Ations
If we meet and I say, “Hi,”
That’s a salutation.
If you ask me how I feel,
That’s a consideration.
If we stop and talk a while,
That’s a conversation.
If we understand each other,
That’s a communication.
If we argue, scream, and fight,
That’s an altercation.
If later we apologize,
That’s reconciliation.
If we help each other home.
That’s a cooperation.
And all these actions added up
Make Civilization.
(And if I say this is a wonderful poem,
Is that exaggeration?)
Often I want to compose an email that straddles the line between business and personal. Even if it's a professional message, if I know the person well I sometimes include an emoji. That's easy to do on a phone or tablet, because all you have to do is click on the icon. On bigger devices, not so much.
But I recently learned that there's a way to use shortcuts to have an emoji keyboard pop up on a real computer. On a Mac the sequence of keys is Control + Command + Space. On Windows its Windows logo key + . (period).
Five years ago: DisconnectThat led to a conversation about the fashion rule about not wearing white after Labor Day in the United States and where it started. By this time his assistant had entered the room, but none of us had an answer to the question. I decided to come home and ask my friend Google if it did. I learned that there was no definitive answer, but several sources provided parts of one.
The Farmer's Almanac had a couple of thoughts. The first was that lightweight fabrics like cotton and linen are neutral-colored in their natural state, and reflect light, so they were cooler in summer heat. Another was that wealthy people were able to vacation in places were light, breezy clothes were appropriate (and have the means to have a second wardrobe when things cooled off). The ability to box up white clothes turned into a sign of sophistication.
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It's too hot to go outside. Instead I stayed in the air conditioning and went through my phone's photo app looking for interesting ones to post. Here ya go.
The theory is that caffeine works by blocking a neurotransmitter called adenosine (aka "tiredness" chamical). It takes 20 minutes for caffeine to enter your bloodstream, so by napping during that window you wake up both restored and stimulated.
An effective coffee nap is most beneficial in the early- to mid-afternoon. That's late enough in the day that the body has built up a supply of adenosine, but early enough that the caffeine won't interfere with nighttime sleeping.
I tested out the coffee nap theory this afternoon. At 1:15 pm I carried my cell phone and afternoon cup of coffee into the bedroom. After I turned on the ceiling fan to circulate the air and the radio to provide a little background noise I got comfortable in bed, slurped the coffee down, and used my phone to set a timer for 20 minutes.
At first I was convinced I wasn't going to fall asleep, but when the timer
went off it took me a while to figure out what the noise was and turn it off.
Often when I nap it takes me ten minutes to fully wake up and get out of bed,
but today there was no wake up period. I was able to hop out of bed and go
about my business with extra energy.
Five years ago: Clean, Clean, Clean
Yesterday, exactly 14 days later, I received a call from one of the research associates. She thanked me for my time and effort, and said that at this time I am not eligible to continue (but that may change as investigators review more data).
This is a double blind study, where individual test results are hidden from both the participant and the researchers. However, the associate did tell me that if the test had discovered something horrible they would have reached out to my doctor.
Even though I won't be traveling to have imaging tests done I am able to participate the study's online portion. I'm not sure exactly how that will work but I've enrolled. I guess I'll find out soon.
The pleasant temperatures have meant that Hubby Tony and I are back to walking outside. Last night we went to the grocery store to purchase a couple of items. We were halfway there when I saw something yellow on a flat-topped fence post.
When I got closer, I saw the yellow thing was a mustard bottle that had words written on it.
When I got right next to the bottle I saw the words were alluding to the
biblical Parable of the Mustard Seed, along with the books, chapters, and
verses where you can find it.
In case you're not familiar with the parable, it says (Matthew 13:31-32):
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in a field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, yet when full-grown it is the largest of plants. It becomes a large bush, and the birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.
It would be interesting to know the bottle's backstory. Who felt compelled to put their sentiments out into the universe, and why did they pick that particular place?
Five years ago today: MLS4TheLou
Blogger seems to have changed things up since the last time I was there. Halfway down there was a list of my most-visited posts. I was amazed at how many times some of them have been viewed.
(I can't find the author of this. If you know please pass on the information.)
I had spent an hour in the bank with my dad because he had to transfer some money. While we were waiting for the banker I said, "Dad, why don't we activate your internet banking?"
'Why would I do that?' he asked.
'Well, then you won't have to spend an hour here for things like transfers. You can even do your shopping online. Everything will be so easy!"
He asked, "If I do that, I won't have to step out of the house?"
"Yes!" I said. "Amazon delivers everything."
His answer left me tongue-tied. He said:
"Since I entered this bank today, I have met four of my friends. I have chatted with the staff who know me well. I like to come to the bank. I have enough time; it is the physical touch that I crave.
"Two years ago, I got sick. The owner from the produce market came to see me, sat by my bedside, and cried. When your mom fell down a few days back on her morning walk, our grocer saw her and immediately got his car to rush her home because he knows where I live.
"Would I have that human touch if I did everything online? Why would I want everything delivered to me and force me to interact with just my computer? I like to know the person that I'm dealing with and not just the seller. It creates bonds of relationships. Does Amazon deliver all this as well?'
Spend time with people, not with devices.
The goal is to start at the first frame and walk along reading the pages. However, I'm usually scurrying into the building for a fitness class and don't take the time. Today, thanks to light traffic I had a couple extra minutes and did exactly what the installers intended.
After crossing the street from the parking lot I doubled back to the start of the walk. (The frames are covered in glass, and it was hard to get a good photo without a reflection, but I did my best.)
The last frame said another story will be coming soon. I can't wait to see
what it is.
