The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Recall of the Week: Under Armour chin straps for football helmets due to laceration hazard

By Rita R. Robison

Under Armour Inc. is recalling about 541,000 UA Defender Chin Straps.

The metal snap that connects the chin strap to the helmet has sharp edges, posing a laceration hazard when the user’s metal snap comes into contact with another player, Under Armour and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement.

Under Armour has received six reports of injuries that required stitches.

The recall involves all UA Defender Chin Straps. They were sold in the following colors: white and black, red, midnight, navy, and royal.

The chin straps have a hard nylon shell, a padded chin area, and a plastic strap with “Under Armour” printed on it. The chin straps have metal clasps that tighten the straps and attach them to the helmet.

Manufactured in China, the chin straps were sold at Sporting goods stores and Under Armour outlet stores nationwide and at www.underarmour.com from January 2008 through September 2011. The cost was about $20.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled chin straps and contact Under Armour for a free replacement, the company and commission advise.

For additional information, contact Under Armour toll-free at 888-823-0343 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s website at www.underarmour.com.

For details on other recalls, see www.recalls.gov.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Recall of the Week: Bravo Sports Disney-brand Pogo sticks due to fall and laceration hazards

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Bravo Sports is recalling about 159,000 Disney-brand Pogo sticks.

The bottom rubber tip attached to the pogo stick frame can wear out prematurely, posing a fall hazard to consumers, Bravo Sports and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said in a statement. Also, the end caps on the handlebars can come off, exposing sharp edges. This poses a laceration hazard to consumers.

Bravo Sports and the commission have received 82 reports of the bottom tip wearing out on the pogo sticks, including five reports of injuries. A 9-year-old girl suffered a skull fracture and chipped a tooth. Another 9-year-old girl cut her lip and chin, requiring stitches. Other injuries included scrapes, hits to the head, and teeth pushed in.

Consumers can visit the search page on SaferProducts.gov to view incident reports about Bravo’s recalled pogo sticks.

The recall includes pogo sticks in various colors. The models included in this recall are the Disney Hannah Montana Pogo Stick, the Disney/Pixar Toy Story Cruising Cool Pogo Stick, the Disney/Pixar Cars Pogo Stick, the Disney Princess Pogo Stick, and the Disney Fairies Cruising Cool Pogo Stick. The pogo sticks have Disney labels between the handlebars. The manufacturing date codes between 01/01/2009-022CO and 11/30/2010-022CO are on a clear label on the stem of the pogo stick near the foot pedals.

Manufactured in China, the pogo sticks were sold at Burlington Coat Factory, Kmart, Kohls.com, Target, and Toys R Us from February 2009 through June 2011 for about $20.

Consumers should immediately stop using the pogo sticks and contact Bravo Sports for a full refund, the company and commission advise.

 For additional information, contact Bravo Sports toll-free at 855-469-3429 between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT or visit the firm’s website at www.bravopogorecall.com.

For details on other recalls, see www.recalls.gov.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top 10 tips for celebrating Easter

By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Whether you’ll be celebrating with just your family or inviting a crowd, here are tips for having an Easter that’s terrific:

1. Planning and organizing

Keep it simple. Use plastic eggs to avoid mess and waste. Plan a simple menu or arrange a potluck. For more suggestions, see “Top 10 Tips for a Great Easter.”

2. Decorating

Choose pastel colors, yellow and green, for example, that complement each other for your table. Select or create a tall dramatic arrangement. See “Top 10 Tips for Easter Tables" for more ideas.

3. Easter eggs

Use natural items such as onionskins, beet juice, spinach leaves juice, and turmeric for dying Easter eggs. For details, go to “How to Dye Easter Eggs Using Natural Materials.”

4. Memories

Make a list of your favorite Easter memories. Ask your family or your guests to share their memories, too. Visit “What’s Your Favorite Easter Memory?” for ideas.


5. The hunt

Select safe places to hide the Easter eggs. Mark the area of the hunt with flags or tape so that children spending a lot of time searching areas where there aren’t any eggs. Visit “Top 10 Tips for an Easter Egg Hunt” for more suggestions.

6. Safety

Separate age groups so that the large kids aren’t knocking over smaller children. Or enforce a no running rule. Visit “10 Safety Tips for Easter Egg Hunting” for more ideas.

7. Non-sugar treats

Select stickers, small age-appropriate toys, and dried fruit to put in plastic Easter eggs rather than candy. Go to “Ideas for Non-sugar Easter Treats” for additional suggestions.

8. Activities

Take a walk in the park or go to a beach. For other ideas, see “Top 10 Fun Things to Do With Your Kids This Easter.”

9. Family traditions

Follow your favorite family traditions. Attend a church service, go to your favorite quiet spot in the great outdoors, or visit a nursing home.

10. Green Easter

Think of ways you can “green” your Easter such as using real grass clippings or recycled paper in Easter baskets, buy Easter baskets you can use for many years, and look for farm raised eggs. See “Green Tips for Easter Sunday” for more information.

Whatever your plans, have a wonderful Easter celebration.

Copyright 2011, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

What are your favorite winter activities?

 

During the cold winter weather, I like curling up with a good book, drinking a hot cup of tea, or inviting friends to play Pictionary, Pinochle, or Rummy.

When it’s cold, dark, and maybe snowing, what do you like to do?

 Here’s a list of winter’s best traditions from the Huffington Post:

• Hot chocolate
• Chestnut roasting
• Snow forts and fights
• Warm blankets
• Books
• Sledding
• Warm stove warmth
• Snow days
• Sipping soup
• Paper snowflakes
• Ice skating
• Skiing and snowboarding
• Fuzzy clothes
• Games
• Snowmen and angles

Best wishes surviving the winter weather. It was harsh here in the Pacific Northwest in November and the East Coast and California, too, have taken a beating.

            Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Top three safety tips for children’s toys this holiday season

Although new toy safeguards have contributed to a decline in toy recalls since 2008 and toy-related fatalities decreased in 2009, toy-related injuries are increasing, reports the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In 2009, about 186,000 emergency room-treated injuries occurred related to toys with children younger than 15. This is up from 152,000 injuries in 2005.

Often these injuries involved cuts and bruises on the child's face and head.

The commission offers these safety tips:

1. Which toy for which child – Always choose age appropriate toys.

2. Gear up for safety – Include safety gear whenever shopping for sports-related gifts or ride-on toys, including bicycles, skates, and scooters.

3. Location - Be aware of your child's surroundings during play. Young children should avoid playing with ride-on toys near automobile traffic, pools, or ponds. They also should avoid playing in indoor areas associated with hazards such as kitchens and bathrooms and in rooms with corded window blinds.

Additional safety steps include:

• Scooters and other riding toys – Helmets and safety gear should be worn properly at all times and be sized to fit.

• Small balls and other toys with small parts – For children younger than age 3, avoid toys with small parts, which can cause choking.

• Balloons – Keep deflated balloons away from children younger than 8 years old to avoid choking or suffocation on deflated or broken balloons. Discard broken balloons at once.

• Magnets – For children under age 6, avoid building or play sets with small magnets. If magnets or pieces with magnets are swallowed, serious injuries and/or death can occur.

After the gifts are open:

• Immediately discard plastic wrappings or other packaging on toys before they become dangerous play things.

• Keep toys appropriate for older children away from younger siblings.

• Supervise the charging of batteries. Chargers and adapters can pose thermal burn hazards to young children. Pay attention to instructions and warnings on battery chargers. Some chargers lack any mechanism to prevent overcharging.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Recall of the Week: Bravo Sports trampolines due to fall hazard

  

About 160,000 Bravo Sports trampolines are being recalled.

Incorrectly assembled trampolines can allow the top rails and legs to bend or break during normal use, resulting in partial collapse of the trampoline.

Bravo has received 247 reports of top rails bending or breaking during normal use. Four injuries have been reported due to the bending and breaking of trampolines.

The recall involves AirZone and Variflex trampolines with model numbers 137083 (with wheels), 137536, 137683, 138088, 138467, 138472, 138489, 139275, 139283, 139284, 139300, and 139706. The model number is found on the safety label sewn to the pad cover. The units are 12 feet, 13 feet, and 14 feet and come in blue, yellow, and red.

Manufactured in China, the trampolines were sold at Sporting goods and mass-market retail stores nationwide and on the Internet from January 2007 through September 2010 for between $200 and $400.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled trampolines, advises the company. They should contact Bravo Sports for instructions on how to inspect the trampoline for top rail damage and to request revised assembly instructions. Bravo Sports will replace top rails and legs damaged due to assembly errors at no charge.

For more information, contact Bravo Sports at 877-500-2459 between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s website at www.airzonevariflex-recall.com.

The recall is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Commission.

For details on other recalls, see www.recalls.gov.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Olympia Food Co-op Harvest Dinner a fall delight

Yesterday, the Olympia Food Coop celebrated the fall harvest with its Sixth Annual Harvest Dinner.

It was great fun. The co-op provided main dishes and halibut burgers. Co-op members brought salads and vegetable dishes. The nice thing was there were few desserts.

Another great thing; There were no paper plates or plastic silverware. Co-op staff washed dishes throughout, real dishes and silverware.

Kids bobbed for apples and played other games. A band played. And the best thing, the sun came out after I’d been there about an hour.

I hope you enjoy my photos.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

How to you know if you’re addicted to video games?

Recently, I tried out a few games of Chess on the computer. However, I didn’t enjoy getting beat almost all of the time by the computer.

So, when I saw my grandchildren playing Hearts, I thought I’d try it. Years ago, I played Hearts with my friend from high school and her husband. They were very competitive and quite the card players.

In the last few days, I’ve been playing Hearts all the time. I’ve played 24 games and won five, a rate of 20 percent wins.

When I got up this morning, rather than checking my blog stats, the first thing I did was play Hearts. I’m not getting very much else done.

Am I addicted to video games?

Here are the top five signs you need help with gaming or Internet addiction from Video Game Addiction.com:

1. You feel really happy when you're online or when you're playing games, but as soon as you have to stop, you get angry or upset.
2. You think about going online or playing when you are supposed to be focusing on other things, like doing school work or having dinner with your family.
3. You spend more time with your keyboard or controller than physically hanging out with your friends.
4. Your friends or parents ask what you spend all your time doing, and you lie about it or laugh it off, but inside you know they may have a point.
5. You get up in the middle of the night to check your e-mail or your MySpace comments because you're having a hard time sleeping.

Well, I’m not in trouble yet with video games. However, I could be addicted to blogging…

See Video Game Addiction.com for other information about gaming and Internet addiction.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Recall of the Week: Toy dart gun sets sold at Family Dollar Stores due to aspiration hazard

About 1.8 million toy dart gun sets sold by Family Dollar Stores Inc., of Charlotte, N.C., are being recalled due to an aspiration hazard. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Family Dollar have received reports of two asphyxiation deaths involving a 9-year-old boy in Chicago, Ill., and a 10-year-old boy in Milwaukee, Wis.

If a child places the soft, pliable plastic toy dart in his or her mouth, the toy can be inhaled into the throat and prevent the child from breathing, reports the commission.

The toy dart guns, imported by Henry Gordy International Inc., of Plainfield, N.J., were sold only at Family Dollar stores. Family Dollar is working with the commission to announce the recall because Henry Gordy International has refused to recall the toy dart gun sets, according to the commission.

The "Auto Fire" toy target set is sold with either an orange and yellow toy gun – item #P238 – or a blue-and-yellow toy gun – item #9328, eight orange darts, and a small target with numbers from 1 to 20.

The gun's item number is located on one side of the handle in raised lettering. The soft plastic darts measure just over one inch in length and have a small suction cup at one end with a diameter of about ½ inch. The target board is black, yellow, red and green, and measures five inches in diameter. "Gordy Toy" for "Ages 8+" is printed on the packaging.

Manufactured in China, the toy sets were sold at Family Dollar stores nationwide from September 2005 through January 2009 for about $1.50.

Consumers should immediately take the toy target sets from children and discard them, advises the commission. Consumers can also return the guns and darts to a Family Dollar store for a full refund.

For additional information, contact Family Dollar at 800-547-0359 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.familydollar.com.

To learn about other recalls, visit www.recalls.gov.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Super Bowl ads violent, sexist, and ageist – again

This year, I was only able to watch the first half of the 44th Super Bowl.

Once again, the ads were a disappointment. It makes you wonder what companies and their advertising firms think the intellectual level of American consumers is.

An average 30-second spot on the Super Bowl costs $2.5 million. An esimated 106 million watched the game, making it the most watched program in TV history.

Here are my picks for the worst ads:

Unnecessary violence. A four-way tie: Snickers, in which Betty White and an older man are tackled in a game of football and slammed into the mud; Focus on the Family, in which Tim Tebow tackles his mother Pam; Doritos, in which a dog puts a choke collar on a human, who lies writhing on the ground; and Bud Light, in which people form a human bridge and a Bud truck is driven over them.

Add to these gems the violent movie and TV ads flashing up scenes of fire, bloody faces, wolf man curses, cars blowing up, and a haunted prison.

Silliest. Bud Light, in which a house is made out of Bud Light cans, Bud drinkers have computer-like voices, and plane wreck survivors are more interest in drinking Bud Light than getting rescued. A runner up is the Dockers ad with men wearing no pants.

Most sexist. It was hard to pick a winner here, there were so many. Godaddy.com, in which a young, shapely woman giving the Godaddy girl a massage wants to be a Godaddy girl; Dodge Charger, in which a guy agrees to do everything his female partner wants, but his last stand is his car; and FloTV, in which a spineless man has to shop with his wife instead of watching the game.

I did like one ad, the CBS ad for the "Late Show with David Letterman." It featured Letterman, Oprah, and… Jay Leno.

Here are other opinions on this year’s Super Bowl ads:

“Super Bowl Sexism, by the Numbers” – The Huffington Post

“Top Super Bowl Commercials 2010? Nope. Here Are the Five Worst” – The Christian Science Monitor

“Why Super Bowl Ads Are So Sexist, Racist, and Homophobic” – Washington City Paper

“Super Bowl Ads: Men Without Pants” – CNN Money

Click here to see the Super Bowl ads and vote on the ones you like and don’t like.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist