Harmful if Inhaled

"CAUTION: Harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin.  Causes moderate skin irritation.  Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing.  Avoid breathing vapor or spray mist.  Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling and before eating, drinking, chewing gym, using tobacco or using the restroom.  Remove and wash contaminated clothing before reuse."

Yikes this sounds like scary stuff.  Something you want to avoid using - ever.  Harmful if inhaled?  Why, what happens if you breathe some in?  It doesn't tell you that.  If you have asthma or any sensitivity to chemicals, you probably don't want to use this.  Causes moderate skin irritation?  Not minor skin irritation.  Moderate.  Gloves would probably be a good idea.  

So, what is this crazy scary substance?  It's the cleaner I use at my job.  I clean for about 4 hours a night, 4 nights a week with this cleaner.  By the end of the night, my hands are soaked in it.  I have, in the past, deliberately sprayed a little on my hand to get something sticky off.  I have been on this job for 3 months.  I never read the warnings.  No one bothered to tell me that I should be wearing gloves.  Probably should be wearing a mask too.  I can't tell you how many times I have accidentally breathed in the overspray when I was cleaning.  Each and every time, I had to use my inhaler.  I carry a water bottle with me on the job.  I know I have touched the bottle while my hands have the cleaner on them, contaminating my water bottle.  So I'm sure I have ingested this stuff.  After all the exposure I have already had, what effects does it cause?  What is it already doing to my body??

There are gloves provided in the utility room at work.  You can bet I will be wearing them from now on.  I wonder if I can convince them to provide a mask for me too?  Or should I just bring my own? 

February Resolution

I try to eat healthy most of the time.  Well, healthier.  Healthier than I used to eat, anyway.  This past week I slipped back into old (really old), bad (really bad) habits.  I was eating chips and sweets and going out for most of my meals, not ordering salads but burgers and fried chicken and nachos and french fries and mozzarella sticks.  It was all SO GOOD.  However, my body is reacting to all the crap I have fed it.  Lack of energy, bloating, gassiness (is that even a word? according to spell check, no).  So I have made a February resolution.  I know, resolutions are usually made in January (and forgotten by February).  So, I'm a month behind everyone else.  Oh well. Most people have probably dropped off the bandwagon by now anyway.

I am not totally revamping.   I think trying to make a major changes all at once is a setup for failure.  I am making small changes, one month at a time.  So my February resolution is to stop buying snacks at work, whether from the shelf or the vending machine.  This February resolution will help me feel better, and it will help my checkbook.  After all, everyone knows that vending machines aren't the cheapest way to go.  Nor do they fill vending machines with apples and salad.   None of it is good for me, none of it is nutritionally worth the money I pay for it, and none of it is worth this yucky, bloated, tired feeling.

I will plan my work snacks, buy and prepare and pack them ahead of time.  This way, I am not settling for the crap that is conveniently available.  I can buy things like string cheese, or yogurt, or almonds (mmm, almonds and dried cherries - if you haven't tried that combination, you need to!).  If I forget to bring a snack, then I am out of luck.  I don't really get THAT hungry between meals anyway.

So 30 days for this healthy new habit (oh wait, 28 days since this IS February).  Next month a new challenge!