Seldo.Weblog: April 2006

Ambient Poison

For the last couple of weeks, my daily life has become a gamble of health or sickness, comfort or agony. A subtle killer has been at work, slowly poisoning me, varying the dosage and the method of delivery. My poisoner is crafty, no doubt, and has thus far eluded me. My current suspect is exhibit A:

Ariel Liquitabs OF DEATH!!!111etc

My symptoms are mild but annoying: I'm itching. The itching gets worse and turns into spots, then the spots spread until I am an ongoing scratch-fest of irritated discomfort. At first I thought my new shower gel was responsible, but I discarded that and symptoms persisted. My new candidate has been promising: after buying Persil non-bio and re-washing my bedsheets, things got a lot better.

But I also washed a lot of clothes with those things, so despite a lot of precautionary re-washing, an unknown percentage of my wardrobe is still infected with the poison. So every morning I play itchy-day Russian Roulette, selecting clothes at random and hoping they're safe.

But when it's an itchy day, just knowing it's my clothes isn't enough: which item of clothing is it? I discard socks, then shoes, then shirt, then trousers in turn, hoping to pin down the end of the itching and thus condemn the offending item to an immediate wash. But alas, itching is an imprecise art. It doesn't stop the moment you remove the poison, as it remains in the bloodstream for a while. So I just wash everything, to be safe.

Today is a bad day. Today, despite swapping out every single item of clothing I have been wearing, I still remain itchy. I don't know why this is. I live in fear that it will turn out not to be the liquitabs, that it's asbestos, or the carpets in my lovely 80s flat, or that I've caught some horrible skin disease. It could be anything, this poisoner. It might not even be poison.

So I shall continue washing all my clothes frantically, and hoping that these symptoms do not persist. And scratching a lot.

Dennis

05 April 2006
You should also pay attention to anything you have been eating/drinking as well. Reminds me of 'Itchy & Scratchy' :-)

Toby

05 April 2006
I'm just impressed that you wash your sheets... newfound maturity???

Artemis

05 April 2006
You have my sympathies. Anything other than Persil non bio gives me a charming feeling I imagine is akin to leprosy.

ed

05 April 2006
It's probably the liquitabs. Jen has the same problem, we have to use super organic everything in the wash.

If it keeps going, you could go see a dermatologist or something.

Bob

06 April 2006
The only thing I've ever had an allergic reactino to, apart from honey which gives me migraines, is soap powder.

However, you have only just moved into a new place, which is suspicious, so don't rule it out. If the soap powder change doesn't work maybe spend a couple of nights with a friend and see if the symptoms die down. There could be like 80s mites in the carpet or something, 80s mites wearing 80s hair gel or 80s denim fabrics, to which you have an unknown 80s allergy.

marc

06 April 2006
Your itching was apparently coincident with 1) moving to a new area, and 2) the start of Spring. Maybe there's some foliage in your new area to which you're allergic? I get itchy in the Spring a lot cos I'm allergic to some green thing (not sure which it is) that's in the air, but it's very sporadic.

Another possibility, if it was the liquitabs, is that you've taken care of the problem but are still experiencing psycho-somatic itching. But that would only apply if you've a tendency to be a neurotic mess like I am.

Laurie

06 April 2006
Marc: a good theory, but over here spring has not yet really sprung -- nothing is blooming yet, and in any case I live in Stockwell, so there are fuck all trees or vegetation. However, your concern is appreciated :-)

I do wonder how much of the itching is psychosomatic, but the raised red welts are convincingly unambiguous.

mari

13 September 2007
I have at the age of 53 just started with the condition, I have always had a beautiful, soft peachlike skin and a wonderful lusterous complexion. The condition arose after a long flight of 12 hours and the itching is driving me crazy, it is like a thousand ants running over my body in random formation with red hot boots on.
I know its Persil bio tabs that has set this off and to the best of my knowledge I have never reacted to any product,cosmetic or food before. I am covered from chest to mid thighs in weeping sores, am taking Piriton and rewashing my clothes, bedding and laundry in ordinary water to eliminate any residue of washing powder. The itching is worst first thing in the morning. The phamacist in Boots has advised me not to use any soap, shampoo or washing powder for at least six months and to cease wearing underwear and to switch to dresses from trousers. I am also told to use a hydrocortisone cream, all of this is going to be very expensive.
Marc did you resolve your issue? did you ever get your clothes, bedding etc clear of the wretched stuff? If so how did you do it? All my clothes etc are in plastic bags waiting to be thrown away, even after 12 to 15 washes the residue is still in seams, zips and of course labels. My hands are red raw spotty itchy scratchy and my sores won't heal they are badly infected. 3 months wait to get tests.
I want to sue the manufacturers of the product Persil and I believe that I can prove that this product is the cause. Has anyone done this? Can we form a group action? I am in the UK, angry and very unhappy. anyone any advice?

Mari

Bird Q (and A)

So, in response to Bob's question of a few weeks back, now that H5N1 has been found in a British swan, the BBC has the answer:

What should I do if I see a dead bird?

Do not touch it. Government advice is that if you find one or more dead swans, ducks or geese, more than three dead birds of the same species or more than five dead birds of different species, in the same place, you should contact the Defra helpline on 08459 33 55 77.

So there you have it: clear and unambiguous advice. Not just who to call, but under what circumstances -- and it seems Bob, with just one dead bird, did exactly the right thing by not calling! Go him!

...of course, the nitpicker in me (and you lot. See, I know you) wants to point out that there is some ambiguity. "The same place" is slightly ambiguous, for a start. How big an area is a "place"? Within sight of each other seems reasonable, but what if they're scattered around a lake? The same county? Does "England" count as a place? It's also failed to specify the type of dead bird -- specifically, one that looks like it might have died of flu (whatever that looks like). For instance, if you work in a poultry slaughter facility, it would not be a good idea to go calling Defra in a panic the moment the plant kicks into action tomorrow. But the advice is good enough for people who are not grammar-analysing nerds (I assume such people must exist, though I don't know any myself).

(P.S. Poison update: less itchy today. Have also given up my vitamin supplements in case I'm overdosing or something.)

Bob

08 April 2006
Ah hah! Now I know the truth. And I am much relieved that it wasn't me who is responsible for the outbreak. This threat had been hanging over my head for weeks. It was like Damocles' sword, except it was Damocles' beak. But now the beak points elsewhere and I am free of blame.

Foursome

Pretty good weekend. TLP was over and we did Mary's cocktail party in style. And now, a mindless quiz, belatedly stolen from Ed:

Four jobs I’ve had:

  1. Developer (9 different companies)
  2. Network tech support
  3. Audio typist (like dictation, but you can rewind)
  4. Data entry monkey (at a mental institution)

I was a web developer at 7 out of 9 of those companies, and a Java developer at the other 2.

Four places I have lived:

  1. Trinidad (St. Augustine, then Goodwood Park)
  2. London, UK
  3. Coventry, UK
  4. Winchester, UK

Winchester is dead dull but Coventry is the arsehole of the universe.

Four television shows I like to watch:

  1. Futurama
  2. The West Wing
  3. Smallville
  4. Top Gear (no, really, it's hilarious)

Four places I have been on vacation:

  1. Paris, France
  2. New York, NY
  3. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  4. Barbados

Going to more interesting places is a big goal of mine.

Four of my favourite dishes:

Um, not a big foodie, really...

  1. Sushi. In quantity.
  2. Medium-rare beef steak
  3. Cheese and bacon omelette
  4. Real, fluffy pancakes, with lime and sugar

Four websites I visit daily:

  1. Planet Afterlife
  2. Kottke
  3. Gay Geeks
  4. search.yahoo.com

Four places I would rather be right now:

  1. Hotel beach, Mt. Urvine, Tobago
  2. A boat in the Grenadines. Ideally at midnight.
  3. Perruqier Bay, Chacachacare, ideally in Sweet Lime
  4. Um, the living room? I like my flat.

Not tagging anyone, but feel free to pick it up.

Josh

11 April 2006
You don't check www.thingbox.com daily? :p

No school for gays

Christian college University of the Cumberlands, which this year will receive more than $10 million in state funding, has caused controversy by expelling a student for being gay after he revealed his sexuality on his MySpace page. Although it has subsequently revised its statement, the school's original press release read

There are places students with predispositions can go such as San Francisco and the Left Coast or to many of the state schools.

The message that "fags should get their education elsewhere" could not be clearer. This is not a conduct issue -- Jason was on the Dean's List -- it is a pure, simple discrimination issue, and people need to pick up this story and spread it around to make it clear why the separation of church and state (as recently advocated by Bob) is still as critical as ever, and why we should not allow the UK to follow this terrible example.

ed

12 April 2006
Um. Unless I'm mistaken, the UK doesn't have any such separation. The Prime Minister appoints the Archibishop of Canterbury. It's the Church of _England_ for a reason. OxCam have plenty of religious stuff going on. Americans are _way_ more up in arms about church/state separation than you guys, given that the country was pretty much founded on the concept.

I'm not saying it leads to better social policy or anything... but saying "the UK shouldn't follow this example" is a bit odd in this context.

Clare

13 April 2006
Yes we have a Church of England, but the church does not control the state here. Yes we have religious schools (and there is a lot of debate around those!) but our higher education institutions are not church run, and there are laws in place to prevent the situation that Laurie talked about from happening. Oxford and Cambridge do have religious societies, as do most universities, but they do not make policy. At our uni, a Christian society was actually disassociated from the Students Union because of their homophobic activities.
Our government is not controlled by the religious right to anywhere near the extent that the US government is - if it was then the Civil Partnership Act would never have been pased. By and large, UK society is largely secular. Americans may get more worked up about separation of church and state, but primarily because there is more reason to.

ed

13 April 2006
Well, most higher education in the US isn't church run (or state run, for that matter) either. And I understand that there's a difference between not having a strict wall between church and state and havign secular government policy, which is exactly the point I was trying to make to Laurie. The fact of that matter is that the legal wall between church and state is much lower in the UK than it is over here. In fact, state funding of religious schools is both rare and _extremely_ controversial in the US, but local conditions vary due to the freedom of states to make their own decisions on this point. For example, had this happened in NY, the school would have lost any state aid immediately.

And, incidentally, church-state separation isn't just something pushed by secularists here. It's also supported by the vast majority of religious folk, specifically because the lack of it in places like England has caused religion to be "secularized" (by which they mean "liberalized", I presume.) There are a number of reasons that Americans get worked up about C-S separation, and it's far more complicated than some ever-present threat of theocracy (not that I don't think that threat exists, but I do think that people outside the country tend to exaggerate it.)

Anyway, my point was more that (1) this doesn't actually have much at all to do with government policy on church-state separation, and (2) the UK has less church-state sep than the US, and I stand by that.

Robert

21 April 2006
just a thought: states (eg US and France) which strongly advocate separation of church and state seem to have far worse faith based nastiness than the UK, which is not what you would expect from the separation. I suspect it may be because the Church of England (note, Wales, Scotland and N Ireland are all disestablished) has perfected the art of boring everyone to not caring. While religious schools are an issue here it is largely because of muslim or fundmantelaist christian ones (pushing intelligent deisgn, usually) which are the problem. Perhaps the very English compromise of the CoE has protected us from the worst of religious extremis,?

Clare

24 April 2006
It's true, links between church and state (and I'd say the state has power over the church more than the other way round) does seem to lead to a secularisation of religion. Not that we don't have extremes here, but to a lesser extent. In terms of the power of various churches over the running of the state, I'd far rather live here than in the States.

Oh dear

It's been ages since I blogged. Sorry, life's been a bit busy and routine, so not much has happened and there's not been much to talk about.

The new series of Doctor Who is great, the final series of West Wing is crap, and CakePHP rocks my world. Hopefully I'll have something to show for all the time I've been spending fiddling with it soon.

The final sign of spring

The tube has just passed out of that two week period between winter and spring when it's actually a comfortable temperature. The long, hot, horrible tube summer has begun, folks.

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