Learn Or Do

OK – maybe I missed it.  Maybe I’m just incredibly non-observant.  If you have an iPhone, an iPad or a Macbook did you know that Apple serves up albums of pictures called Memories?  I didn’t – and I’m having big fun looking at how they grouped and labeled some of my pictures.  I’m not sure how they determine how to group/label everything but flipping through the albums is very entertaining.   They even play a slide show for you when you click on the albums!   Here’s a picture from the grouping they labeled “Furry Friends through the Years.”  Enjoy!

Want to know more about Apple’s Memories feature in Photos?  Check out this link: Apple Photo Memories.

 

I started kickboxing almost 4 years ago – and I LOVE it!  When I started, I was nearly 30 pounds overweight and felt horrible watching my pants size go up (not to mention being winded going up the stairs at my own house).

I got into kickboxing because of my doctor really.  I had gone for a regular physical and complained of knee pain from an old high school fall.  She asked me if I had a gym membership and when I said I did but didn’t use it much, she kinda shamed me.  Her advice was to go see a personal trainer to get some advice on exercises to strengthen my leg muscles and take some strain off my knee joint.  That led to personal training sessions at the same time as a boxing class was being held.  I asked my trainer if he thought I could box – and after about 8 sessions of one on one boxing training with him so I learned the basic skills, I joined the class.

Kickboxing is a real two-for-one exercise in that you get a great cardio workout while you build strength.   And according to the American Council on Exercise, it provides the bonus of increasing skills like balance, coordination, reactivity and agility.  Not to mention you get to wallop the heavy bag and get out any frustrations you might have!

My class mixes work on the heavy bag with one-on-one’s using focus mitts with the trainer (he wears the mitts and you hit them – this took some getting used to for me).  And my trainer also mixes in different cardio and strength intervals like the ski machine, rower, treadmill, squats, burpees, lunges and grappling.  It’s never boring and gives a real total body workout.  When I started the class, it used to wipe me out for the rest of the day, but as I’ve progressed I find it less tiring and more invigorating.  I can’t recommend it enough!

Bonus?  I’ve lost about 20 pounds and kept it off.  I’m still a little overweight – but that’s mostly because I have a sweet tooth and I really don’t curb it too much.    I just got my 3rd pair of boxing gloves and I hope to keep taking the class for years to come.  If you ever come visit – I’d be happy to take you to a class with me!

Want to know more about starting kickboxing?  Check out these articles:

• Shape Magazine – Why You Should Start Boxing
• Shape Magazine – 11 Reasons to Love Boxing

Over the weekend, I caught a little of the Ken Burns Civil War documentary on PBS.  If you haven’t seen it, letters from soldiers and their families figures prominently in it.  And it got me thinking.  When was the last time I wrote a real letter?  When was the last time YOU wrote a real letter?

I’m not sure if it counts, but there are a few people I write personalized messages to inside the holiday cards I send out.  For the most part, texts and emails have taken the place of the handwritten letter; or at least that’s the way it is in my life.  And I cannot imagine that they would have any value to a future historian without a decoder ring!

So my challenge to myself – and to you – today, is to write someone a real letter.  I’m going to dig up my pretty stationary, but I’m sure it would be just as meaningful on notebook paper or a scratch pad.  The point is, I’m going to send someone a real letter and tell them how I feel about our relationship.  (I’m not going to spoil the surprise and tell you who is getting said letter.  That wouldn’t be any fun!)

So go ahead and join me – get out a pen and paper and send someone a letter.  You’ll probably make their day!

Want to know more about the value of a handwritten letter?  Check out these articles:

• https://www.theodysseyonline.com/handwritten-letter
• https://just18summers.com/the-importance-of-handwritten-notes/
• http://www.marshaegan.com/resources/articles/networking-value-handwritten-note/

Brace yourself – the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere is this Saturday – September 22nd.   For those of you who like Latin, the first day of fall is also known as the Autumnal Equinox.  Here’s a definition of what that means from the Old Farmer’s Almanac:

The word equinox comes from the Latin aequus, meaning “equal” and nox, meaning “night.”  During the equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator.” Imagine a line that marks the equator on Earth extending up into the sky above the equator from north to south. Earth’s two hemispheres receive the Sun’s rays about equally. The Sun is overhead at noon as seen from the equator, so at this point, the amount of nighttime and daytime (sunlight) are roughly equal to each other.

So any minute now the leaves will start changing color and falling – I find that vaguely depressing, but it can be pretty.  Want to know when fall color will be at its peak for you?  Check out the interactive map from Thrillist.com here.

As for me – I’m looking forward to the first day of Spring!  Bring on the Vernal Equinox for me!

Want to know more about the Autumnal Equinox?  Check out this article from the Old Farmers Almanac.

You’ve probably seen this over the last couple of weeks – but it’s worth another watch.  You’ll laugh – I promise!

Earlier this week we commemorated the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  I lived and worked in New York City for many years so the attacks had a special resonance for me.  Any time someone came to visit me when I lived in NYC, I made sure to take them to the top of the the World Trade Center.  The view was amazing – and the elevator ride was an experience all by itself.

When the Twin Towers were attacked the first time in 1993, I was working in mid-town Manhattan – and I remember my Dad calling me at work and just blurting out “Are you OK?”  I had no idea what was going on just a couple of miles from me when he called.  And I commuted on the PATH train through the World Trade Center from New Jersey for the last couple of years that I worked in NYC.  So the Twin Towers had special meaning for me.

In 2001, I was living in the Chicago suburbs.  I had gotten up early and taken my car to the dealership for service.  I was in the dealership shuttle on my way to work when news of the first plane impacting the World Trade Center came over the car radio.  I got out my cell phone and called a friend who I knew had a view of the Trade Center from his office.  I was talking with him when we heard the roar of the second plan and he cried out as it hit the second tower.  I remember being numb for the rest of the ride to work.

I had a tiny black & white TV/Radio at my desk at work and the rest of that day, I had people standing in my cube watching the news of the tragedy.  It was awful and all I could think of was the families and friends of friends that I knew were likely in the building that morning.  My heart still goes out to the victims’ families, the first responders and the survivors of the attacks.  God bless them all as we remember.

 

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans in New York, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania.  In 2007, Congress passed the Zadroga Act which provides health monitoring and financial aid to the first responders, volunteers and survivors of the attacks.  Why?  Because in the years after the attacks, it was determined that the people who worked at Ground Zero in the search/recovery and rebuild efforts were exposed to carcinogens and other toxic compounds that were causing illness and death at a frightening rate.

Named for NYC Police Officer James Zadroga who died in 2006 of respiratory disease caused from breathing in the smoke and fumes during rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero, the Zadroga Act provided funding for physical and mental health coverage for qualifying individuals through 2015.  In 2015, the Act was extended to allow 75 years of benefits for first responders and other qualifying people to cover the mental and physical health fall out of their exposure in the days following the tragedies.

What you may not know is that due to changes in budgets in Washington, the Zadroga Act may be in jeopardy even though benefits were supposed to be guaranteed for many years yet.  Please click on the links below to learn more about the Zadroga Act and if you are so moved, let your representatives in Congress know it is important to continue to provide support for the people who tried so hard to make a difference in the midst of the tragedy of that bright September morning 17 years ago.

About James Zadroga

Citizens for the Extension of the Zadroga Act

Summary of the Zadroga Act

The cool weather is making me think it’s time to make a list of fun things to do this fall.  There are SO many fun fall activities aside from chugging pumpkin spice lattes – here’s my list so far:

• 

  A trip to the pumpkin farm.  My favorite is Goebbert’s Pumpkin farm in Hampshire, IL.  Why?  Not only do you get to take a hayride into the pumpkin field to pick your own pumpkin, they have GIRAFFES.  And you can feed them!!!  Need I say more?  Fabulous place – here’s the link to their website so you can see for yourself:  http://goebbertspumpkinpatch.com/.

• Snuggle up in my rocking chair to watch a movie while having popcorn and apple cider.  Bonus points if it’s a cool rainy night and you can wrap up in a blanket.
• Go to a football game.  Or a practice.  I like to walk over to the elementary school in my neighborhood and watch the PeeWee teams practice – they’re so cute!
• Go for a walk and kick the leaves.  I love to walk through leaves – bonus points for walking through a pile of leaves!
• Bake an apple pie.  My favorite apple pie recipe is the one on the box of Pillsbury pie crusts.  Shhhh!  Don’t tell anyone that I don’t make my own crusts!

That should get you started – what’s your favorite fall activity?  Let me know in the comments!

 

I’m starting a new job today – I am SO excited!  And it’s made me think about my first job.  Like Jeff Bezos of Amazon and pop singer Pink, my first job was working at McDonald’s.  If you were 16 and growing up in Wapakoneta, Ohio in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, McDonald’s was a great place to work because the managers there worked around your school schedule.  Given that I was in band, show choir, chorus and the high school musicals, flexibility in my work schedule was a must!

But I digress, since McDonald’s was my first employer, here are some fun facts about the Golden Arches you may not know:At any given time, McDonald’s employs over 400,000 people.  The book “Fast Food Nation” estimates that 1 in 8 people in the United States has worked at a McDonald’s at some point in their career.

• At any given time, McDonald’s employs over 400,000 people.  The book “Fast Food Nation” estimates that 1 in 8 people in the United States has worked at a McDonald’s at some point in their career.
• While Mickey D’s is an iconic American company, a greater percentage of their total sales happens in Europe than in the U.S.
• If you think McDonald’s is a restaurant business, you’re only partially right – they’re actually one of the biggest real estate companies in the world.  That’s right – McDonald’s owns the land under a huge percentage of their restaurants.  So they actually have multiple income streams: sales at company owned restaurants, royalties from franchised restaurant sales and rent for the land/buildings they own and lease to franchisees.
• It isn’t cheap to become a McDonald’s franchisee – start up costs are in excess of $2 million!
• The average transaction in a McDonald’s drive thru takes 3 minutes.  Someone should tell the McDonald’s in my neighborhood because they’re NEVER that speedy!

I loved working at McDonald’s to help put myself through college – but I hope I never have to work the fryer there again!

 

This cracks me up.  And my favorite meme right now is the one that says if we only use cursive and drive cars with stick shifts, the next generation would be screwed…