This weekend I decided to run a quick $20 test kit on my tap water. Perhaps some things are best left to the imagination or perhaps best left pretending they didn't exist (I've found that out about a lot of things in my life lately). However, I am an investigator, a scientific detective of sorts. The funny thing is that according to my birth chart, this is part of my fate...I've done a great job of making it my destiny.

Well, it's time to call the EPA. For the most part, the water here in the Twin Cities meets standards. But then I did the lead test and pesticide tests. The pesticides were detectable but not considered above limits; however, the lead indicator was equal to the control, which basically means it's higher than it should be. This is not good. It's time to start using the Brita filter again.

The funny thing about all this is that I have direct access to reverse osmotic water all day at work (it's used for reconstituting antibiotics). I never take advantage of it because one day I was reading the description of the spigot where the water comes out of the vial to mix with the drugs, and I discovered that it is made with some sort of weird bacteriostatic substance coating it, to keep it from becoming contaminated. I don't know. But something tells me that this might be the lesser of two evils (vs. lead).

Hmmmmm.....Well, from now on I'll just use the Brita filter. I may invest in some sort of shower filter, too, because I've read that bathing causes the body to absorb more of that stuff than drinking it does. This is some major food for thought. Most don't think of that large external organ called SKIN to be the culprit for such things. But think about it. Think about all the drugs you can slap on with a patch and suddenly your pain is gone, or your hot flashes are gone, or your nicotine cravings are gone. Hmmmm....what else can our skin readily absorb?

This is why I've become so picky about what I put on my body. Everything from creams and lotions to dry cleaning choices to laundry detergents. While it's fun to go into department stores every once in a while and try a new fragrance, the daily coating of the body with that useless synthetic stuff is not highly recommended. Keep it simple is the best philosophy. I'm certainly not the first blogger to discuss this matter. You see, between all of us bloggers, I tend to follow a quote by a dear friend from Iowa I haven't seen in YEARS but one who has touched my life in ways I never dreamed. (OK, that's a bit of an exaggeration but it's worth the memory in my mind because this guy is one of the FUNNIEST people I've ever met!).

"Great minds think alike.....and so do ours."

-Jim Coppoc

Thanks Jim. My high school telemarketing summer job of 1995 (gag) would have never been the same without you.

Man, what ever happened to Jim? I should look that crazy dude up on google and see if he's still alive..........

(here goes)

No kidding!!?! Jim is a daddy! Congratulations Jim! Wow, that's gonna be a tall kid!

Visit this nutty man's website at www.jimcoppoc.com and perhaps you'll see him around sometime at a poetry reading near you.