Chalk River

So the Chalk River reactor got shut down again, and this time it could take several months to start it up. (Some background information in case you're unfamiliar with it: the Chalk River reactor produces about half of the world's medical isotopes. It's more than 50 years old. There's more information on Wikipedia.) So now Canada has to ration its medical isotopes and I suspect other countries have to do this too. Obviously the highest priority cases will get precedence, but a lot of other people are going to suffer because of this, and I wouldn't be surprised if people die too. Many elective surgeries will be postponed. These surgeries may not be a matter of life and death, but these people will definitely suffer. I have a friend who's waiting for wrist surgery that keeps getting postponed. Although this isn't related to the isotope shortage, it does show how important elective surgery is. Her wrist has been in pain for a year and she can't do much with that hand. Although she doesn't show it much, it's very frustrating!

I work in an industrial facility, so I understand that it's unrealistic to fix a serious issue in a short time. We're probably stuck with the isotope shortage for a while now. But many Canadian governments have neglected to keep that reactor in excellent shape. When the quality of life and even the survival of so many people all over the world are at stake, there has to be a long-term plan to provide a secure source of isotopes. I also wonder if it's realistic to have several smaller reactors all over the world rather than so few large ones. That would give us better backup during shutdowns like this one. When the next election happens in Canada, I hope to see the major parties give a workable, long-term vision for our supply of medical isotopes. I'm not a one-issue voter, but this issue will definitely be on my mind.

Night shifts

Tonight is my second night in a row sleeping at home. Before that I worked eight night shifts in a row. I was helping with starting up the sulphuric acid plant at work. We made a bunch of changes to the control system while it was shut down for maintenance, so they got me and another engineer to rotate shifts during startup to troubleshoot the control system and help the operators get used to the changes.

This was my first experience with consistent night shifts. (I helped with another plant startup last fall for about a night and a half, and those times weren't nearly as scheduled.) So here are a few of my thoughts:

I got to know some people a lot better. When a big part of our job is just to be there just in case someone needs help, interesting conversations can happen.

Sometimes it's nice to have some time when I don't really have to do anything and it's still considered work. Normally if I've got nothing to do on one project, I pull out a different project and work on it.

In twelve-hour shifts, especially when there are less people around for conversations, there is too much time with nothing to do.

Just like when I helped with that other startup last year, I got kind of tense waiting for stuff to happen. When I arrived on certain days, I didn't know exactly what time the most important stuff would be happening, and neither did the bosses. I need to learn to get less tense when things get delayed and I'm waiting around. I also didn't like not knowing how many nights I'd have to work.

I don't regret trying night shift, but I don't want to do it regularly.

Freedom

In 2000 and 2001, during my one-year Christian studies program at North American Baptist College (which is now called Taylor University College), I took a class on the religions of the world. During the course, we visited a few religious institutions including a Jewish synagogue, a Buddhist monastery, a Hindu temple, and a Sikh temple. There were a few optional visits that I didn't go on too. I heard about one where a group visited a Buddhist temple. As a Buddhist talked with the Christian college students about inner peace and nirvana, one of the students said that she had found inner peace through Jesus.

When I heard about this later on, I privately wondered if she had the same definition of "inner peace" as Buddhists have. Buddhists have a very high concept of nirvana/inner peace. It includes a complete absence of suffering and desire. Many believe it takes many lifetimes, through reincarnation (thousands of lifetimes or more, if I remember right). Besides the question of definitions, I wondered if this girl was really experiencing inner peace or if she believed she had inner peace because someone told her she did. And a question prompted by my previous blog post: was her sense of inner peace simply an escape; an "opiate," if you will?

(On a side note, I'm not saying a Buddhist understanding of inner peace is better than a Christian understanding. One question to ask: does a life without suffering and desire have less joy than a life where suffering and desire can be redeemed and result in something good?)

I think as Christians, we have the same problem with the idea of freedom. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free" (John 8:34-36, NLT). We get told that if we've accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior, we're free. Yet I don't think I'm really experiencing that freedom. I know I can't put absolute trust in my own feelings, but I can't ignore them either. I can't keep listening to people who tell me I'm free; I have to pursue freedom.

Opiate of the people

Here's something I read on another blog:

Marx was right

Here, the leader of a Christian organization says that faith in God can often be an "opiate" rather than what it should be. I think he makes a good point.