Continuation of the paper problem

Merry Christmas! And Happy New Year! And Happy Holidays of all kinds!

Not much has changed since the August 26 posting. We continue to try to establish CIIN as paper-free. It looks like we are finally on track to put out another issue of Our Toxic Times. Barring unforeseen problems, we will get it in the mail some time in January.

As I write this, we are starting our usual Christmas vacation. We will be back open January 6, 2020, at 10am Mountain Time.

Just for your information:  Cynthia started this organization in May of 1990! And the first newsletter came out in July of that year. I officially joined the organization in 1994.

Carbon filter masks

I have not purchased from this outfit yet, but I found what looks like a good source for those M95 carbon filter masks (or many other masks). It is:  iAllergy.com

Box of 20 masks for $62 and free shipping.

As I say, I haven't bought from them yet, but this looks very good. -jw

EMF tidbit about tablets

I know very little about electrical sensitivities, but I hear things occasionally that may be of interest to those who suffer from them.

One such thing is, I have been told by a small number of people that they found tablet computers were more tolerable than either desktop or laptop computers. Two people actually said they felt no reactions from a tablet. The most recent such report I got was just over a year ago, and in no case was a brand name mentioned.

I must emphasize that I have no way of knowing how accurate this information is, or if it will apply to newer tablets going forward.

Any person who is electrically sensitive is probably not reading this, but if you know someone who suffers from EMFs, you might consider passing this on. And if you do pass it on, also pass on that I do not know this for a fact. This is just something I have heard.  -JW

8/26 Saga of OTT and CIIN

Our hopes to put out a newsletter in August fell apart because of a number of problems. Continuing and additional health issues are a big part of the trouble, but delays in the total reorganization of the office have also gotten in the way.

For those who have not heard, in December (2019), Cynthia (our Executive Director and the heart and sole of CIIN) was slammed by an unrealized, and very serious, sensitivity to paper! This had been building for several years, but the symptoms were vague and subtle until suddenly they were life-threatening. Oddly, and to add a touch of humor to this disaster, it took a particularly offensive toilet paper to open our eyes. It smelled like wood chips to Cynthia — even I could smell it up close.

It soon became obvious that toilet paper was only the tip of the sensitivity iceberg. Once we started looking at all paper being the problem, we started making adjustments, and Cynthia’s health stopped going downhill. The more paper we removed from our living spaces, the more her health stabilized and actually began improving. It is a long, slow process making our lives essentially paper-free. 

When you consider that CIIN has one of the largest, possibly THE largest, private libraries in the world devoted to MCS, you will begin to understand the size of the undertaking. Add to that the fact that we have an enormous library of books of our own. Having to isolate the library from Cynthia is heartbreaking. We have both been avid readers all of our lives. Actually, I think heartbreaking is too kind a word. 

In any event, we are still here, still working with the chemically injured. However, without the newsletter at the moment, keeping in touch with our members is tough. I will try to be more diligent in posting to our Twitter account — @ourtoxictimes — and to this blog. If you get the chance, it would be helpful if you mentioned these two accounts to any other MCS sufferers you come into contact with. Obviously, many of them cannot enter the digital world, but possibly they could have someone check these two accounts for updates for them.

Thanks for listening. To those who have offered them, thank you for your prayers and good wishes. Take care of yourselves. -jw

p.s. CIIN's Twitter account is:  twitter.com/ourtoxictimes

Obviously, our plans to publish this summer did not work.

Obviously, our plans to publish this summer did not work. Here it is late August and still no new issue of OTT. The health problems are very slowly coming under control, but things were worse than even we realized.

Our target now for the next issue is to come out in September. We are having to completely reorganize our office to keep our Executive Director away from PAPER! Yes, she has developed reactions to paper that are serious, extremely painful, and slow to recover from. But we are not ready to throw in the towel, so however long it takes, we will do it and be back publishing as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we are still answering the phones and working with our members and those who are dealing with chemical exposure situations.
-John

Update on OTT schedule and our health

Unfortunately, health at our house is still problematic. It is, however, improving — at a snail's pace. We are still aiming to put out an issue this summer.

A couple weeks ago we had a very bad pair of days due to smoke coming down from Canada. It made things here worse, but luckily it did not stay around. In fact, the air quality this summer has been pretty good.

Unsettled Our Toxic Times schedule

Due to technical issues at the end of last year, and more recently, health issues at CIIN, the publishing schedule of OTT is way out of wack. We have put out two issues so far this year: Jan/Feb and March. We were working on getting a June issue out, but it is pretty late for that. IF things go as planned, we will have the next issue out the door in early July. We do apologize for this, but MCS can be very unforgiving.

In the meantime, our office is open its usual hours: 

Monday thru Wednesday, 10am until 5pm, and

Thursday and Friday, 10am until noon.

We are in the Mountain Time Zone.

On a brighter note, we have just recently put up our new web site. Same address: ciin.org. The old site had not been updated in maybe 10 years. The new one is designed to be friendly for small format devices like tablets and phones. Research by our Web Master indicates that a very high proportion of users are now searching the web using those small format devices. 

No major change like this goes without problems that need adjusting. If you run into any issues in trying to navigate the new site, please send a brief note to John at: JOHNW@CIIN.ORG. Use the subject line "web site issue" so I can identify these messages quickly.

Thanks for being patient (unless you are not being patient) as we work our way through this rough period.

-John