Day 8: A silent killer
Inspections officially completed today with the radon test results. The levels turned out to be satisfactory. Ugh. I’ve learned a lot in this home-buying process, but this is one thing that merits blissful ignorance. Despite the satisfactoy label, it turns out no level is really safe. And it’s everywhere. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer; it is a silent, inescapable killer.
Alright, well blissful ignorance isn’t quite accurate, but if I had the option to know the culprit of my demise, I’d choose oblivion. Say I were to be squashed by a chair falling from the sky. I’d spend every anxiety-ridden moment with my eyes to the sky, tripping over what’s in front of me instead of enjoying the moment. No thanks. Which is why I’m not even going to bother testing my current house since I’m moving on soon.
Until this weekend, I knew nothing about radon. According to my inspector, one in three homes in the Grandville area have toxic levels. One in 20 homes in Alger Heights record toxic levels. Today I learned that it’s everywhere, but your home is the most dangerous place. Back to that blissful ignorance thing… Now I’m going to be worried that lung cancer is the ticking time bomb for my family in Grandville.
On the other hand, while radon is everywhere, there are several measures you can take to decrease your home’s levels. So ignorance really isn’t bliss. Test kits are cheap. Do yourself a favor. Check your radon levels and lower your risk for lung cancer!
Unfolding the Story of My Life 
Don’t you get the feeling that pretty much everything around us is bad? Personally, I’d rather live life lovingly every day and not worry about industries, doctors, scientist and the naysayers inflicting fear and robbing me of my daily fun. If it’s not radon, it’s the cancer causing radio waves off all the wifi toys around us! I’ll take my risks, cause you never know when your number is up right?
Totally! I actually stopped using the microwave for a while. A little nutty, I know. But then I realized either my Droid or BlackBerry is permanently attached to my hand. So I resigned to being helplessly surrounded by the world’s radiation and decided I’d start making dinner the easy way once again.