MY 92.1 FM's Morning Blog

OK, we’ve all been there. Maybe it’s a big feast that does it, or it could be just an inconvenient result of nervousness, but the hiccup can be a very frustrating condition. Even worse is if your bent over to do something when one of these diaphragm spasms hits, contracting the muscles in your mid section to the point it throws out a spot in your back. Well, worry no further my friends, because the newest weapon in the fight against involuntary abdomen twitch is here. No more holding your breath until you’re blue. No more drinking glass upon glass of water to make the go away. The solution is a little bit of candy.
A young woman by the name of Mallory Kievman says she’s invented the cure for hiccups. She’s 13 and from Connecticut, and has created a lollipop to do the job. It’s made from apple cider vinegar and sugar. Apparently the “tweaking taste” triggers a set of nerves in your throat and mouth that are responsible for the reflex. Basically it over stimulates those nerves and cancels out the message to hiccup.
I haven’t tried this yet, but I have been in the situation where hiccups seem unending even with the traditional remedies and scare tactics. Part of me thinks that this will work like bad tasting medicine, where it tastes so terrible that your body just gets better so you don’t have to take in any more of it. Still, if it does work, someone should get this girl working on other common conditions that have afflicted man since the beginning of time. Maybe some sort of licorice that can fix male pattern baldness?

Somehow I’ve done enough to have my cake and eat it too! Not sure I’m Super Mom, but I can tell you the cake was delicious….

Happy Mother’s Day!!

~Twylla

The scrapping continues with Erin’s phone. While out delivering My 92.1 mugs, we sometimes need to find some rather remote places. So, for fast directions on the fly, we’ve been relying on her phone and it’s GPS directions app, that way as a man I don’t need to stop and ask for directions. Unfortunately this device (which is nick named “Betty”) is driving me bananas. At first I thought it was just being certain that even someone with only a vague understanding of direction could get to their location. But as the trip continued today I’ve become more convinced it’s vindictive. One of the early issues was how it sent me on a multi left turn journey to the Ring Road so as to “avoid traffic”. “We’re going the wrong way,” I commented to the mechanised navigator, only to have it respond with, “Turn left in 234 meters.”
After a few choice words the next instructions came. “Recalculating. To avoid traffic, make an illegal u-turn at the next intersection.” So now this robotic back seat driver is suggesting that I bust a circle on Albert. Erin insists that I misheard what was actually “legal”. I know what I heard.
Finally while coming back along the ring road, our little direction arrow turns red and the phone starts beeping. Turns out I was a little heavy footed, and so it started to nag me about that too.
It seems that Betty and I may never get along. I’m going to search for an app for my phone that isn’t as annoying. Any suggestions for a Windows phone?

It’s been nearly six months since my second son was born, and Charlie is a delight. I’m still asked quite often about my choice to enjoy Saskatchewan’s Midwifery Program. Most people hear “midwife” and assume I gave birth at home, which I did not. (I do think it’s great that home births are now supported by the Health Region though!) Charlie was born at the hospital thanks to the services of Teegan Odell, Midwife.

Teegan with Charlie at a post-natal visit

To sum up with Midwifery Program, I’ll say that it was wonderful. To me, it meant not having to sit around for a long time in a waiting room to see an OB, having a more natural approach to giving birth, and seeing a health care practitioner who has enough time to really listen to all my concerns. It was sort of like merging your BFF and your OB-GYN. Teegan cared for me with kindness, patience, and an open mind. Knowing I had her in my corner helped me relax and enjoy the whole experience. It was Teegan who supported me through labour and delivery (though she did have to consult an OB to avoid an emergency, but all was well), Teegan who provided pre-natal and post-natal care, and Teegan who answered a panicked phone call after we were home with Charlie.

Do I recommend visting with one of Regia’s three midwives? Most definitely!

May 5 was the International Day of the Midwife. We are all so lucky that it could be celebrated here in Regina.

This weekend, a new movie came out to theaters. “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”. We just wanted something to take the kids to, and they’ve been big into pirates after watching Pirates of the Caribbean recently. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, because there hasn’t been a lot of advertising for it, and that showed with opening night being a virtual ghost town in the theater. But from beginning to end of the credits I found plenty of stuff to laugh about. It’s made by the same guys that did “Wallace and Gromit”, and does contain a thick helping of english humour. None the less, I’d recommend this for almost anyone to see, if you’re looking for a good chuckle.

Philips just came out with their new LED light bulbs. These are the Rolls Royce of light bulbs, putting out the same light as a 60 Watt Bulb, while only using 10 Watts of power. While slightly more efficient than compact florescent bulbs, they also contain no mercury, which makes them even that little bit more environmentally friendly, plus they have a life expectancy of 20 years! I’ve never lived in a place for that long, so I can see this being a situation where if you move, you take your bulbs with you, because these babies are running at $60 a pop. I don’t know that I’d use these for most spots in my home, but if I had a light in the top of a stairwell, I’d probably consider it. What about you? Do you think these are worth the extra cost?

Technology and I have never really been good friends. Chris will vouch for this, he gets the privilege of doing pretty much all the technical stuff during the show! (Thanks Chris!!!) Enter the touch screen.

Now I can handle a lot more. Thanks to my lovely little iPhone, I can text, play Angry Birds, I reached level 14 on Pocket Frogs in just a few days, I can e-mail while waiting to pick my son up from preschool, and I use the iPod to listen to Harry Potter e-books while feeding my youngest son for what seems like hours on end.

So why is it that my 3 year old is already better with the iPhone than me? Other than one fancy little incident with chocolate milk (it doesn’t hurt the phone after all!), he can run that thing like a teenager.

What can stump him? A non-touchscreen.

The last time we were on a plane, he was trying to change the channel on the little tv in the seatback in front of him. However, he wasn’t pushing the buttons on the armrest. Instead, he kept trying to flick the screen with his finger, just like he does with my phone, or with his dad’s tablet. He was very puzzled by this phenomenon of a screen that doesn’t respond to his finger.

Anyone else with children surpassing them in technology knowledge?

It’s funny how many things now days are the same as or only minor improvements on older technology. Take my 3D viewer above. We had one of these in my home back in the 80’s, even though there’s a big push for the 3D now. The funny part is, it wasn’t new technology when I had one. The Stereoscopic viewer has been around for about 150 years.

I’m all for progress, but if this technology was only a fad for this long, why would electronics companies think pushing this as the new “must have technology” will work? I’ve seen a 3D TV, and frankly the picture seems a little too blurry for my taste. I much prefer a high def clear picture. What do you think of the 3D trend?

It’s not very often that I’m having a bad day, but every so often one creeps in. It’s important to deal with these days quickly so that you don’t spread those negative vibes to others, so I’m going to pass on a little something that always makes me feel better. Check out the video below and if you don’t smile at least a little, you may need to seek professional help. Enjoy!

Honestly, when I saw the video where Alicia Silverstone was feeding her kid with food she chewed, I was a little grossed out. Granted, for the kid it’s probably not that big a deal. I’ve had two kids, and the stuff they put in their mouths before the age of two would make most single guys gag. My daughter used to eat toilet paper on a regular basis if not under constant supervision. That also meant crawling across the bathroom floor, and pulling herself up on the toilet before shoving the TP in her mouth with dirty hands. But this still seems to be on the weird side. Thankfully, Jimmy here has taken this topic to the next level for us.