Are You Lonely?

When I cam across the below referenced entry on loneliness, it gave me pause.  I know that even though I appear to be outgoing at work and in social situations, that is actually a learned response.  I am really an introvert by nature.  I find it so easy to spend my non-work hours without being around others, content in myself, my interests, and my home. Any errands are dispatched quickly, so I can return to our little sanctuary. As I target retirement in the next decade, people often comment on how I will never stop working.  They have no clue :o)


Below are some interesting thoughts regarding loneliness:


loneliness and solitude are different. Loneliness feels draining, distracting, and upsetting; desired solitude feels peaceful, creative, restorative.

Nurturing others -- raising children, teaching, caring for animals -- helps to alleviate loneliness.

many people need both a social circle and an intimate attachment. 

try to figure out what's missing from your life, if anything. The more clearly you see what's lacking, the more clearly you'll see possible solutions.

take steps to connect with other people if necessary. 

Source

Peanuts' Lessons In Leadership

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts comic strip.  You don't have to actually answer the questions.  Just read straight through and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world?
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners?
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant?
4. Name ten poeple who have own the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last six Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?   The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.  These are no second-rate achievers.  They are the best in their fields.  But the applause dies and the awards tarnish.  Achievements are forgotten.  Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.  Now here's another quiz.  See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Was that a bit easier?  So what's the lesson in this?  The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials... the most money... or the most awards.  They simply are the ones who care the most.

Are you on someone else's list?  If you are reading this, you are most likely on mine :o)

Sunday Silliness - Creativity :o)

Cicada Ice Cream :o)

COLUMBIA, MO — Those looking to taste the seasonal flavor of cicada ice cream at Sparky's Homemade Ice Cream will no longer have an opportunity to do so.

Sparky's approached the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services and asked about the use of cicadas in the ice cream, Gerry Worley, environmental health manager for the department, said.

"The food code doesn't directly address cicadas," Worley said. "We advised against it."

Sparky's introduced the cicada ice cream last week and met with such surprising demand that it sold out the day before it was set to debut. The store was going to make another batch for the weekend, but a sign on the door told customers it would not be back until 2024.

When making the first half batch of ice cream, the cicadas were boiled and fully cooked through, Sparky's manager Ashley Nagel said. Food code does not address how cicadas should be cooked.

"The food code tells us how high the temperature should be," Worley said of normally cooked foods such as fish, chicken and beef. The department does not have that information for cicadas.

Desert Bound :o)

Light posting and commenting this week. I am headed to the Arizona desert to do an assessment and benchmarking trip to Palo Verde Nuclear Generation Station.  Desert, June, do I know how to boondoggle or what :o)

Fukushima Daiichi - Update

New Filters Remove Radiation from Seawater
June 15, 2011
Plant Status

• Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has begun full operation of seawater filtering systems near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility. Installed near the water intakes of reactors 2 and 3, the filters absorb radioactive cesium then return the water to the ocean. Tests indicate the system reduces cesium levels by 20 percent to 30 percent. TEPCO is seeking ways to increase the filtering capability.
• Japan’s health ministry has ordered TEPCO to release from duty 23 workers who had been exposed internally to more than 10 rem of radiation early in the accident. The ministry took the precaution because the employees’ continued work at the facility could result in exposure beyond the temporary 25 rem limit. The limit was raised in March from 10 rem to the emergency level of 25 rem. TEPCO said earlier that two workers were exposed to more than 60 rem and announced on Monday that six more were believed to have been exposed to up to 50 rem. TEPCO is screening 3,700 workers for exposure.
• TEPCO has completed tests on a U.S.-made system that will be used to absorb radioactive cesium from water that has accumulated in various locations at the Fukushima Daiichi site and has also begun tests of a French-manufactured water-treatment device. The company plans to begin full operation of the systems by Friday. More than 105,000 tons of radioactive water has accumulated at the facility. The U.S.-based water treatment system is from Kurion Inc. and the French system is from AREVA.
• Inspection of farmland in the no-entry zone around Fukushima Daiichi will begin next month. Rice planting has been suspended within an 18.5-mile radius of the plant and no agricultural products are being shipped from within the no-entry zone. Government officials will study soil in the area in response to concerns from residents who have inquired about the status of their farmland.
• TEPCO plans to install rooftop vents for the seven reactor buildings at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear energy facility in north central Japan. The vents are designed to prevent hydrogen from building up during an emergency. Hydrogen build-up caused explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in March.

Sunday Silliness - Corruption :o)

Refashion NYC?

RefashionNYCNew York City’s new textile recycling bin, flanked by two promotional sidekicks.

Titled RefashionNYC, the program has been in the works since last year, when the city started accepting bids for a 10-year contract committing a New York-based charitable group to regular pickups of clothing, linens, shoes and clean rags throughout the city.No more hauling your hand-me-downs in plastic bags and shopping carts to your nearest green market or thrift shop, New Yorkers. City officials say they have partnered with Housing Works, a group that helps homeless people infected with the H.I.V. virus, to pick up donated clothing at apartment buildings in one of the first large-scale consumer textile recycling programs in the Country.

The goal is to capture most of the 200,000 tons of textile and apparel materials that New Yorkers throw away each year but that could be reused instead, reducing the city’s garbage disposal costs.

The new program is free and open to residential buildings in all five boroughs. All it takes, Department of Sanitation officials say, is for a landlord, building manager or superintendent to sign up online, obtain a metal bin from the city and assign a staff member to monitor the bin and schedule pickups when it is full.

Donations are tax-deductible, and the program will pay for itself through the sale of the donations, the officials said.

Although textiles, including shoes and accessories like handbags and belts, are among the most valuable recyclables, textile recycling by consumers constitutes only a fraction of all recycling in the country.

Officials with the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association, a trade group, say that materials like stained or ripped clothing, buttons and zippers can all be reprocessed and find a second life as wiping cloths, carpet padding, seat stuffing and other products. In the end, they say, less than 10 percent of what is donated goes to a landfill.

But it has often been more convenient for car-less New Yorkers to throw old sweaters away than to carry them over to Goodwill. Residents can still find the closest thrift store or drop-off location for clothing donations atwww.nyc.gov/stuffexchange, but soon they may prefer to use the donation bin in their lobby or right outside.

Privilege vs. Principle :o)

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
 
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Horseradish anyone?

Never would have thought of putting chocolate and wasabi together.

Unfortunately, it is a promotion in Japan only.

Source