Safety

We here at 83 Durant believe in safety. Looking at some of our posts, you might not believe this, but we are. So, theoretically, a new law that makes toys safe is a good thing. But the more I read about the CPSIA, the more distressed I become.

In finding out a bit more about the CPSIA, I went to the source -- the website for the Consumer Products Safety Commission. They have huge lists of product recalls there. As a confirmed worrier about all things, I really should not be allowed near this site, or, really, the internet generally.

There I was horrified to learn that everything you have ever wanted to play with can kill you. Would you like a for-instance? Well, how about this one:

Hallmark recently recalled a line of snow-globes because,
"When exposed to sunlight, the snow globes can act as a magnifying glass and ignite nearby combustible materials, posing a fire hazard."

Just so you know I'm not making this up, here is the link:
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09073.html

Lucy's New Car! (boy, she grew up fast!)

Today on one of our many walks, we discovered that someone on our block had thrown out a perfectly usable kid car. We rescued it from the trash, and I just finished washing it. Wow! It wasn't really our plan to get Lucy into car culture so soon, but it was too good of a deal (free!) to pass up. Plus, we saved it from a landfill, so I figure that's all for the good.

New Toys

Auntie Paula brought Carter a couple of new dog toys; he is quite smitten with his toy pheasant. There's a bird dog for you.



Jake is the proud new owner of a Brompton folding bike. It's pretty rad (I'm sure he'll elaborate here).

JB here: The Brompton is indeed pretty rad. It takes me about 30 seconds to fold or unfold it, though I expect to get faster with practice. I've just started working two days a week for a bike company, doing some database programming. It's 25-30 miles away, which is a tad too long for bike commuting (at least in the winter). But with the Brompton I can ride two miles to the train station, fold the bike, take the train south to West Medford, unfold the bike, and ride six miles to work.

And here's me unfolding the bike (also my first appearance on YouTube):


If you want to get sucked down a YouTube® vortex, here's a beginning: Somebody made an Brompton with an electric motor for a front hub -- amazing!



And then some kid from Zimbabwe doing donuts on a bike. Why? I don't know, but I like it.