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two useful things i learned from co-workers today
1. The lights in light boxes, which are used to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), are called "full spectrum" lights. Full spectrum lighting reproduces the wavelengths of sunlight and has a crazy number of benefits compared to other types of artificial lighting. It slows the aging of the retina and reduces the production of cortisol, the "stress hormone." Light boxes are really bright, but you can also buy plain old full spectrum lightbulbs to go in your regular light fixtures. They are not as effective as a light box, but they are still more beneficial than regular lightbulbs. They are not cheap (about 7 bucks a bulb), but they are way cheaper than a light box would be. The main obstacle to my getting them is that spending a hundred dollars on lightbulbs just sounds really foolish. But it would be worth it if it cured my depression, am I right? Now if only we could get these for the office, too.
2. Identity thieves usually wait about a year after getting your personal information before they try to use it. I don't know exactly why this is, but it would explain why, ten months after I lost my wallet, my calling card was suddenly used to make $50 worth of calls to Libya. The calling card was the only thing that I didn't bother to report stolen at the time, since I had never used it, and I figured since it hadn't been used, it wasn't a big deal. Oh wait, I also didn't report my SOCIAL INSURANCE CARD, because I didn't want to have to file a police report. Oops. It's just that I kind of do not like the police very much, you know? Nor do I really enjoy having a government file number.
But I guess I really need to either request a new number, or file a report, ASAP, before the Libyans rack up a trillion dollars worth of credit card debt in my name. (The bright side of this is that my credit is fairly poor, so a trillion would probably be closer to, like, 500. But, you know, with interest -- and the interest rate will be high since my credit sucks -- that could add up fast.) The down side of filing a police report is having to be nice to the police. And I guess then they would have my name and information on file. The downside of getting a new SIN is that it would cost me money, and I already have this one memorized. That would be five years of memory training down the drain! Either way I lose. Thanks a lot bureaucracy!
So, I am kind of on the fence. Which would you do?
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