Tuesday, February 5, 2013

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES

Originally published in the Observer Eccentric Newspapers


I would like to believe everything I read and hear that comes from those entrusted in telling us the way it really is, but life has taught me otherwise. When I find out that I am being conned I more or less shake my head in disgust and pray that many of my fellow consumers are wise enough to figure it out.
In the last few years the manufacturers of dish washer detergents have removed the phosphates from their products. They did this with little warning to homeowners who suddenly discovered that their glasses came out of the dishwasher with a cloudy finish on them. I am very disappointed that they still have not come up with a solution to the problem nor do they think they have? In my house we have been using the Lemi Shine product to add to our current powdered detergent and it has been doing a good job of keeping the glasses fog free. After seeing some television advertising that portrays a woman telling another that these new packages of predetermined amounts will take care of her foggy glasses, I went to the store and purchased some of that particular brand. I’ve been using it for the past 2 weeks and I’m not happy. I’ve got 5 glasses that look like they have been through a snow storm. They just won’t come out nice and clear so I boiled them in a big pot of water for 10 minutes and that didn’t help. So I’ll say to the well-known advertiser, “you are lying, pure and simple.”

I recently read a story about Kent Carson from Chicago who awakened in a hospital bed to find that his legs and one arm had been amputated. This unfortunate 55 year old man was infected with Legionnaires disease. He doesn’t know where he caught it and it is seldom reported unless if affects many people who were at the same place. For many years I’ve been telling homeowners to pay attention to the humidifier on their furnaces. Going back to 1950’s the advertising would tell you that the float type humidifier was necessary for good health for people who lived in the cold climate such as Michigan’s. Even today a doctor will tell his patients who have respiratory problems to make sure the air in their home has humidity added. There were many millions of these installed on furnaces and a lot of people still have them. Parts are still available and heating companies are still fixing them. My advice to those folks is to get them off the furnace as quick as possible. Legionnaires come from water that is sitting and heated and that is exactly what the water is doing in that antiquated humidifier. I strongly recommend you think about the flow through type humidifier. One other important factor on a humidifier has to be mentioned here because it is so important. The filter has to be changed! I’ve seen filters that are covered with black mold because the homeowner was trying to save a few dollars.

In this world we live in and with the technology now available we are smothered with many different messages that it is easy to confuse people. As Esther Shapiro used to say, “A confused consumer is easy prey.” White is white isn’t it? How can toothpaste make your teeth whiter than the next? The same analogy applies to soaps used in a clothes washer. In closing this column I would like to mention for the last time my last few columns which pointed out the newly invented way I have been doing the laundry at our home. I’m not using detergent or hot water and my clothes are as clean as ever and they even smell better. You can believe in the advertising you will see on this product. Stay tuned. 

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