Saturday, April 10, 2010
THE AMAZING CUCUMBER
1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.
2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.
3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.
4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.
5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!
6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!
7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explorers for quick meals to thwart off starvation.
8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!
10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber will react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown to reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.
11. Just finished a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.
12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but it won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.
13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
WHY ARE WE SO BUSY?
The question is often asked why we never have any spare time in modern life, in spite of a glut of "labor-saving" inventions and the growth of production efficiencies. Here are a few thoughts about why we are so busy:
1. Poor Choice Management. Manage your life, not your time. Modern society suffers from an unwillingness to say, "No." Faced with too many options and too much pressure, we respond with too many yesses. There is an old proverb somewhere that says, "To accomplish more, do less."
2. Inefficient Learning. We rush through things, learn them partially, and must repeat the work. Or what was learned gets pushed out by too much other new information. Slow down, and learn a few lasting things.
3. Fewer Support Structures. We do more of our own secretarial work, have fewer helpers, less delegation. Sometimes support workers are not as dependable or committed and cannot be relied on to do a good job. People are so busy with their own tasks that they no longer help us with ours.
4. Higher Expectations. Rather than having more leisure time, we have less because we expect to do more and others expect us to do more. We try to match the pace of a fast society. "Ah, tomorrow is Saturday, a day for leisure. Let's go to the amusement park in the morning, a movie in the afternoon, and to dinner with our friends in the evening. Then we will still have time to see that video, check our mail, and watch the news before bed."
5. The Freeway Effect: We are so overloaded and tired that we get less done. We waste time frittering and procrastinating because we are too tired (mentally, physically, or both) to get ourselves working.
6. The Smorgasbord Effect. Our choices are like a smorgasbord at a restaurant, so many, that we try to take a little of each and thus overload our plates. It has been noted that we are often afraid to make deliberate choices because we realize that every choice precludes others. So some people put off making a decision just to keep their options open. Others simply try to say "Yes" to everything.
7. Maintenance Time Costs. The products we buy require maintenance time. Computers, cars, VCR's, copiers, all need attention. The more items we have, the more time we spend maintaining or taking care of them--not using them.
8. The Change Effect. We live in constant change. The psychological stress of change can be dealt with, but the main effect of change is a time expenditure for a learning curve.
