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Welcome to The Home of Stevis!
Who is Stevis?
Stevis is the nickname given to a guy named Steve Arnold.
Presumably, his friends felt he resembled Beavis,
of the ever-popular Beavis & Butt-head.
We may never know the true extent of this strange coincidence.
These same friends claim that Arnold is actually an acronym:
Anally Retentive Nerd Over Little Details
Learn more about Stevis
Please, enjoy your visit... |
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 |  |  |  | Blog: Flouride in the water |  |  |  |  |  |
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Posted on Thursday, October 13 @ 20:30:21 EDT
Topic: Miscellaneous Ramblings
Okay, so in reading an article about communities opting to stop adding flouride to their water, I have an issue with the following section:
But the United States Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the communities that stop adding fluoride to the water supply are misguided. The government continues to recommend the practice, which began in the 1940s and has had its share of recent successes, including San Diego’s move to fluoridate water this year after a long delay. Some 72 percent of the population in the country drinks water with added fluoride.
Keeping fluoride in water is especially important today because many people cannot afford dental care, public officials say.
“We have had big wins and significant losses,” Dr. William Bailey, chief dental officer for the Public Health Service and acting director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of oral health, said about the skirmishes over fluoridation. “Fluoridation helps people of all ages and income groups. And it helps people who can’t get in to receive care.”
Specifically, it strongly implies that if I go to the Dentist, I would get all of the flouride I need. However, my expensive dental insurance doesn't cover flouride...and my dental office tells me that practice is typical. So, in other words, insurance companies don't think it's important for me to have flouride, so why doesn't the government do something about that instead of giving grief to small communities that don't have enough money to provide basic, necessary, services?
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| | | | Blog: Light The Night Walk | | | | | |
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Posted on Tuesday, October 04 @ 14:43:28 EDT
Topic: Miscellaneous Ramblings
Mindy and I are participating in this year's Light The Night Walk. Read below to learn more about it and how you can help:
Light The Night Walk is The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's annual fundraising walk to pay tribute and bring hope to people battling cancer. Hundreds of thousands of participants raise funds for lifesaving research and patient services.
For more than 60 years, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has been solely focused on people with blood cancers. Presently, we have more than $250 million committed to research across the United States and in ten other countries. Every dollar is provided by concerned donors. We invest in the best, outcome based science:
Anywhere, with no geographic or institutional boundaries
Without profit incentive
To meet unmet Medicare needs of people with blood cancers
And LLS funded advances are helping patients beyond those for whom they were originally developed, including people with solid tumors and auto-immune diseases. In the past decade, nearly 50% (19 out of 39) of the cancer drugs approved by the FDA were approved as treatments for blood cancer patients. Twelve are already approved for people beyond those for whom they were first developed. With your help, we are saving lives.
A donation of $25 provides patients and their loved ones with FREE booklets that contain up-to-date information on their disease and help them make informed decisions about their treatment options.
A donation of $50 makes possible a Family Support group with a trained facilitator where comfort can be found and experiences can be shared among patients and family members.
A donation of $100 helps supply laboratory researchers with supplies and materials critical to carrying out their search for cures.
A donation of $1,000 makes possible one- on-one conversations with health care specialists who provide patients with information about their disease, treatment options, and helps prepare them with questions for their health care team.
Please make a donation to support our participation in the Light The Night Walk and help save lives. Be sure to check our web site frequently to see our progress, and thanks for your support!
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Posted on Tuesday, July 26 @ 09:58:28 EDT
Topic: Miscellaneous Ramblings
Well, we completed the move over the weekend, and are now in the process of cleaning up the old place so we can turn it back over to the landlord. Another day or so of cleaning and it will be ready.
We had our first real emergency at the new house a couple of days before we were scheduled to move in. A one-inch sprinkler pipe came lose from an elbow joint and started filling up our back yard with water. Luckily, it was only doing that for a few hours before we discovered it. I was able to dig it up and replace the leaking pipes in only a couple of hours. Special thanks to the old gentleman at Home Depot who gave me tips on the best way to repair it!
Aside from that, we've painted a few rooms, installed a new double-oven in the place of the old wall oven/microwave combo, installed an over-the-cooktop microwave, replaced a light or two, and installed some safety gates to keep Zoe and the puppy in (and out of) the right places.
I still have a new garage door opener to install, but I'm expecting that to be a good Saturday afternoon activity.Thanks to the practice Jason and I had in doing that with our first house, I think I'll be able to handle it. Of course, my Little Giant will come in very handy with that, as it has with a number of projects so far.
On a related note, the popcorn ceilings are still around...sadly. It turns out that ours have all been painted over. This makes it more difficult to remove, as the water you spray on the ceiling to loosen the popcorn doesn't actually do it's job when paint is involved. So, due to the number of other projects I had on my plate, I scrapped the popcorn removal plans for now. I will eventually resume the project.
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| | | | Blog: Getting Ready for the new House | | | | | |
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Posted on Thursday, June 30 @ 18:25:59 EDT
Topic: Miscellaneous Ramblings
We close on our new house in Carrollton on July 7th. In preparation for being a new homeowner, I purchased a ladder from Amazon. As a former Springville, Utah resident, I naturally had to buy this one: Little Giant 10126LG 300-Pound Duty Rating Ladder System, 26-Foot
So far, I haven't used it much except to check the gutters in our current rental house, but it should be just the thing to help me do the work I need to do on our new house. My first task is to remove the popcorn ceilings (I hate the stuff) and we have a vaulted ceiling in the living room, so I had to go with the big version of the ladder.
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| | | | Blog: The Fight Against Cancer | | | | | |
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Posted on Thursday, July 15 @ 16:24:45 EDT
Topic: Miscellaneous Ramblings
Those of you who know me probably know that I've been a supporter of cancer research for the past few years. This desire was reinforced by the death of a friend and co-worker in 2007. Since then, I have been doing what little bit I can to help in the fight against cancer, including donating computer time and money.
One of the ways we can all help is to support people like Douglas Craig, who is taking time out of his life to walk across the United States to raise money for cancer research. I applaud his efforts, and encourage anyone who is able to donate to his worthy cause.
You can find more information on his web site:
http://www.craigresearchlabs.com/cancerwalk.html
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Weather Report
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Old Testament
| | So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. | | Isaiah 52:15 |
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