Monthly Archives: July 2020

Could Stay-at-Home Orders Cause an Increase in Alcoholism?

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There are multiple reasons that people may increase the number of alcoholic drinks they consume. The overall stress of the current pandemic leads people to turn to alcohol for relief. The absence of one’s numerous healthy alternatives, especially social ones that have been discontinued because of the pandemic can result in drinking with your spouse or other members of the household. And sitting in front of a TV set longer than in the pre-pandemic days expands the opportunity to drink. Examples are numerous.

Inaccurate Coronavirus Case and Death Counts May be Leading to Bad Decisions by Leaders That Are Likely to Result in Higher Numbers

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Perhaps April 2 was too soon to expect precise counts and estimates, but in Massachusetts, there were actual counts of only 7,738 cases but the state’s estimates were in the range of 47,000-172,000 for the course of the epidemic. And of course, if a second wave of the virus occurs, the numbers could be significantly larger.

Reasons for the miscounting, are numerous. One is that states are not counting cases and deaths consistently, as specified by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). But the conventions for counting are changing.  And the counts depend on who is doing the counting and their methodology.

The numbers of cases and deaths are worse for men than for women. Women make better than decisions about health, so they live longer (which gives meaning to our website name).

President Trump’s beliefs and actions may be causing more deaths than would have otherwise occurred. He continually pooh-poohs the danger of the Coronavirus and almost never wears a mask (though he did on July 11). And it may cause him to lose the coming election. He apparently is joined by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos who supports school openings in the fall.

Who Else is Annoyed by (Unnecessarily) Overweight Wine Bottles?

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We don’t drink a huge amount of wine, but every time we hoist an extra heavy bottle we wonder if the winery is so misguided that they think that their customers are so naïve as to believe they are getting more wine for their money. And we also think about the extra cost of shipping and the effect on the environment.

 There are other containers that could be used, including Tetra-Paks, boxes, and plastic bottles, but those are so inelegant that people would never use them for dinner with guests. Even a screw-top bottle is infra dig, though we like it for more casual meals because it avoids the time and struggles with a stubborn cork.

 It seems to us that an attractive non-traditional-looking bottle would be both a marketing coup and a conversation piece when one is entertaining.

 A quick Web search finds that people are more concerned about THEIR weight than their wine bottle’s weight.