Lift/Transfer Dummy- The Michael Meyers Model

This is terrifying.  One of the Personal Care Homes I work at had this in the multi purpose room.  I assume they are using it as a training aid for some sort of care regimen.  I can only hope it isn't mouth-to-mouth recessitation practices.

How creepy is this?  There are not many ways that this could be made to be more disturbing, and still be allowed to be used in a care home setting.  Paint stained coveralls, a longshoremans touque, and yes, that is duck tape wrapped around his head mafia-style.  And is it just my eye, or does he appear to be reaching "down there" pleasuring himself to the thoughts of the first time he heard Jamie Lee Curtis' scream?  Another ghastly feature of this fellow is his lack of feet.  So it appears he was "hobbled" before he was aysphyxiated with duck tape. 
I can only hope that this isn't a mandatory inservice for all staff.  Because I definitely don't need to see any more of this guy.

Y - M - C - A!

We have been visiting the YMCA now about 3 times a week.  Mostly as a family, which has been very enjoyable.  This past Sunday we started the kids in their swimming lessons at 1:30pm.  Tannis and I thought it would be fun for us to sit in the hot tub/steam room while the kids were in their class, and since it was the last swimming class of the afternoon, join them for a play in the pool afterwards.  Whee!
Unfortunately the hot tub had a sign on it that there had been a "fouling".  I guess some processed pablum slipped out of a little swimmer.  Fair enough, I decided to watch for the 30 mins the kids were in the lesson and then change out for playtime after that.  But what do I see when I look in the hot tub...the sign has recently been removed and sitting there in the tub with a big grin, is my wife!
I question her motives for being the first swimmer in the hot tub after the fouling sign had been removed.  She tells me that they were just adjusting the pH of the hot tub and don't have a "We're adjusting the pH" sign, so they use the fouling sign.  I ask her how she knows that and she says that the other lady in the tub told her that.  When I glance over to that lady, she shrugs and says, "well, probably".

O-kay.

It's been a couple of days, and so far no fecal-bourne illnesses, so I remain hopeful. 
We had a great time in the pool, and Mitch decided that afterwards he is going to climb the rock wall.  So off we go to shower and get changed.

I'll stop here to say that I really like the new disign at the Y.  Lots of (free) lockers, nice big pool, waterslides (although I have NEVER seen the red one in operation..why?), all the new machines and extra parking.  But they missed 2 things.  There needs to be an entrance off the parking lot, and the showers suck.

Why must I bring my kid through the sausage factory when I leave the pool?  It is impossible to make it from the pool to the lockers without walking past every shower head (pun intended).  This is unneccessary.  I'm not a prude.  At all.  But a shower is a shower and a hallway is a hallway.  N'er the two shall meet. 

And there is nowhere practical to hang a towel while you shower.  They have these weird grab bars, that are too far away, and too small to be useful. When I tried to engage my wife in my rant later, she says, "Don't you have hooks on the back of your shower door?"

WHAT!?

Ugh.  Well, there's no way they're going to change the men's showers to the extent of adding doors, but it sure would be nice to see some hooks.  I'm starting to see why the Village People were motivated to sing about this place.