Be Safe Today and Everyday

Oh, boy, it's Friday the 13th. Anyone with suspicions out there? If I did, I would have to believe that every day of the last two and a half years was a Friday the 13th and a full moon besides.

But I have something rather unexpected to share.

First, here's another question. Do you know where asbestos comes from? Think about it a minute before you read on because I had NO idea, none whatsoever.

Hubby and I watched an episode of Mysteries of the Abandoned last night. They start each segment with a series of clues to the location they are at and let you try to figure out what this mammoth abandoned structure had once been used for.

Once, they had an iron ore dock, like the one that used to be in Ashland, Wisconsin. I can't remember what country that one was in, but I was pretty excited that I knew instantly what it was.

Mural of the Ashland Ore Dock, which was taken down around 2010.

Okay, so last night's ruins, which threw me for a loop, were located on the border between South Africa and Eswatini (which I had never heard of before but which used to be Swaziland). The Havelock Mine was initially started for mining gold, but when that didn't pan out (pun intended), they realized something even more valuable was in the ground. A group of naturally occurring, fibrous silicate minerals, which were useful in insulation and commonly used in building materials prior to the 1980s, when we all realized it was toxic and carcinogenic. Yikes!

So, back to that question above, did you know that asbestos is a natural substance? Or, like me, did you think it was manufactured from a bunch of other things, which, when combined, turned out to cause mesothelioma and lung cancer? And can you imagine how sick all those workers got? They did, and there were many lawsuits, before the mine finally closed. But sadly, I read that only 66 countries have banned the use of asbestos and it is still mined in some places.

I'm just sharing this tidbit of information today. Have a good weekend, stay safe, and don't push your luck by messing with any insulation made in the seventies or before.