The forest fires in California and other Pacific states not only burned down a lot of trees and residences but also killed people by either being burned to death or poisoned by the smoke. The air quality has become so bad that knowledgeable people have been checking a dedicated webpage before they venture from their homes. And they have recently have purchased some sort of air purifier.
Many people have lots of time and need to stay fit. Some are walking every day. But they also need to do things to maintain their strength and flexibility. Pushups and situps are ideal because they don’t take much space or time. How effective they are depends on how many repetitions they do and how they do them. Pushups are simpler and the main technique consideration is how wide apart their hands are. How many one should do depends on their age and gender. Situps use different muscles and there is a wider range of positions of one’s arms. How difficult it depends on where you put your arms. It’s basic engineering. Your body is like a bunch of chunks of meat: head, arms, torso, abdomen, legs. If you extend your arms over your head your situps will be a lot more difficult than if you keep them along your legs. Some people are fans of “crunches”, which are shorter and harder motions. Your choice is like choosing a religion.
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.
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.
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.
Staying Fit Carefully in the CoronaVirus Era
The millions of people with time on their hands can use that extra time to stay fit. We have noticed a big increase of runners and walkers in our neighborhood. We are fortunate to live in California, where the weather is usually good, whereas people living in areas with poor weather need to do their exercise indoors. Those who are already disciplined to do exercises like Pilates or Yoga may not need any extra gear, but others need equipment such as stationary bicycles. Whether or not you use such equipment, you need to be careful.
Being Overweight or Obese Makes You More Likely to Get Covid-19
Elderly individuals are more susceptible to dying from a variety of causes. These days it has become common knowledge that they are more likely than younger people to die from the Covid-19. But people of all ages who are overweight or obese have a greater chance of getting ill, and dying, from Covid-19.
The USA has become too dependent on the cheap products it gets from China. In the face of the high volumes of people stricken by CoronaVirus it was not able to supply enough face masks. In particular, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has in the past provided temporary shelters (e.g., trailers) and other products to victims of natural disasters, but the nature of the supplies needed to deal with the CoronaVirus was so different that potential suppliers were unprepared to provide sufficient quantities of appropriate items. To make matters worse, President Trump and 3M were feuding because he used the United States’ Defense Production Act to prevent shipments of US-made face masks to Canada or other countries. Fortunately, Trump and 3M changed their minds, though Canada and other countries might not be happy because they would be getting the less-effective face masks made by 3M whereas Americans would get the more-effective models imported from China.
Grocery stores, in particular, deserve a lot of praise these days for their quick response to the challenges caused by the CoronaVirus. We personally experienced this in the case of using Instacart at our local Safeway. We actually were in touch with the staffer who was picking items from their shelves, and we could answer questions regarding the items he was choosing and make decisions in real-time
When I first tried on a pair of VOXXSTASIS socks (at the Elevate Performance and PT studio in Redwood City, CA), I was astonished. Studio owner Nadine Waeghe and I took turns lifting each other with and without wearing the socks. It was clear to me that the socks made each of us significantly stronger. Subsequently I wore them in my ballroom dance shoes (special shoes with very thin soles) and noticed that my feet felt stronger and I could dance longer without wearing out. Then I bought a pair of VOXXBLISS insoles that I use in my TOPO walking shoes (which have no built-in sculptured insoles) per my Pilates instructor Maxine Walmsley at the Core Body Connections studio in Menlo Park, CA. These are intended to make my feet “walk as God intended”. Presumably these products will help other people with (or without) challenged feet.