GoLite Warehouse Sale in Boulder This Weekend!

GoLite's awesome semi-annual warehouse sale is this weekend!

Friday, April 23
8am-8pm

Saturday, April 24

9am-5pm

Sunday, April 25

9am-5pm

6230 Lookout Road

Boulder, CO 80301

I've been going to this unbelievable warehouse sale for several years now, since it was in the GoLite office truck port and parking lot. It's always been worth the drive to Gunbarrel during lunchbreak, and it's usually worth the wait in line at the door.

In fact, the wait line at the door has been almost empty the last few times I've gone. That's not because the event is less popular, but because the GoLite team got smart and realized that you want people waiting once they've committed to the purchase, not before they've had the chance to sample the wares.

This is a well run sale with good merch and good prices. GoLite rents out several thousand square feet of empty office space and fills it with tables, racks, and bins of perfectly good merchandise that is still in season. I haven't bought a large quantity of stuff there -- maybe 3-5 items -- but they've always been retail ready and never cosmetically flawed or wonkily cut.

GoLite has been consistent about offering this sale and they've promoted it well, which means the community knows what to expect -- it's becoming local tradition to lighten our wallets for lightweight gear. It's easy to find and easyish to park. The sale itself, though it can be ungodly hot during the summer when the office space has no AC, is not so crowded as to be elbowingly unpleasant, but just crowded enough to inspire you to lust for gear, shop with a glint in your eye, paw through the bins, and lose your inhibition and DIY a dressing room.

BUT! Man, the checkout line can be brutal. The price of no line in the door is a long line at the register. This is my kind of shopping, though -- I want to be convinced I really need the gear and really like the price before I'll commit to a half hour checkout line. I'm not sure what GoLite can do but add to its existing battery of 12 cash registers. They've got all the discount pricing in a nice POS database and all the employees (poor bastards) seem to know what they're doing. It's just that most of the people who go to the sale seem to buy many items, which takes time to ring up.

If you can find a designated sucker shopper, give them a print out of the gear you want from the GoLite website with your size preference and two color options then make sure you're accessible by phone. You might need to bribe them first or apologize later, so think about how you'll thank Geeves when s/he gets back to the office. And whatever you do, act thrilled with what they got for you, even if it's the wrong color or doesn't fit. It can be agonizing to make a purchasing decision for yourself in the midst of a warehouse sale much less make a judgment call for someone else. So don't be an ingrate. Accept effusively, pay promptly, and sneak back to the sale later to get what you wanted.

(But don't try to exchange without a receipt! Those poor warehouse sale staffers are harried enough from the frenzied crowds, being on their feet all day, trying to help edgy shoppers find just the right size and color shirt at bargain prices, and keeping one eye peeled for shoplifters. Just suck up the loss and shop for yourself next time!)

In the past, GoLite has had a price list available. I'll see if I can score one and post it here. Check back on Friday afternoon.

Obviously, the prices are pretty incredible -- that 30-90% off price range is legit, though most gear seems to be in the 50-60% off range. My favorite piece of "warehouse wear" is this Wisp Wind Shirt, which I bought at the sale for $20 ($30 off) and have since found to be key gear for running in the Colorado springtime. 

Update: Here are the price lists! (Click to enlarge.)

 

My Chemical Inventory, Or: Why the FDA Should Regulate Cosmetics

We humans expose ourselves to an astonishing number of chemicals. Chemistry is such a part of daily life that we rarely give a second thought to the chemicals surrounding us and in us. In fact, I suspect the average American hardly considers items like soap, toothpaste, hair conditioner to be chemicals. These and other household chemicals, through their everyday use, friendly packaging, and advertising, have become seemingly indispensable and positive additions to daily life.

The Environmental Working Group has been compiling a database of cosmetics and their ingredients since 2004. The database is called Skin Deep and it is partly user generated: website users submit a list of chemical ingredients from cosmetic packaging. Skin Deep cross-references cosmetic ingredients against 50 toxicity and regulatory databases of hazardous chemicals and rates the product with a safety score. Here is more info on Skin Deep.

As an exercise in cosmetic awareness, I submit to you my day in cosmetic chemistry.

Good Morning!

Brush teeth! Crest Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening Toothpaste with Tartar Protection Fresh Mint

• Skin Deep hazard rating: 5 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions & warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity
• Ingredient count: 19
• Unspecified ingredient count: 1 (flavor)
• Chemical ingredients: Active Ingredients: Sodium Fluoride 0.243% (0.16% W/V Fluoride Ion) ; Inactive Ingredients: Glycerin; Hydrated Silica; Water; Propylene Glycol; Sodium Bicarbonate; Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate; Sorbitol; PEG-12; Flavor; Sodium Hydroxide; Sodium Lauryl Sulfate; Sodium Saccharin; Poloxamer 407; Xanthan Gum; Cellulose Gum; Calcium Peroxide; Titanium Dioxide; Blue 1

Rinse mouth with Up & Up Mouth Rinse Antiseptic (the Target house brand)

• Not yet rated in Skin Deep, but the preliminary rating is 4 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: cancer, Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Violations, restrictions & warnings, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product:
• Neurotoxicity, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Occupational hazards
• Ingredient count: 13
• Unspecified ingredient count: 1 (flavor)
• Chemical ingredients: Active ingredients Eucalyptol 0.092%, Menthol 0.042% Methyl salicylate 0.060%, Thymol 0.064% Inactive ingredients water, alcohol 21.6%, sorbitol solution, flavor, poloxamer 407, benzoic acid, sodium saccharin, sodium benzoate, FD&C green no. 3

Cleanliness Is Godliness! Ivory Bar Soap, Simply Ivory

• Skin Deep hazard rating: 3 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: neurotoxicity, organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Occupational hazards
• Ingredient count: 13
• Unspecified ingredient count: 1 (fragrance)
• Chemical ingredients: Sodium Tallowate, Sodium Palmate, Water, Sodium Cocoate, Sodium Palm Kernelate, Glycerin, Sodium Chloride, Fragrance - Parfum, Coconut Acid, Palm Kernel Acid, Tallow Acid, Palm Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA

Clean that Mop! Avalon Organics Revitalizing Shampoo Peppermint

• Skin Deep hazard rating: 3 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: Allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns
• Ingredient count: 17
• Unspecified ingredient count: 1 ("other essential oils")
• Chemical ingredients: Purified water, cocamidopropyl betaine, disodium cocoamphodiacetate, sodium cocoyl sarcosinate, coconut acid, organic mentha piperita (peppermint) leaf(1), calendula officinalis (calendula) flower(1) and chamomilla recutita (chamomile) flower(2) extracts, organic orbignya oleifera (babassu) seed oil(3), babassuamidopropalkonium chloride, vegetable glycerin, bisabolol (chamomile), ethylhexylglycerin, arginine (amino acid), panthenol (pro-vitamin B5), tocopherol (vitamin E), organic mentha piperita (peppermint) leaf oil(2) and other essential oils. 1) Certified by Quality Assurance International 2) Certified by BCS Öko-Garamtie 3) Certified by Instituto Biodinâmico

Soft and Flowing Locks! American Crew Classic Stimulating Conditioner

• Not yet rated in Skin Deep, but the preliminary rating is 6 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards:     Developmental/reproductive toxicity, Violations, restrictions & warnings, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Biochemical or cellular level changes
• Ingredient count: 18
• Unspecified ingredient count: 0
• Chemical ingredients: water; cetyl alcohol; dicetyldimonium chloride; ceteareth-20; rosemary leaf extract; thyme extract; panama bark extract; provitamin B5; stearamidopropyl dimethylamine; propylene glycol; citric acid; menthol; peppermint oil; limonene; methylparaben; propylparaben; methylisothiazolinone; methylchloroisothiazolinone

Postpone the Weekend Grizzle! Kiss My Face Moisture Shave fragrance free

• Skin Deep hazard rating: 5 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: cancer, developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions & warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity; Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Endocrine disruption, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Biochemical or cellular level changes
• Ingredient count: 27
• Unspecified ingredient count: 0
• Chemical ingredients: WATER, POTASSIUM MYRISTATE (DERIVED FROM VEGETABLE OILS), SODIUM MYRISTATE (DERIVED FROM VEGETABLE OILS), PROPYLENE GLYCOL, TEA STEARATE, COCONUT OIL, OLIVE OIL, ALOE VERA, VITAMINS A & D, TOCOPHEROL ACETATE (VITAMIN E), ALLANTOIN, LECITHIN, LIME EXTRACT, LADY'S MANTLE EXTRACT, SOAPWORT EXTRACT, PEPPERMINT EXTRACT, HORSETAIL EXTRACT, WATERCRESS EXTRACT, LEMONGRASS EXTRACT, SAGE EXTRACT, GOLDENSEAL EXTRACT, ORANGEFLOWER EXTRACT, HYDROXYETHYLCELLULOSE (PLANT SOURCE), METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, SODIUM BENZOATE

Lube the smackers! Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

• Skin Deep hazard rating: 2 out of 10 (low hazard)
• Potential hazards: allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns
• Ingredient count: 9
• Unspecified ingredient count: 0
• Chemical ingredients: COCONUT OIL, BEESWAX, SWEET ALMOND OIL, PEPPERMINT OIL, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, TOCOPHEROL (VITAMIN E), LANOLIN, COMFREY ROOT EXTRACT, ROSEMARY EXTRACT

Gel the doo! Matrix Amplify Volumizing System Thick Boost gel

• Not yet rated in Skin Deep, but the preliminary hazard rating is 10 out of 10 (high hazard)
• Potential hazards: developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions & warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Miscellaneous, Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes
• Ingredient count: 31
• Unspecified ingredient count: 1 (fragrance)
• Chemical ingredients: water; amp-acrylates/allyl methacrylate copolymer; pvp; peg-14 dimethicone; acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer; propylene glycol; aminomethyl propanol; peg-40 hydrogenated castor oil; phenoxyethanol; polysorbate 80; peg-40; methylparaben; parfum/fragrance; ethylparaben; alpha-isomethyl ionone; ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate; hexyl cinnamal; butylphenyl methylpropional; linalool; benzyl salicylate; limonene; benzyl benzoate; citronellol; oleth-10; geraniol; disodium cocoamphodipropionate; octylacrylamide/acrylates/butylaminoethyl methacrylate copolymer; lecithin; phosphoric acid; polyquaternium-10; disodium edta;

Avoid stinky pits! Tom's of Maine original natural care odor protection aluminum-free deodorant stick

• Not yet rated in Skin Deep, but the preliminary rating is 3 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: Violations, restrictions & warnings, Allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Occupational hazards
• Ingredient count: 11
• Unspecified ingredient count: 0
• Chemical ingredients: propylene glycol; water; sodium stearate; aloe barbadensis; witch hazel; glyceryl laurate; matricaria flower aqueous extract; hops; caprylic/capric triglyceride; ascorbic acid; cymbopogon schoenanthus oil

Banish scaly skin! Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy Daily Replenishing Lotion

• Not yet rated in Skin Deep, but the preliminary rating is 6 out of 10 (moderate hazard)
• Potential hazards: developmental/reproductive toxicity, violations, restrictions & warnings, allergies/immunotoxicity, Other concerns for ingredients used in this product: Neurotoxicity, Endocrine disruption, Persistence and bioaccumulation, Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Multiple, additive exposure sources, Irritation (skin, eyes, or lungs), Enhanced skin absorption, Contamination concerns, Occupational hazards, Biochemical or cellular level changes
• Ingredient count: 24
• Unspecified ingredient count: 0
• Chemical ingredients: water; sunflower seed oil; petrolatum; glycerin; glyceryl stearate SE; octyldodecanol; caprylic/capric triglyceride; stearic acid; dimethicone; cetearyl alcohol; lanolin alcohol; panthenol; tocopheryl acetate; cholesterol; carbomer; disodium EDTA; sodium hydroxide; phenoxyethenol; methylparaben; ethylparaben; propylparaben; butylparaben; isobutylparaben; bht

That's 182 chemicals in 10 cosmetic products (with some duplicate chemicals, of course), not including common chemicals in the municipal water supply like chlorine, flouride, pesticides, fertilizers, heavy metals, petrochemicals, dioxins, radioactive materials, bacteria or viruses, pharmaceuticals, and antibiotics. So mix those into my shower along with any residues that persisted on my skin overnight from the previous day.

And I haven't even left my own bathroom yet!

There are thousands of other daily chemicals to add to the stew:

• flame retardants in furniture and carpets
• formaldehyde in plywood, particleboard, paneling, fiberboard, furniture, cabinets, etc.
• radon from your foundation
• phthalates in plastics, cosmetics, toys
• bisphenol A in type 7 plastics, can liners, and credit card receipts
• lead paints
• PFOA in non-stick surfaces like Teflon
• car exhaust: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, breathable particles, benzene, formaldehyde, polycyclic hydrocarbons
• diesel exhaust: includes 40 carcinogens according to the EPA
• household cleaners
• hand soaps, dish soaps, laundry detergents, fabric softeners

No one knows how much of these chemicals it takes to cause problems over a lifetime. There is little known about how much of these chemicals enter and stay in the body. And no one knows how these hundreds of chemicals might interact in the body.
 

There are many things individuals can't control about our environment, but it's certainly possible to reduce the number, amount, and toxicity of chemicals in our cosmetics and households. I will definitely be pitching my hair gel, for example, and I'll look for alternative products that have a lower and more pronounceable ingredient list.

Take your own chemical inventory at Skin Deep. Then think about the fact that the American cosmetics industry is totally unregulated. 

Photo by Horia Varlan.

Make Thunderbird 3 Run Like Outlook

I'm a dedicated PC lover. Since XP, I've loved Windows. I even paid for a completely legit copy of Windows 7, which rules.

I can't stand Macs. Macs "just work," but they just work in the ways Steve Jobs wants you to work. I'm a born tweaker. Without computers, I'd have grown up a greasy mechanic instead of a part-time computer nerd.

One of the big reasons I'm such a fan of Windows is the huge community of software developers creating hundreds of thousands of free, open-source, legal, and extremely useful software programs. Mac-fascists would claim that Jobs provides for all computing needs. That's an easy claim to make when all you need to do is sync your iPod, charge your iPhone, and make a few home movies.

Unfortunately, quality software from Microsoft doesn't come cheap. The standard Office suite is $400. And then you have to make sure you're eligible for upgrades. 

So when my favorite tech blog Lifehacker explained that Mozilla's Thunderbird 2.0 was a reasonable alternative, I ditched Outlook 2000 and joined the new millenium. Since then, Thunderbird has upgraded to 3.0, which offers some big improvements. Still, there are some default settings that bother me. I offer my tweaks here (Take that Apple Mail users!).

First, download Thunderbird and install it. Set up your email accounts. If your email provider offers IMAP, you should use that instead of POP3. POP3 email downloads mail to one device, which can leave other devices with out-of-date copies of your email. IMAP mail syncs your mailbox across multiple computers and smartphones. Gmail and many workplaces offer IMAP while residential ISPs like Comcast offer only POP3 (Here are Gmail's recommended IMAP settings for Thunderbird).

To make these configuration changes, click TOOLS --> OPTIONS --> ADVANCED --> GENERAL --> CONFIG EDITOR. You'll get a warning about voiding the warranty, which is just Mozilla's jokey way of warning you to be careful. The beauty of free software is that if you screw it up, you simply uninstall it, download it again, and re-install it! Agree to be careful and proceed.

To make the various config changes below, copy/paste the bold and italic lines into the about:config filter field. Double-clicking on the result will toggle the values from true to false and back.

To automatically check all IMAP folders for new mail when Thunderbird opens:

mail.check_all_imap_folders_for_new 

Set to "true".

To stop showing the "sending progress" window when sending an email:

mailnews.show_send_progress 

Set to "false".

To send emails in the background, behind the Thunderbird screen:

mailnews.sendInBackground 

Set to "true".

Thunderbird offers a view called "threaded view", which sorts emails by conversation or subject line instead of by the sender or time the email was received. Threaded view is a good way to stay on top of a string of emails. 

To show the threaded view even when you've sorted the emails by some other column (like "sender"):

mailnews.thread_pane_column_unthreads

Set to "false".

To change the default column sort order (for example, to set Thunderbird to show emails in descending order that emails were received):

mailnews.default_sort_order

Change from the default of "1" to "2".

One reason Mozilla's Firefox web browser is so popular is the community of add-on pieces of software that make the browser more customizable and useful. Thunderbird also has a wide variety of add-ons. Here are my favorite add-ons:

• Text2Link: If an email shows a full URL but doesn't include a hyperlink, highlight the URL, right-click, and hit "open URL as new tab".
• ReFwdFormatter: Removes the ">" prefix from quoted emails when replying or forwarding. Also removes "[" and "]" from subject lines when forwarding.
• Show More Recipients: This add-on is a patch to fix the annoying default in Thunderbird 3 that shows additional email recipients as "More". This issue will be resolved in a future Tbird update. This problem has been fixed in Thunderbird 3.1.3, though you still have to enable the fix. The very bottom post of this help forum here explains how.
• addressContext: Create new mailing lists from the header of an email with a large group of recipients.
• KeyConfig: Allows you to customize the keyboard shortcuts. One application of this is to reassign the Thunderbird keyboard shortcuts to mimic Microsoft Outlook. (alt+w = forward email, ctrl+r = reply, ctrl+l = reply to all) Once KeyConfig is installed, you access it from Tools --> KeyConfig. The "reply" setting is found in "Reply to Newsgroup". The other settings are pretty obvious.
• And then there's a great add-on for Firefox called Email This! which allows you to right-click on any web page and choose a way to email that page's title and URL via your default email client. 

What are your favorite Thunderbird add ons? I'll update this if I find more add ons I like and watch for a future post on my favorite Firefox add ons.

Obama's FDA Is Concerned About BPA

George W. Bush's FDA declared bisphenol-A, a widely used plastic chemical, to be safe for human ingestion. That's reassuring considering that all Americans carry detectable amounts in their bloodstream from can liners, polycarbonate plastic bottles, and credit card receipts.

However, W's FDA was criticized for its 2008 announcement and a FDA advisory panel later admitted that the FDA's statement was misguided.

In January, the FDA changed its position on BPA, stating that it was concerned about possible effects on fetuses, infants, and children.

Update, the EPA will investigate BPA's effects on the environment, particularly its effects on the reproductive systems of animals. 


See this blog's BPA coverage here.