Whether to or not to?

Nicotine chewing gums and pads to aid quitting smoking were in February last year released in Finland to be sold in supermarkets, petrol stations and shops in addition to having earlier been available in only pharmacies.

The sale on cigarettes has gone down less than expected and it seems that it has had no effect on decreasing smoking as the nicotine products now are used in addition to smoking cigarettes when smoking is either prohibited or not possible out of one some reason. According to recent a Gallup 26 % of persons between the ages of 15-79 are smokers and 7 % of them are using nicotine products in addition to the smoking.

So the question seems to have become “when to smoke or not to smoke” instead of the “if to smoke or not to smoke” as “Big Brother” obviously wanted it to rather have been.

Still I am personally thankful that my dear spouse has sticked to his non-smoking line this long as his health has been better than it used to be when he was smoking. I can not quite understand anyone having been smoking for 30 years, always tasting like an ashtray in your mouth as I have only been “on and off” more kind of party-smoker and not an accustomed smoker for longer periods of time.

Anyway, now it seems that we finally might be moving, and that quite soon within the next week possibly as we are going to see an apartment this afternoon that at least on the sketch might be working for our family. Now we just have to see the place in reality so we can determine whether it meets our needs, whether the location is approved by the offspring or not and if it feels right, if you know what I mean. I am thrilled by having a new place to furnish and decorate but at the same time I just hate the idea of moving. I hate the to having to pack everything into boxes to be transported to the new place in order to be unpacked again, hate everything needing to be washed and cleaned, curtains, rugs… God, I wish I could just throw everything out of the window and just buy new stuff! On second thought, maybe not a good idea after all as I do not like shopping like some of my girlfriends do and maybe the fact that I actually like most of our stuff, but perhaps some things might kind of accidentally break when moving and needing to be replaced with new ones?

Eggs and chicken

A baby especially designed to prevent its’ sibling from dying in a terminal disease, is being made in Sweden. Is this right or wrong?

As many egg cells as possible are to be gathered from the mother and fertilized by sperm from the father with IVF and the most suitable of the growing embryos is chosen to be implanted into the womb of the mother to be carried out in full in order to retain the stem cells needed from the umbilical cord at birth, transferring them to the needing sibling who might, or might not get well or even survive with this kind of treatment.

As this still is theory, is it not, that it might not work? Is it not?

But fact is that the baby is to be born. How would you feel if you are a result to save your brother or sister? “The only reason we got you, dear, is so that your brother would not die”. ?!? Well, the couple in question as it happens already have two sons with the same disease in question, the older one is dying or has already died of the condition, but still?

Well good news is that from today even if being pregnant you can go to any restaurant here in Finland and there will be no more cigarette smoke as smoking from today on is prohibited in bars and restaurants.

Oddly enough Salmonella infection was recently discovered in Finnish poultry exported to the eastern neighbour in a routine inspection of the meat and this type of salmonella has not been spotted in the EU in any routine tests according to the EU officials. Well the eastern neighbour seems to be quite on the go for the moment, banning imports of meat from an EU country, cutting off gas supplies to other countries in the winter and even performing missile tests. Anyway, now finally the poultry in Finland is let out after its’ involuntary confinement in order to prevent them to catch the avian flu from the migrating birds in the spring. Good for you chicken, now you can be digging happily for grains outdoors again.

Hazards of partying

The Finns have earlier been very conscientious about not drinking and driving but now the trend has changed. Last week all over the EU countries the police checked drivers and as it turns out every 100^th driver in Finland is under the influence of alcohol and especially younger drivers are prone to drink and then drive. Well they might have been partying hard the day before and hang-over and still had some alcohol in their bodies.

But I still wonder about is how many drivers were under the influence of other substances, and I do not mean drugs in this case. How many of the drivers use painkillers that are not suitable to take if driving, or medication against anxiety and to calm you down like Valium or had a sleeping pill the night before. The effects do not just disappear when you wake up in the mornings; it lingers on for hours after quite similar to a hang-over.

To my surprise the health authorities have published guidelines for smoking on balconies. So from now on you smoking on your own balcony can be prohibited if it is proven to be hazardous to the health of your neighbours.

Guess this produces even more pressure for people having parties in apartment buildings in as you do not normally smoke indoors in homes in Finland and going out to the balcony might not be allowed anymore.

Another funny thing, I was in Stockholm on a cruise not long ago and almost no one smoked in the streets anymore since smoking no longer is allowed in public places in Sweden.

So having a drink and smoking a cigarette when you are having is party might soon disappear.

Smoking prohibited on your own balcony!

As it has not been custom for quite some years to smoke indoors in your home here in Finland, the Finns have been going outdoors into the yard or onto their balconies to get their doses of cigarette-smoke. I think that has been quite nice and considerate to take into account all the other people present, not forcing them to be passive smokers. Now there is a building society here in Finland that has banned smoking completely in the building.

Which means that people living in that building are not allowed to smoke on their own balconies!

I always thought that the balcony of an apartment belongs to your home which would mean that you are in the privacy of your home. And nobody could impose restrictions upon what you do in your own privacy. I’d hate anyone to tell me what to cook for dinner tonight!

Well, I am an ex-smoker myself, and find it annoying to have to inhale the smoke someone else just have exhaled when opening a window, but hey, we just inhaled most of Carelia this summer!

Smog in Finland!

The forest fires are really growing into a major health issue here in Finland.

The nearest forest fires are on the other side of the Russian border (there might be other I am not aware of) and the smoke still drifts hundreds of kilometres inland! The weather being hot you would like to leave the windows ajar but can’t because of the smell of a smoke! And you can’t see anything because of the smog. Imagine smog here in Finland in the middle of Helsinki or on a lake in the middle of nowhere! Looks like rain on the horizon but smells like fire.

Being out in the woods and having a little fire, well, that is nice and cosy and even smells nice. But having the smoke around you at all times is not fun anymore. Guess we all live in a smoke-sauna for the time being.

At least they promised a possibility of rain this week and I really hope that goes for the eastern border too!