Alberta Radon Levels -We’re at risk! Please Share!
Alberta radon levels are quite high. Only recently has testing improved to determine how bad this problem is. We recently completed our radon mitigation for our house and levels went from 435 Bq/m3 to 8 Bq/m3.
150 Bq/m3 is equivalent to smoking a half pack of cigarettes/day or if a person smokes already multiplies that smoking risk by 14 times. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. 100 Bq/m3 is world health organization limit, 200 Bq/m3 is Health Canada and 15 Bq/m3 is what is prevalent outdoors (normal radon levels).
1 in 6 homes tested in 2017 had dangerous levels of radon gas (over 200). Most of Alberta and Saskatchewan are at high risk of high radon levels (check out radon potential map at left).
Forced air systems just move it all around the house and “leaky” house doesn’t really help (it’s the pressure pull of heating a space that is the issue); a house either has high levels or it doesn’t. Even our garage (no basement) was at 150 Bq/m3 and it’s as leaky as it gets. The mitigation process seals all the basement large open holes and helps mitigate basement smell (since it’s sucking all the moist earthy air below the cement and blowing it out the side).
Thanks to Radon West. This company is also the one helping with the UofC radon study. Learn more here: https://www.radonwest.com/pages/learn
Note: In Canada we side-wall vent. Rooftop vents ice up in our cold weather. Canadian studies on dissipation is that within a meter of the vent the radon reading is at normal outside levels; Meaning it dissipates extremely quickly.
More on risks of dying from lung cancer, radon and smoking: https://www.rssi.us/radon-health-risks.htm
Radon meter I purchased; Radon West confirms it is very accurate for a residential unit. A +/-10% reading is available from it within 7 days. Our unit is loaned out to friends and family pretty much constantly. Corentium Home by Airthings, Radon Gas Detector, Canadian Version in Bq/m https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00H30TLPA/
UofC Calgary study (home owners may be able to get testing for free): https://evictradon.ca/
About the Author
An avid writer, Trevor Textor has been quoted by Reader’s Digest, NBC News, Reviews.com and MarketWatch.com among others. As a freelancer Trevor has a “swiss army skillset” and has proven able to successfully assist many small, medium and large businesses in most areas of their business. Ask Trevor if he can help: https://www.textor.ca/contactme/.
Planet Money Talks Trade Wars And The Batman Problem
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/07/18/630265851/trade-wars-and-the-batman-problem
Published in Reader’s Digest “11 Hidden Reasons Your Internet Is So Slow”
Yes, the Reader’s Digest. Access their article here:
11 Hidden Reasons Your Internet Is So Slow (Oct 1, 2018)
They quoted a popular post I wrote in 2015:
Forget a bandwidth upgrade! Try these 4 things to make the home internet experience better
Note: Reader’s Digest is owned by “Trusted Media Brands, Inc.” and the article may also be displayed on other sister sites such as Family Handyman: https://www.familyhandyman.com/smart-homeowner/diy-home-improvement/hidden-reasons-your-internet-is-so-slow/
Published in BusinessKnowHow.com Article “Small Business Internet Success Tips”
BusinessKnowHow.com published my comments on facilitating international payments (cost/timing); Full article here: https://www.businessknowhow.com/internet/internet-success-tips.htm
The secret to clean laundry in hard water cities and/or families with kids
About:
https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-washing-soda-2145888
What we buy:
Watching YouTube is dangerous for Children
Parents with young children need to monitor, if not outright abandon, YouTube. This TED talk takes parents through “why” but high level, never let them watch YouTube with automatic play. Avoid surprise egg videos. Don’t let them watch videos you haven’t checked them and take precautions if leaving them watch unattended.
People on opposite sides of the globe with the same income level live very similarly
Visit dollar street to find how income affects how people live. Also startling… everyone in a 1st world nation is considered RICH! And unfortunately we take a lot for granted; like having a toothbrush. Bill Gates introduces the Dollar Street site here. Explore Dollar Street in full here.
(11Sep2018 edit) The book Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World—and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling describes the 4 levels of income groups and explains the kind of life these people have (similar to Dollar Street). Explore these income groups (which replaces the concept of developing vs developed world): https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Factfulness
Regulatory Capture is to Blame – Reducing RC starts with Education
What’s to blame for slower growth and rising inequality? Regulatory capture. And who practices Regulatory Capture? EVERYONE “Regulatory capture is a form of government failure which occurs when a regulatory agency, created to act in the public interest, instead advances the commercial or political concerns of special interest groups that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. When regulatory capture occurs, the interests of firms or political groups are prioritized over the interests of the public, leading to a net loss for society. Government agencies suffering regulatory capture are called “captured agencies””. This is an issue that is a “bipartisan blind spot” and affects politicians from any political view.
“…[I]t’s ultimately the duty of the governors to make sure that the rules are in the public interest, rather than in the narrow interests of the various clamoring claimants who come before them.” The first step to eliminating regulatory capture is to recognize that it happens.
One of the reasons the public tolerates regulatory capture is that special interest groups use a positive policy image which creates a natural blind spot in the public’s eyes. An example used by Planet Money is teeth whitening and North Carolina’s Dental Board. The public feels that dentists help people so when the NC Dental Board lobbied to get a regulation to stop non-dentists from offering simple tooth whitening services the dentists initially won. Teeth whitening is more like a pedicure for your teeth rather than a dental procedure and anyone can do one. In fact, these days, people can buy teeth whitening kits at the grocery store. It had to go to the supreme court for the regulation to be removed. While waiting for all the legal trials to settle the issue stifled competition (natural market forces): teeth whitening service costs were artificially inflated (bad for consumers) and non-dentists were put out of business. Planet Money explains a few more examples and including one where homeowners practice regulatory capture.
Sources:
Planet Money’s story called “Rigging The Economy” https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=592376568
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture
https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/regulatory-capture-definition-meaning/
Remote Working Tips
* As published in the PMI-SAC April 30, 2018 email newsletter.
Remote Working Tips
Sometimes its impossible to avoid having remote team members. Here’s some tips for preparing to communicate:
1) On teleconferences, mitigate any “bad connection” problems by reminding all participants to mute unless they are talking.
2) Check the internet connection before the meeting. If possible, choose a wired connection over wireless. If the internet is bad or unavailable a participant may become audio only. As a contingency to audio only, having a team sync tool that offers use in offline mode can be useful. Examples are: Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox.
Extra tip: Cisco Spark has a tool for testing internet readiness for softphone calling, screen share and conference calls. In addition to bandwidth it also tests for critical real time application requirements such as jitter: https://mediatest.ciscospark.com/#/main. If the remote work site is a location that will be used often then it might be worth having the local internet service provider look into any issues the Cisco Spark tool finds.
3) Ensure the remote worker has a good headset. As long as the internet connection is good typically a stereo headset will noticeably exceed cell phone quality. It also avoids having to connect two tools: a phone and a screen share. Here’s a site with headset reviews:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-best-headsets-and-headphones-for-your-home-office
Extra Tip: Have a visual cue to remind yourself of your mute status. This reduces the chance for the dreaded “talking while accidently muted” issue. The author uses the Logitech H820e wireless headset as the boom mike has a red LED.