I had to laugh after I saw the ad for Uranium hunting.
My husband tells the story of when he was about 10 years old and wanted a geiger counter for Christmas. There was a box under the tree that he was sure was that geiger counter. When he opened the box on Christmas morning he found a fishing rod and reel. He was so disapointed. But he found a lifetime hobby of fishing.
We had a geiger counter when I was a girl in Mtn. Home. I loved the sound that thing made.
My brother recently sent me another box of things that he had that were my moms. In the box I found a small glass jar that contained mercury. I sure remember playing with that. The way it felt sliding from hand to hand. Recently at an elemetary school here someone brought in Mercury and spilled it. They evacuated the school and brought in the hazmat team. My son was appalled that they had sent the mercury through the mail.
What with hunting for uranium, playing with mercury and doing drugs no wonder I'm loosing my mind.

Yep, I had to chuckle when they had all the hoop-la on the news a while back about the dangers of mercury. I don't remember which high school class it was, but I'm pretty sure each of us got a little dab of mercury to play with. And yes, I remember rolling it back and forth, hand to hand. Of course nobody warned us about mercury having a molecular attraction to gold! I was playing with a dab of the stuff when it touched my class ring and whoooot, it disappeared into the ring in an instant. Turned my ring to a mercury color and ruined it. I was sure bummed that the teacher didn't warn us.
Anyway I don't think any of us has ever died from mercury poisoning.
And don't ask me about Penta, the wood preservative I used to get soaked in while sloshing it on 2 by 4's all day long in the late 50's and is now banned from the face of the earth by the EPA because it's so toxic.

Oh yeh and I forgot about all the lead buckshot I either bit into or swallowed eating duck, goose, doves, pheasants and chuckers.
I guess I'm doing pretty good considering all the toxins I've been exposed to.

And don't forget all those lead sinkers we bit into to crimp them onto the fishing line, lead paint we got on ourselves painting houses, walls, fences, etc., leaded gasoline we got on ourselves or swallowed siphoning gas, etc., etc.

Well the proof is in the pudding. Now everyone knows what really caused you guys to be the way you are.

I was born this way and dam proud of it.

TJ