2010-01-25
Technician’s Journal #2 My Very First Job
I started working for Bio-Clean of New Jersey a little over a year ago. Originally, I was just the graphic design guy, but as time went on, after some training, I started to go out on jobs. Some people (including myself at first) may think, “Why would you VOLUNTARILY put yourself in a situation where you had to clean up the most disgusting and dangerous stuff on earth?” For me, I think it was because I had to prove I was tough enough. I wanted to look the remnants of death in the face, and man up to the fear of real-life death and gore. I’m a pacifist, so there was no way I was ever going to war unless there was a draft, so this was the only way to really see death.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not some weirdo with a perverted fascination with death. I didn’t get into this thinking, “YEAH, REAL BLOOD AND DEAD PEOPLE, I CAN’T WAIT!” The day of my first job, I was a little scared on the way up. I wanted to see this stuff because I wanted to make myself tough enough that I wouldn’t be scared or completely freaked out by a real crime scene. Watching a horror movie is one thing, but actually going into a REAL murder scene, with REAL blood from a REAL person… It’s intense. I thought that seeing this stuff in real life would prepare me if I was in a violence filled situation later in life, and now that I’ve done it, I think I was right. Blood and gore, real or Hollywood, no longer phases me. Sure there are still jobs that FREAK me out, but the blood and remnants of violent acts don’t send shivers up my spine like they once did. If terrorists attack, if there’s a violent situation in front of me, if the sh!t just hits the fan; I think I’ll be able to think clearer than the average person just because I’m used to the sights and smells of violent trauma.

Other than proving that I was tough enough to handle actually walking through a crime scene, I think the other thing that made me want to go on a bio-cleaning job was Mike Rowe. Mike Rowe is the man- period (I mean, the guy was an opera singer before he hosted TV!), and dirty Jobs is one of my favorite shows. I went to Rowan University for Radio/TV/Film, with a focus on documentary filmmaking. Bio-Clean let me prove I can handle the dirtiest and most terrifying job; any assignment I could be sent on, or choose to go on while filming would be well within my capacity (so Discovery and A&E, if you’re reading this, send me an e-mail!)

So now you know my thinking going into this job. It’s my first time, I’m a little nervous, but I’m ready to look the reality of life and death in the face. Time to talk about the job.





--This post contains real scene photos. Viewer discretion is advised. Click Here to reveal the rest of the post--

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2010-01-07
Creepy Urban Legends -- THAT HAPPEN TO BE TRUE!

Today I've got an interesting post for you guys, courtesy of Cracked.com and my internet buddy Lex10. Here at Bio-Clean, during the course of any given work day, we see some things that we just can't believe are real. Horrifying murder scenes, toilets full of blood -- things that could take a movie from rated R to NC-17. The truth is many times stranger and creepier than fiction. SO - on that note, check out 6 Creepy Urban Legends That Happen To Be True! Hope you enjoy it!

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2010-01-06
Teen Depression and Suicide Risk Linked To Late Bed Times and Chronic Sleep Deprevation
Adolescents now have one more reason to listen to Mom when she says it's bedtime.


A report from the Jan. 1, 2010 issue of the journal Sleep found a surprising link between the typically late bedtimes of teenagers and teen depression and suicide.

Parent-set bedtimes affect teen's mental state

Adolescents with parent-set bedtimes after midnight had a 24% increased incidence of depression and a 20% increase in suicidal thoughts compared to teens with a bedtime before 10 pm.

Most of the teens in the study reported adhering to the bedtimes their parents set for them, showing that it's up to parents to give appropriate guidelines for avoiding sleep deprivation.

Length of Sleep Matters for Adolescents

The length of sleep matters, too, according to the researchers. Teenagers who reported getting less than five hours of sleep a night had a 71% higher risk of depression and a 48% higher risk of suicidal thoughts than adolescents who got 8 hours or more of sleep.

The AASM (The American Academy of Sleep Medicine) recommends nine or more hours of sleep a night for adolescents.

The study was conducted by James E. Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, N.Y and colleagues and looked at over 15,000 teenagers' sleep habits and mental states. The teens in the study ranged from 12-17 years old.

Other studies indicate more benefits from increased teen sleep.

In previous studies, shorter sleep durations in children and teens have been linked to higher rates of obesity, school performance and general social well-being. And adolescents who don't get enough sleep due to insomnia are far more likely to develop mental health problems, including substance abuse.

Read more here

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2009-10-06
It takes four months, but Hamilton pays $15,000 to fix, clean dead man's house
By SULAIMAN ABDUR-RAHMAN Staff writer, Trentonian

HAMILTON — Deborah Thomeier said she has a “renewed faith in the government of Hamilton Township” after it acted “efficiently and quickly” in cleaning up and structurally rehabbing her dead next-door neighbor’s property on Joan Terrace.

“My husband (Joe) and I are very pleased with the speed and the efficiency of the township. ... The property looks 100 percent different,” Thomeier said, referring to the household of the late Edward Bratton, 86, who died of natural causes and was found as a rotting corpse inside his house June 13.

At that time, the interior of the home was littered with garbage and the house’s exterior was covered with vines and tree branches.

Township officials described the interior as a “biohazard” and deemed the rear area of the house to be structurally unsound.

The Thomeiers and other neighbors on the 100 block of Joan Terrace went on the offensive at a July public meeting, accusing the township of being inept at addressing their concerns about the dilapidated and filthy conditions of Bratton’s home.

The township said it couldn’t take action right away because Bratton, a retired state worker, had no known next of kin who could grant them permission to rehab the property. Consequently, the township had to enter a prolonged legal process to rectify the situation.

The township by early September obtained the authority to go to work, spending $8,800 of taxpayer money for a private company to clean the interior and using federal block grant money to pay for the $7,000 structural fixes and demolition of the house’s dilapidated rear.

Rob Warney of the township’s Department of Community Planning and Compliance told The Trentonian the entire clean-up and structural rehabbing was completed last month.

“We have no complaints at this point. We’re just happy it’s over with,” Deborah Thomeier told the newspaper on Thursday. “They did a nice job. They really did. ... I didn’t expect it to be done by the end of September.”

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