Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Readers,
First, THANK YOU for reading my blog :)  I'm not one that looks forward to "the holidays", but I will take this moment, in honor of Thanksgiving, to say that I am thankful for my son, my friends, my job, my house, and the freedom that we all enjoy in this country.
Please be safe this weekend!  On the average, kitchen fires account for 42% of home fires - BUT, on Thanksgiving Day, that number rises to 70%.  These are PREVENTABLE fires, by just being more careful.  Just a few reminders to keep you safe these next few days:

• Keep your cooking space clean and clutter free.
• If you're using the stovetop, BE IN THE KITCHEN.  If you need to leave, even for a minute, turn the stove off until you come back.
• If you're using the oven, BE IN THE HOUSE, and BE AWAKE.  If you need to leave the house, or take a nap, turn the oven off until you get back (and set a really LOUD alarm clock).
• Have working smoke detectors.  The photoelectric kind are best to have near the kitchen, and are less likely to cause nuisance alarms.
• Keep kids and pets away from the stove - and better yet, out of the kitchen.
• Have a fire extinguisher handy, and know how to use it.

Have a great weekend!  -Casidy

The Vaxens

Anyone who has ever doubted that fire breathing dragons can and do exist, is .... wrong.  Do we question the existence of bioluminescent creatures such as fireflies and glow worms?  Do we question that the voltage coming from electric eels is actual electricity?  So, why not fire breathing dragons?

Here is a tale, written by a modern blogger (me), about a dragon family named The Vaxen's:

In a land closer than you would imagine, at a time not so long ago, lived a little girl dragon named Para Fin Vaxen.  Para was one of 4 siblings.  She had two older sisters, twins, named Candelle and Be'es; and a younger brother named Carnauba.  Para Fin, Candelle, Be'es, and Carnauba Vaxen were ordinary dragons in every way.  Well, ordinary in every way except for one:  their parents were fire breathers.

Having fire breathing parents comes with it's perks:  their fireplace never went cold; wet socks were dried in seconds; treacherous icy hills were cleared without effort; and they were even invited to light the Olympic Torch one year.  In general, the good that came from having fire-breathing parents outweighed the stigma of being "different".

Unlike her sisters and brother, Para Fin longed to be a fire-breather.  Her parents were keen to her wish, and tried as best they could to squelch it, for fear that she would get hurt.  Para Fin practiced in the privacy of the backyard shed.  She kept a notebook under a floorboard, beneath a wheelbarrow, journaling all of her experiments.  For 3 years, Para Fin practiced and journaled.  And on the days that she couldn't practice, she would take her journal to her room, reading through old experiments, and conjuring up new ones.  She tried forcefully exhaling after drinking extremely hot tea, but that just gave her the hiccups.  She tried fitting as many chili peppers as her mouth would hold, but this just caused tears to roll from her eyes, extinguishing even the potential of fire.  She tried meditation, imagining herself to "be" the flame, which usually put her to sleep.  She tried all of this and so much more, with no success.

The Vaxen's celebrated Hanukkah, and Para Fin was so hoping that she could surprise her family and light the Menorah with fire breathing.  She had practiced for 3 years, and with 2 months to go before Hanukkah, she was determined to discover the art of fire breathing.  She toted her experiment journal along wherever she went.  She practiced in the shed every free moment she had.  The two months passed, and still Para Fin could not fire-breathe.  She was devastated having not attained her goal, but accepted her loss like only a true champion would.

Hanukkah that year looked to be the usual:  mom and dad lighting the Menorah; feasts with family and friends; dreidel competitions between the cousins.  On day 5 of the celebration, Candelle and Be'es woke early to help their mother in the kitchen.  After sleeping in, Para Fin took a seat text to the kitchen window, sipping hot cider while she watched her younger brother attempt to chop wood with their father.  Carnauba would swing the axe no more than 10 times, then drop it to tuck his hands into his armpits, trying to warm them.  Father would motion for Carnauba to hold out his hands, then blow flame around his woolen mittens, warming and drying them, followed by the two of them doing a high-5.  She watched no less than 10 cycles of this.

Lost in a daydream, Para Fin startled when Be'es shook her shoulder, impatiently asking, "Para!  Do you want a latke, or not?!".  "Oh, sure" she replied.  She retrieved applesauce and sour cream from the fridge, and set out plates for everyone.  No sooner had she set the table, when her father and brother came in from chopping wood, and they all sat down for breakfast.

The Menorah sat in the middle of the table, ready for 5 of the 9 candles to be lit.  Mom blew one of her mini-flames - the kind she used for delicate tasks such as lighting candles, or the pilot light on the stove.  Dad poured milk and coffee, and Carnauba tried to shove an entire latke in his mouth before the candles were lit, sending Candelle into a tizzy.  Para Fin took a sip of milk ... and at this very moment, her destiny was forever changed.  Realizing it was not milk, but some other "nasty" (her words, not mine) substance, Para Fin eschewed from her mouth whatever it was that she drank in a forceful spray of fine droplets.  These droplets aimed directly towards the flame of the first candle that her mother had lit, and spontaneously combusted into a fire ball, which in turn lit the next 4 candles.  Her family sat speechless at what just happened.  Carnauba's mouth fell open and a latke fell out, Candelle and Be'es looked at each other in shock, Father looked at Mother, and Mother looked at Para Fin, who's face was ablaze with surprise and satisfaction.
It turns out, that Para Fin had mistakenly drank a glass of off-drippings from the breakfast meat, and the spray of oily droplets spontaneously combusted upon hitting the flame of the first candle.

Your fire safety lesson today is on Grease Fires.  This is the time of year when people are cooking a lot more, and the incidents of kitchen fires rise.  Grease fires are a common form of kitchen fire, and here's how you extinguish them:
1. TURN OFF the heat (burner), if safe to do so
2. COVER the pan with a tight-fitting lid, if safe to do so
If you can do these first 2 steps, the fire should go out.  If the first 2 steps don't work, you can:
3. Use a FIRE EXTINGUISHER (which is basically baking soda under pressure, allowing you to smother the fire without getting too close like you'd have to do with a box of baking soda)
If none of the above works, CALL 911!

NEVER USE WATER to extinguish a grease fire.  Why not?  Because, grease floats on water.  When you add water to a grease fire, the water goes directly underneath the grease. The water then immediately explodes into hot steam, forcing the grease into the air in small droplets, which spontaneously combust when they hit the oxygen in the air outside of the pan.  The result: HUGE FIRE BALL, which will most likely burn you and/or anything in it's path.  Here is a video that shows, up close, the devastating effect of putting water on a grease fire:

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-grease-fire-super-close-up.html

Hot? or not??

Any American Idol fans out there?  I followed the show on and off while it aired.  And then came Adam Lambert.  I haven't watched Idol since Adam Lambert - not because he ruined it for me, but because is so good that I'm convinced no one will ever top him.  Then came X-Factor.  I admit, I watched a few of the auditions, and thought, "blah".  That is, until I fatefully heard Melanie Amaro sing while flannel chipping (our term here at home for channel flipping).  I am telling you right now:  Adam Lambert is HOT, but so is Melanie Amaro.  She is a Celine-Mariah-Beyonce-diva all wrapped up in one voice.  If you haven't heard her, just Google her name and watch/listen to a video of her online.  You will be blown away....


So, hot? or not??  We ask ourselves this question when critiquing music/talent shows.  The barista asks us this question when ordering coffee on a warm summer day.  Baby bear asked himself this question while tasting 3 bowls of porridge.  And I'm asking you this question in terms of what you know about fire.


Do you know how hot fire is?  It's about 1200 deg F.  Do you know how hot the glowing ashes of a cigarette are?  About 800 deg F.  Do you know how hot liquids need to be to cause a 3rd degree burn?  The answer is more ambiguous than the first two.  What we DO know, is that hot liquids - such as hot water, coffee, tea, oil/grease, and steam - can burn just like fire.  Hot liquid burns are the #1 cause of burns to children.  Curious kids pulling hot coffee or tea cups down onto themselves.  Active little ones underfoot while an adult cooks in the kitchen.  Toddlers left alone in the bathtub even for just a few seconds, and turning on the hot water.  These are just a few examples.


Agencies from OSHA to NTSI have tested water's ability to burn skin at specific temperatures, and for specific amounts of time of exposure.  There is no magic formula that proves that a liquid at "X" deg F, with a "Y" minute exposure time, will cause "Z" type of burn.  However, what we DO know, is that hot liquids over 120 deg F will more readily cause 2nd and 3rd deg burns compared to those under 120 deg F.  We also know that it only takes a second or two, for hot liquid (over 120 deg F) to cause 2nd and 3rd degree burns.  How vulnerable someone is to a hot liquid burn depends mostly on age -  those under 6 and over 60 being the most vulnerable.  Outside of that, it just depends on what burned you, how long it burned for, your current health, and how soon you received intervention.

So, your prevention tips for the day:  keep your hot water heater set at 120 deg F or cooler;  keep mugs of hot coffee and tea out of reach of curious kiddos;  when cooking, use the back burners first, and keep the pot/pan handles turned in, to prevent you or someone else from catching the handle and spilling the boiling contents on yourself;  make sure that toddlers and babies have constant supervision in the bathtub (use toddler proof faucet knob protectors if needed).  Last but not least, teach your kids early on that hot liquid can burn just like fire.  Know what's hot! and what's not!!

Smoke and Mirrors

... a catch phrase for deception, fraud, or some activity intentionally covered up.  The phrase stems from the  the work of magicians, who literally use smoke to perform illusive charms such as pulling a rabbit out of a hat.  Somehow, that temporary curtain of smoke dividing the moment when the hand goes into the empty top hat, from the moment when the hand pulls a rabbit out of that same top hat, keeps the audience forever guessing, "how on earth did he DO that?!"
Here is the story of a magician where Smoke and Mirrors becomes much more than a metaphor:

Count Schwartz-Atmen was a German who, from a very young age, longed to be a master of the craft of magic.  His obsession started when he was given a magic wand for his 3rd birthday.  He would wander the hills from morning until nightfall waving his magic wand, turning caterpillars into butterflies, and casting spells on everything from ants to Zwiebeln (onions).

The Count's parents were concerned that he didn't take interest in anything but magic, and so for his 7th birthday they bought him a radio.  The Count loved the gift - not so much for it's music, but for it's potential to help him sharpen his true passion.  Count spent hours mastering a technique whereby he could change the radio station without actually touching the radio.  And, although shunned by his peers for his unusual nature up until this age, he soon became popular for his ability to do "cool tricks".  Magic became a fad, and Count became a household name in his small town.

As we all know, fads fade, and as the fad of magic faded, so did Count's popularity.  He didn't mind so much though, because even though his friends had lost interest, he still had his true love:  magic.  When Count was 12 years old, he heard a song on the radio that he had been given for his 7th birthday.  The song was, "Do you Believe in Magic", sung by The Lovin' Spoonfuls from Lower Manhattan.  He knew, upon listening to that song, that it was his destiny to travel to New York, where he was convinced that his talent would take him far.

His obsession grew into a mastery of the craft of magic, unlike anyone else had ever seen;  and, when Count was 17 years of age, he left the German countryside for New York City.
As New York City is  a city-sized candy shop for any eccentric, so it was for Count Schwartz-Atmen.  He lived and breathed magic, even more than he had in Germany.  Everything in New York City inspired him, and he quickly escalated from street-corner magician, to one of the most popular venues to attend in the Big Apple.  He performed in theaters, at special televised holiday events, and at after parties for the rich and famous.

One illusion he became quite well known for was what he coined "Smoke in Mirrors".  It was an illusion where he used mirrors to deceive the viewer of where an object was - is that the object, or is it a reflection? He became quite good at it - so good in fact, that on several occasions, he nearly tricked himself!  Using fire as the object, he lit a candle, who's wick produced various layers of colored smoke: first red, then yellow, then blue, and various shades of grey.  The mirrors reflected flame and smoke, and while one color remained in the reflection of one mirror, a subsequent color would find it's way to in via the reflection of another mirror, creating a new color of smoke altogether.  Red and yellow formed orange; yellow and blue formed green; and the mixture of all of the colors became beautiful shades of silvery grey, sparkling from the many reflections of just one candle.

In the end, after an illustrious career, Count's claim to fame became his fate.  While performing his famous "smoke in mirrors" illusion, the tails of his magician-coat caught on fire.  This tailcoat, made of colorful synthetic materials, combusted into a rainbow of smoke, sending the audience into a awe-inspired frenzy.  The spectacle continued for several minutes - the colorful smoke in mirrors mixing to form other colors, the newly added rainbow of smoke and sparks, all combining to form shades of grey, sparkling in the illuminated flame of just one candle.  No one noticed, until it was too late, that the Count had become a victim of his own illusion.  He was found, unconscious, with pitiful tufts of purple smoke emanating occasionally from his mouth.  His body lay wedged between two mirrors, where a reflection of the stage door could be seen.

So, the lesson is this:  be careful when using candles!  Keep them up high and away from children, magicians, and pets.  Keep them at least 2 feet away from combustibles such as drapery, furniture, walls, and clothing (including coat-tails).  Blow them out before you leave the house, go to sleep, or even leave the room.  If you see an unattended lit candle - whether in a reflection or not - blow it out!  Candles are a leading cause of preventable home fires.  In case of any emergency, always call 911!