Having a fence and gate around it…okay, I can buy into that, for safety. Especially given that we get so much snow here, it could get covered up and someone could really hurt themselves or potentially die. I don’t buy into the attractive nuisance portion of the law, but I can buy into the need for general safety given the conditions in this area. The item that pissed me off is that you’re required to put an alarm on any door of your house that has access to the pool directly. So, if you build the fence using your house as part of the barrier (as is typical), your back door has to have an alarm on it. This isn’t a security alarm…it’s an alarm that goes off if the door is left open for more than 6 seconds, kind of like the one on some refrigerators. The alarm is explained as necessary to alert the household in case a child wanders out. It is required to be loud enough to be heard throughout the entire house.

First, there’s no provision for households that don’t have a child, like mine. Second, that’s going to be damn annoying. I can’t count the number of times I’ve wanted to leave my screen door open temporarily to bring food in and out. (I can’t do that because of Pancake, but I want to do it.) Third, this law clearly assumes your child was raised in a barn, to borrow an old expression. How stupid is your (old/tall enough to open a door) kid that they don’t close the door behind them? I mean, first, let’s assume they know they’re doing something wrong, because, if you’re smart enough to have not only bought a pool but followed the village regs in installing this alarm, you’re not as dumb as the kid and have thus taught the kid that the pool is off-limits when they’re not with you. I mean, we are talking about a kid that is old enough to open a door by themselves…who is also old enough that you’re letting this kid wander around rooms of the house unsupervised. (It’s worth noting that I also think most parents have the good sense to teach their kids about safety around *ALL* dangerous household items, not just the pool…there are plenty of items that are far more dangerous laying about the typical home. Kids get into stuff regardless of what you teach, but, if you haven’t even made the effort, you’ve got only yourself to blame when something goes wrong, IMO.) So, given all of this, we’re then talking about protecting a kid who, knowing all of this, is so stupid that (s)he, knowing that there’s an alarm there (because you’re also required to test it regularly) and knowing you don’t want the kid going there, goes out the door and doesn’t close it.

So basically, this is a useless alarm. Any kid that could trigger the alarm is going to very likely know how to *not* trigger the alarm and/or not trigger the alarm out of a taught reflex to close exterior doors behind them. Who is this alarm really protecting? Well, I guess it could protect me from accidentally letting my cat out. I guess by that logic, if an adult leaves the door open, it reminds them to close it. But, then I’d have to assume than an adult parent is dumber than a child, and I’d hate to do that.

If I were a legislator, I’d offer four amendments to any ultrasound bill. First, the government should pick up the tab. Second, the woman should also be offered a six-hour videotape of a screaming 1-year-old. Third, any juror deliberating whether to issue a death sentence should be offered the chance to view an execution. Fourth, anyone buying meat should be offered the chance to watch video from a slaughterhouse.

It’s item two that caught my fancy in particular. In my ideal world, if we’re going to go around trying to make sure people know the consequences of their actions, any woman considering going off birth control and/or getting pregnant should have to tote a fake baby (of the kind used in high school simulations) around for a few days.

The reality of the situation is that we as humanity do things all the time without considering the possible consequences. If we didn’t, we’d have no need for words like apology, sorry, and mistake. I likely slaughter a mass of single-celled organisms every time I shower. I certainly indirectly cause the death of a fair number of cows, chickens, and pigs each year. It seems like the question that we’re really getting at is at what point should there be mandatory education before taking on a possible consequence. And by the way, it strikes me as odd as well that the same political party that wants to make sure that you get a gun without having to consider it for even a day is so concerned about the ignorance level of people getting abortions. Also, the party that is so concerned with abortion is also doing a mass of actions to ensure that people having sex do not have education or access to birth control methods, as well as blocking research toward new methods…truly effective and available birth control in and of itself could eliminate the problem.

A magazine that I have enjoyed is The Nest, which was recently started by The Knot and mailed free to those registered on the knot who were recently married. They started it because they discovered that their sister site, The Nest, was getting not just transfer registrants from The Knot but entirely new registrants, many of whom complained that there didn’t seem to be a place for them elsewhere. The target of the magazine is couples in their first 1-2 years of marriage. So far, it’s only being released quarterly, but I’ve read it cover to cover for both of the issues I’ve received. The “married and not bored with each other yet” segment seems to be pretty neglected by magazines. For example, Cosmopolitan and Elle both did articles on travel plans where you can meet other singles. Redbook covered travel with kids. The Nest, albeit in a clearly advertiser-sponsored manner, has a regular feature on travel for couples.

Now, granted, their topics might get tired to me in a year or two, but a subscription only lasts a year anyways. Any recommendations for magazines out there that don’t exclusively target kid-enhanced couples? For what it’s worth, I’m attracted to periodicals over books these days, because I can throw away a magazine and thus lighten my load while traveling.

(x-posted in a few places)