[Noisebridge-discuss] Prevent Diarrhea

Mon Sep 12 01:10:23 UTC 2011

ARRRGGHHH!!   Forget the flowers--  After several days of the severe runs
last week and CONTINUING to clean back-splashed fecal matter from the
toilets in greater frequency, I'm trying-- apparently unsuccessfully thus
far-- to prevent/contain an outbreak of illness here at Noisebridge.  Rather
than action or volunteering to help solve the problem, all I seem to be
hearing about is the goddamn flowers.  The flowers don't cause diarrhea, but
they do foster the vectors that do.  It's the diarrhea, folks, DIARRHEA.
The problem is pathogens in fecal matter causing diarrhea, NOT flowers.

Dysentary, per se, is not the only bacteria to cause
gastroenteritis/diarrhea, nor the only pathogen found in human feces.  Other
more likely ones include salmonella, enterovirii, Norwalk virus (a
norovirus), camphlyobactor, E.coli, crytosporidium, coliforms, and
coliphages. Fruit flies transmit pathogens in fecal matter
(1)<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1169043/>, including E
coli <http://aem.asm.org/cgi/content/full/65/1/1>.   Flowers attract fruit
flies (see 7th bullet point under the "CLEAN" section
here<http://www.infobarrel.com/Getting_Rid_of_Fruit_Flies>).
By analogy, rodents don't transmit the Black Plague, but the fleas that
loved to hang out with rodents did.

I am BAFFLED why Noisebridge folks seem to refuse to want to address
problems when they are small and PREVENT them.  FOCUS, PLEASE:  THIS IS NOT
ABOUT FLOWERS OR SIGNS.  IT IS ABOUT PREVENTING A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM BY
BEING RESPONSIBLE, *NOW*.

But wait, this is Noisebridge, where the decision-making is not only
consensus process based, but-- as it seems to me based on recent events--
crisis management driven.  Let me put this another way:  Would we, as a
group of individuals, prefer to step up and prevent an outbreak of
pathogen-based diarrhea (which can be life-threatening) ourselves?  Or
should we just ignore this health issue, focus on the importance of flowers,
and continue a *que sera sera* apathetic attitude... until the Department of
Public Health (or, worse, CDC) shows up to governmentally "solve" the
problem for us?  After all, we ARE technically preparing and serving food
publicly.  If we were a restaurant, I have no doubt that the health
inspection would close us down for neglecting ANY attempt to encourage or
enable the most basic steps of food safely, personal hygiene, and other
parts of the food preparation health code.

Personally, I just don't want the horrible, cramping, ill-feeling diarrhea I
had 10 days ago... nor do I want anyone else to experience them.  I clean
the toilets fairly regularly; trust me, empirical evidence suggests it is
still continuing.  I don't think this anywhere merits a 3-1-1 call, but the
silence on this from board members even is perplexing.  If no one wants to
deal with this but is willing to financially underwrite it, let me know and
I'll get it done.

Can we focus on the Feces and Fruit Flies, please?  Does it help if I point
out that this might well be something that could affect YOU?

THANK YOU, Noisebridge is excellent!  Let's work to keep it that way, ok?

Duncan

On Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 5:54 AM, girlgeek <girlgeek at wt.net> wrote:

>  Whether or not you like the flowers they are not causing dysentery.  I
> have traveled extensively where dysentery is a problem.  The preventative is
> to wash dishes, (the dishwasher is good) and your hands and to keep your
> hands out of your mouth and eyes.  Something clean to dry hands on would be
> a help.
>
> All of the business about the counter, flowers, etc are nice if they are of
> interest to you.  They will have no effect on the dysentery.
> -Claudia
>
> On 9/10/2011 5:33 PM, Griffin Boyce wrote:
>
> If she's bringing the flowers in every day, it would be nice of her to toss
> the old ones before they get too nasty.  Flowers are nice, though dried
> flowers don't have as many problems as their fresh-picked cousins (eg
> watering, grossness, flies).  A sign seems a bit excessive.
>
>  As for the public health aspects, there are many causes of diarrhea,
> which paper towels might not fix. Bulk paper towels are not super-expensive,
> and really sort of a necessity since there's a kitchen.
>
>  Once the counter edging is replaced, I heartily recommend clear silicone
> caulking for corners and edges. It's a simple step, but it will *really*
> prevent cleaning/mold/nastiness issues in the future.  It might be worth
> taking an old toothbrush and rags to the edging now to see if the gunk will
> come out. If it's possible to thoroughly clean the edging, then you can
> probably caulk it when clean.
>
>  Griffin
>
>
> On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 5:49 PM, Snail <snailtsunami at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>  On Sat, Sep 10, 2011 at 2:28 PM, Just Duncan <justduncan at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> -  All the blooms and roses brought daily by Wish into the kitchen area
>>> that unhappily wilt, die, and decay here... something fruit flies seem to
>>> love.  First, having had a mother whose hobbyist passion was growing roses
>>> to enjoy on the bush, I'm wondering the excellency of how these
>>> roses/flowers are being picked.  Secondly, I think NB's kitchen can
>>> sacrifice color for the sake of hygiene.  Finally, with all their thorns,
>>> disposing of them is rather painful.    Is there any great object to a sign
>>> putting flowers and floating blossoms on hiatus?
>>>
>>>
>> I object to a sign because you know one specific person who brings
>> flowers, and you want her to stop. It would be really passive aggressive to
>> put up a sign when you could just talk to her yourself; I'm not sure why
>> you're e-mailing everyone on the list instead of doing so, in fact.
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing listNoisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.nethttps://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
>
>
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 10.0.1392 / Virus Database: 1520/3889 - Release Date: 09/10/11
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/attachments/20110911/44bfe111/attachment-0003.html>