Dangerous light bulbs

I just received this email from a friend in the USA so I thought I'll share it with anyone who uses this type of bulbs.

Below is a picture of a CFL light bulb from my bathroom. I turned it on the other day and then smelled smoke after a few minutes. Four inch flames were spewing out of the side of the ballast like a blow torch!

I immediately turned off the lights. But I’m sure it would have caused a fire if I was not right there. Imagine if the kids had left the lights on as usual when they were not in the room.

I took the bulb to the Fire Department today to report the incident. The Fireman wasn’t at all surprised and said that it was not an uncommon occurrence. Apparently, sometimes when the bulb burns out there is a chance that the ballast can start a fire. He told me that the Fire Marshall had issued reports about the dangers of these bulbs.

Upon doing some Internet research, it seems that bulbs made by “Globe” in China seem to have the lion’s share of problems. Lots of fires have been blamed on misuse of CFL bulbs, like using them in recessed lighting, pot lights, dimmers or in track lighting. Mine was not in any of those. It was a normal light socket. I bought these at Wal-Mart. I will be removing all the Globe bulbs from my house. I have not decided yet if we are going back to incandescent bulbs at this point.
Just thought you should know.

Happy birthday to Marie and me

Well, I made to it to my 60th birthday and Marie is now 14. We had a great birthday bash but forgot to take pictures of the event except for the cake cutting.

Hello and goodbye

Welcome to







Xuan En













Elena











Livvy and Aaron










Kris Teen













How time flies. The children below came to me when they were about 2 months old and now they have graduated to go to play school.
This month we say goodbye to








Jeun Yip











Zhi Xuan













Twins : Mirabelle and Marissa













Last month we said goodbye to






Jeremy











Wei Jun













Lucas

Latest news on using onions to prevent flu

In December last year, I started putting onions all over the areas where the babies spend most of their time as you can see from the pictures.





















During the past 9 years, the children will usually have flu around the Chinese New Year period and it was a constant round of medications three times a day for all of them. This will last for about a week before they recover. It is heart breaking to see them coughing and sometimes wheezing.
The results of my onions experiment? So far none of the children had flu during the CNY period. A couple of them started sniffling with slight runny noses and I immediately placed an onion near them and the sniffling stopped. It is really nice to see children without runny noses. So, have you tried it out yet? Do let me know the results.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

CHILDREN'S BALL PITS – Are they safe?

I just received this in my email and I think it is important that I share this with so that you can take precautions for the safety of your children.

“Hi. My name is Lauren Archer, a friend of mine that resides in The Hill, Johannesburg, took his only son to McDonald's for his 3rd birthday.
After he finished lunch, his parents allowed him to play in the ball pit. When he started whining later on, and his mother asked him what was wrong, he pointed to the back of his pull-up and simply said 'Mommy, it hurts.' they couldn't find anything wrong with him at that time. After bathing him when they got home, they found what looked like insect bites at the time.
Upon investigating, it seemed as if there was matter coming out of the wounds. They were on their way to the hospital, but soon he started vomiting and shaking, then his eyes rolled back into his head. From there, they went to the emergency room. He died later that night.
He was found to have snake bites all over his legs & buttocks. When they cleaned the ball pit they found that there was a snake's nest in the ball pit. He had suffered numerous bites from a very poisonous snake.”

THIS WAS FOUND IN THE BALL PIT!!!!




















There was a similar incidence in one of the department stores in the Klang Valley about five years ago. Unfortunately, the case was not highlighted in the local media. My advice is to be careful about letting your children play in areas where you cannot see what may be hiding there. It may not necessarily be snakes but sharp obstacles and even germs from other children.

Update on using onions to prevent flu

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! May 2010 bring you health, happiness and wealth.



On 25 December I mentioned that I will start putting onions all over the areas where the babies are and so far the children seems to be ok with less runny noses and coughs. However, the most significant outcome is its’ effect on Nash. Two weeks ago Nash had a very severe chest infection and was hospitalized for 6 days. When he came back to the centre, he was still coughing and had a lot of phlegm.


I placed an onion next to him and surprising by evening he was coughing less. Could this be due to the medication that he was taking? He was on antibiotics and ventolin. However, the next day he had stopped coughing and his chest was clear. I asked his mother if she used the onions and she said that being “kiasu” she put 2 onions in his cot and all over the house.






Maybe this is a fluke shot but I am monitoring the other children to see if the onions are helping to prevent them getting the flu so frequently. Have you tried it out? Do let me know the results.