G. Komen “find a cure” movement, I’m apparently not the own one picking up on the fact that the marketable passion to find a cure is actually overshadowing the importance of actually finding a cure, and most importantly, it distracts from the fact cancer is largely preventable with a plant-based lifestyle.
Just check out this recent satirical Onion article: Susan G. Komen Foundation Launches Deep Space Probe To Bring Breast Cancer Awareness To Rest Of Galaxy
It points out the fact that lack of awareness, or raising money to find a cure for breast cancer, aren’t the problems. They are the symptoms of the problem.
The actual problem is people are dying of a largely preventable cancer.
I think it’s important to consider the fact that countries that consume little to no dairy also happen to have the least occurrence of breast cancer.
So it seems the actual problem is the lack of awareness of how to eat in a way to prevent cancer from forming in the body in the first place.
There’s also this one featured on The Huggington Post, “Susan G. Komen Partners With Fracking Firm, Despite Possible Cancer Links“, which points out Susan G. Komen is turning a blind eye to the fact so many of brands that raise money for them (as a sales tactic, of course) actually have products that are known to cause cancer, not prevent it.
But it’s not just with companies who wave the pink flag to increase profits, or with Susan G. Komen turning a blind eye to sponsored products actually being linked to cancer.
The annoying truth is that it’s also our society’s tendency to keep literally buying into the concept that “finding a cure” for cancer is more important or relevant than preventing it.
If you’re familiar with my blog and my life, you know that I’ve been a vegan for more than a year and a half, a vegetarian for 3 years, and kosher (no pork, shellfish, etc.) for 6 years.
I am happy to answer any questions you have about this “extreme” lifestyle. Just leave a comment below.
4 years, 1 month.
Dear Jack,
On November 26th, the night before Thanksgiving this year, I was driving home from work. Normally, I would have had you in the car with me, in the back seat.
Fortunately, Mommy got off work early that day and she picked you up instead.
As I drove down that narrow, wooded, farm land stretch from Cool Springs to Nolensville, on Clovercroft Road, I made sure to slow down, going under the speed limit because of all the light rain and heavy fog obstructing my view.
Less than a mile from home, I looked over the left hand side of the road to see what appeared to be a skinny white cow running faster than I’ve ever seen a cow run.
As it made its way down that hill, which was part of a farm, I noticed it was being chased… by a deer.
At that point, I realized that actually, both animals were deer.
The all-white one jumped the 4 foot tall barb wire fence. In a split-second moment, I had a big decision to make:
I chose to remain cruising at the same speed and let the deer run into the side of me.
Officially, I did not hit a deer… a deer hit me!
It reminded me of some generic yet familiar scene from Lost, where some big explosion happens and the character wakes up wondering where they are. (That seemed to happen a lot on Lost!)
Miraculously, by the grace of God, the albino deer didn’t crash through my window. It hit hard against my driver’s side door and tire.
However, the impact didn’t slow down my car or knock my car off the road.
When I looked back behind me, I saw no sign of the deer; nor did the cars behind me have to swerve. The albino deer just completely disappeared.
I was able to drive home, with no injuries.
However, when I got home, I was unable to open the driver’s side door, as the deer’s impact had jammed the tire panel into the door.
And for some reason, the battery was dead the next morning.
I ended up having to have my car towed. Please note to avoid having an insurance claim in between the 2 biggest holidays of the year.
Keep in mind the accident occurred on November 26th. Well, I got my car back from the shop just a couple of days ago, on December 30th; about 5 weeks later.
I have to compliment Service King in Cool Springs, TN; where my car was towed. They did a flawless job of keeping me informed via text messages and phone calls on the status of my vehicle’s condition.
Yes, it took 5 weeks to get my car back after the accident, but in no way was the delay because of Service King. It had to do with the insurance inspection in the midst of the holidays, as well as a surge of claims of deer hitting cars.
My car was towed to facility to a place where they total cars; only to eventually learn that, thank God, my car wasn’t totaled.
So after a couple of weeks of that, it was finally taken to Service King, where it was repaired.
Just to be clear, though, it was nothing short of a miracle that my car wasn’t totaled. The state of Tennessee requires insurance companies to total vehicles if the damage is equal to 70% or more of the vehicle’s value.
Looks like I was only safe by a couple hundred dollars.
One good thing that came out of all this is I got to review 4 cars during the past month. For example, here are the stories that came out of the Lexus LX 570:
Dear Jack: My Childhood Christmas Tree, The 1980s Time Capsule
Dear Jack: Christmas Is Always Quirky Wherever We Are
Discovering A Mysterious Purse While Geocaching In Fort Payne, Alabama
Dear Jack: Little River Falls/Abandoned Church Christmas Trip
Dear Jack: The Day After Christmas Was Still Fun Too!
How To Have A Vegan, Vegetarian, Kosher Or Plant-Based Christmas
2014 Lexus LX 570: Family Friendly Review
Dear Jack: I Was Hit By An Albino Deer! (Yes, An Albino Deer)
I also reviewed the 2014 Lexus RX 450h during this 5 week period as well:
2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review
Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)
In closing, please remember my words of wisdom: Never slow down, stop, or swerve to avoid hitting an animal.
Had I done any of those things, the accident would have been billed as my fault. I would have had a $500 deductible, plus my premium would have went up.
But because I chose to let the deer hit me, I remained safe on the road, and my deductible was only $100; not to mention my premium will not increase.
Here in the state of Tennessee, you seriously have to watch out for those albino deer…
Fortunately, your Uncle Andrew and Aunt Dana bought me a deer warner for Christmas.
Love,
Daddy
