March 12th, 2010 — Lifelong Learning
WordPress Is acting up in major ways. It pays to have a sense of humor. 
This week’s post is Mud Season below. For some reason comments aren’t allowed there, but you can leave the comment here…at least that’s true as I write this. Only time will tell.
Life and blogging is a shared adventure!
March 12th, 2010 — Lifelong Learning
This past Monday my husband said, “Look at our neighbor’s Jeep. He’s been tearing up the roads. That’s irresponsible.” Yes, throwing up that much mud does leave deep ruts in dirt roads, making it hard for other drivers when the mud eventually dries. As we can see from the above pictures, it’s not just children who like to play in mud and make terrible messes.
It’s also clear that in spite of the occasional snow we’ve been having, winter is gradually leaving here. What’s the weather like where you are?
WordPress is acting up in major ways. I’m trying to figure out what is going on. Creativity is seldom tidy!
March 5th, 2010 — Lifelong Learning
Our bodies were made to move. Most of us have heard that regular moderate-to-strenuous exercise is good for our hearts, but it turns out gentle movements throughout the day are also important. If we’re too sedentary it’s bad for our circulation and our joints don’t get lubricated. Most people won’t be motivated by those facts, but they might be interested that one of the big differences between lean and obese people is the lean ones fidget more.
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic carefully tracked the movements and calorie-intake of 10 obese and 10 thin study participants. They found that overweight people burned 350 fewer calories a day because they sat for 150 minutes more a day than did thin people, who tended to be more fidgety during their daily activities.
Those findings suggest that making small changes to daily activities — by tapping your toes, wiggling or otherwise expending more restless energy — could be critical to weight loss.
—Wiggle While You Work
I personally don’t like to sit. I’ve arranged my computer so I mostly stand when I use it…with a tall stool handy when my legs need a break. And I do wiggle my body from time to time to keep loosened up. I’ve noticed that I don’t have the urge to raid the refrigerator the way I used to, but it never dawned on me that my little movements were burning significant calories. I no longer have a weight problem, so I gave up counting calories years ago.
What about you? Do you fidget much? Do you think it has any connection with your weight?
February 26th, 2010 — Lifelong Learning
I had a boss once who agreed with Linus. “No problem is ever so big you can’t run away from it,” he would say. I never quite agreed. I’m a walker, not a runner.
I’ve fortunately never been in a situation where I was in physical danger and I had to run to save my life. And when I’m in situations I don’t like I may fantasize about walking/running out the door and never coming back, but in practice I’m usually patient and proactive. I figure out what I want instead and work on finding a way to get closer to it before I walk away. It keeps me from feeling stuck and helps me focus on learning as much as I can from the existing situation. So when I do leave I’m moving towards something rather than just walking away. It works for me.
What about you? Have you ever run away from a situation? Did it work for you?
February 19th, 2010 — Lifelong Learning, Patience
Guess who’s having a new will made? We were supposed to sign last Monday, but the lawyer made a few mistakes in our last changes so we decided to take the time to make sure she put them in correctly. We’ll do the final signing next Monday.
There’s a lot more legal jargon in this one than in the one we had made 18 years ago, which meant we spent a lot more time going through it and making sure we understood it. The lawyer did add some useful details in our advance health directives, so on the whole we’re pleased with the final product.
It is hard to believe, though, that some of complexity isn’t aimed at giving job security to lawyers.
What about you? Have you ever struggled with legal documents, containing language such as
I direct that the representation by a guardian ad litem of the interests of persons unborn, unascertained, or legally incompetent to act in proceedings for the allowance of accounts hereunder be dispensed with to the extent permitted by law.
The interest of any beneficiary in any share or part of this Will, both as to principal and income, shall not be alienable, assignable, attachable, transferable nor paid by way of anticipation, nor in compliance with any order, assignment or covenant and shall not be applied to, or held liable for, any of their debts or obligations either in law or equity and shall not in any event pass to his, her or their assignee under any instrument or under any insolvency or bankruptcy law, and shall not be subject to the interference or control of creditors, spouses or others.
If so, did you need help in translating?
February 12th, 2010 — Lifelong Learning
Toyota has done an abysmal job of crisis management lately. But I bet if we took a poll Toyota would still get a higher approval rating than Congress. What do you think?
That said, Andy Borowitz says Toyota has come up with a new slogan.
Drive a Toyota. You’ll Never Stop.
This was chosen over two other candidates:
Toyota Puts the Pedal to the Metal. And Keeps it There.
and
Toyota. The Last Car You’ll Ever Drive.
The dealer where we bought our Toyotas sent out a message which included
Toyota has been commended for the swift action they have taken in addressing the problem. As the General Manager of a Toyota franchise I too have to commend Toyota for the prompt action and hearing all of our concerns. I have to say that the prompt action has impressed me and won my personal approval for the overall brand.
I wrote back saying he was insulting my intelligence but I hoped Toyota would get its act together because we do love our cars.
February 5th, 2010 — Living Fully
This past week bikehikebabe sent me an e-mail entitled “Panda Therapy” that included pictures of some of the most beloved animals in the world:
My question is why do we love the sedentary Giant Pandas so much when we make fun of our own couch potatoes?
The above pictures of Pandas do touch my heart and sooth my spirits, but so does thinking of my low-energy uncle. He didn’t eat junk food like the fellow in the cartoon, but he did love to cook and enjoyed eating. He also puttered in his garden and watched TV a lot. We would visit him every year when we went back to California to see my mother. Invariably he would be sitting watching some historical documentary, but he was always happy to stop watching and chat with us for a while. I looked forward to those visits and thinking of them are just as therapeutic as looking at the Pandas above. Who’s to say the Pandas and my uncle don’t/didn’t live as meaningful a life as the more ambitious achievers in the world?
What do you think?
January 29th, 2010 — Living Fully
I’m still thinking of why people belittle New Year’s resolutions when I used to love them. It’s probably that I’ve been fascinated by behavior modification since I was a teen, so taking time out for reflection and setting a new course was an adventure to me. It wasn’t a matter of success or failure.
I do think Mike had a good point in a comment he made on the subject,
I figure, what makes New Year’s so special for making resolutions anyhow? If the thing(s) that one is making resolutions about are that important, any time of the year would be just as appropriate.
In fact I don’t think of New Year’s Day as the beginning of the year. Because of all that time in school the year really starts in the fall for me. That’s when I tend to be most energized. In contrast the short cold days of winter are a time of reflection, a time to stand back and tune into what I care most about in life. In the past that involved making some action plans, but now it’s more a matter of checking to see if I’m honoring long term commitments.
In last week’s post at Cheerful Monk Mike wrote,
Three things come to mind to me.
Whistle while you work. Whatever work you end up having to do, try to make it enjoyable, as best as you can.
Lead the field. If you end up in a job that you can make a career out of, work at being the best at that job. Read, learn, study and work at being the very best that you can be, even if it means doing things outside of work and on your own dime.
Take charge of your attitude. You can choose what your attitude is. A positive attitude is a lot more enjoyable than always being a grouch and a grump. It may not be easy at first — and you may have to work at it — but it can be done.
These things work, but they are easy to let slip when the going gets tough or over the long haul of years on the job.
I agree with all the points Mike makes, but it’s the last line that resonates most. It’s easy to let things slip if we don’t stand back once in a while and reassess how we’re doing. It doesn’t have to be connected to the calendar or involve making new resolutions. Just reaffirming our long term commitments is more than sufficient.
What do you think?
for commenting on last week’s post.
January 22nd, 2010 — Lifelong Learning, Living Fully
If you’re reading this sitting down, you might consider standing up.
That’s the first line of a Wall Street Journal article about a study on the health hazards of sitting and watching TV. We all know that being a complete couch potato isn’t good for our health, but the interesting thing about this study is the participants got between 30 and 45 minutes of exercise every day. That wasn’t enough to mitigate the effect of long periods of sitting.
Just another reminder to get up and move every so often, even if it’s just shaking and wiggling our bodies. I use this as a motivational video:
What do you use?
January 15th, 2010 — Humor
Andy Borowitz thinks the new developments in air travel security can help the health care effort.:
Full Body Scans to Double as Annual Checkups
In what some in the White House are calling a
“win/win” solution to the nation’s airport security and health care reform problems, starting next month U.S. airports will begin conducting full body scans that will double as annual physical checkups.President Obama announced the breakthrough solution, telling reporters, “With this all-purpose exam, we will be able to find everything from a hidden weapon to a spot on your lung.” After scanning a passenger, Mr. Obama said, “We will either give you a clean bill of health or wrestle you to the ground.”
The President added that instituting the body scan/checkup could ward off some terrorists right from the start, “because a lot of them will balk at the $25
co-pay.” But according to Davis Logsdon, who studies terrorism and health care reform at the University of Minnesota, the body scans may attract more terrorists than they deter: “If there’s one complaint that terrorists have about al-Qaeda it’s that they have lousy benefits.”
What do you think? Do you travel by air? My husband resolved never to do it years ago because of the way passengers are treated. And that was long before the ban on liquids, having to take off one’s shoes, etc. We count ourselves fortunate that we have a choice. How would you feel about undergoing a full body scan in order to fly?
