Times are tight. Many of us feel trapped between the food we can afford and the medical bills that we can’t. As obesity and its related illnesses – including heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes – grow more prevalent, ballooning healthcare costs threaten to shrink our wallets.
Most of us know that we need to take charge of our own health, but how? And where will we find the time? We’re busy, frazzled, mired in bad habits and assailed by late-night ads for fad diets, pills and gimmicky workout machines. Meanwhile, most of us have no idea how our caloric intake stacks up to our daily burn.
Every few years, someone writes an article about how kids today don’t know what a rotary phone is, or have never heard of a cassette tape, or are losing the ability to spell or write cursive. I still remember, years ago, when one study revealed that not only did today’s youth not know how to wind a watch – they didn’t know what the phrase meant.
As someone who was required to be able to understand references to technology, art and entertainment dating back to my grandmother’s time, I take these articles with a grain of salt. That includes the recent spate of pieces in blogs and news outlets declaring the death of the wristwatch. Sure, we all have cellphone, and there are as many clocks in my kitchen as appliances, but – as I point out in this misleadingly named article – the watch has yet to tick its last tock.
Anyone can make a bucket list, but why stop with stuff you want to accomplish while you’re alive? Death offers all kinds of opportunities that life simply cannot match: You can be transformed into a diamond, launched in fireworks, propelled in ammunition, or installed as a permanent part of a coral reef community — none of which I would recommend doing while still drawing breath.
Finally, for those who prefer their final resting place out on the final frontier, there’s the ultimate infrequent flyer plan ….
We hear a lot about pheromones these days. Scent sellers have been touting their powers of sexual attraction and libido amplification for years, but the science behind these claims is sketchy at best. Although pheromone production and detection by humans remains controversial, pheromones are used throughout the insect and vertebrate worlds, among crustaceans and even in plants, in exciting and often surprising ways.
This article isn’t for you, because I know what a good driver you are, but maybe you have, let’s say, a friend. This friend has a bit of lead foot, is a fan of the stop-sign-roll-through, likes to tailgate, rabbits through traffic like a squirrel on speed and tends to get a bit mouthy with local law enforcement. Well, this article isn’t going to help your friend, but it might keep you from stumbling into an avoidable ticket.
