Most of us have some type of device that can be set to remind us to move every hour. We all know it’s unhealthy to sit for hours on end. Right? My Oura ring and my Apple watch nag me every single time my work colleagues nap through the deadline. That doesn’t happen often.
There are many benefits to being active for a short 3 minutes every hour. Obviously, it improves posture, raises metabolism, and increases blood flow — but it’s also said to improve your mood and give you increased energy. I’m not so sure about those last two… 🙂
I’m still alive only because I have dogs!
Srinivansan Beddhu, M.D., professor of internal medicine at Utah, recently published the results from a long term study on this very topic. The study revealed if you take a 2 minute walk every hour, you have a 33% lower risk of dying!
Even though my favorite brother is obviously trying to kill me — and has for YEARS now — my hounds see to it that I stay at least healthy enough physically to take them out, and healthy enough mentally to remember to feed them.
U.S. millennials say work-life balance means more than pay!
In another recently published 2024 trends survey, roughly 60% of millennials in the U.S. (my son included) said they would take a 20% pay cut for a better work-life balance. This Baby Boomer in particular agrees with that, and I know 1 Gen X’er (Perry) that would as well.
Small steps every hour can add up to big health benefits throughout a lifetime. I have to wonder how many steps this foxy visitor got today…
Now you know: Dennis Rader, the serial killer known as BTK, worked at ADT Security Services from 1974 to 1988. He installed security alarms as part of his job, in many cases for homeowners concerned about the BTK killings.
Yesterday was a near perfect spring day even though it’s not yet spring. It was sunny and nearly 75° F.
Today, they’re calling for rain and temps to be 8° cooler than yesterday… and tomorrow 8° cooler than that… and the next day, 8° cooler than that. See? If you can subtract by 8, you too could forecast weather in rural southern Indiana.
Will today be the day I bring out the Dap?
With my birthday rapidly approaching, I find I’m getting more and more ads for burial insurance. My inbox gets them and Facebook serves them up to me too. I’m not putting a lot of thought into the Facebook choice since they’re also showing me ads in Spanish, but sheesh!
With Scott talking about his move back to Indiana and Katie being all creative and painting furniture, I have a bit more motivation to patch the bajillion flaws in the upstairs walls and touch-up paint. But still, I can’t seem to get motivated enough to begin.
Here’s to TODAY being the day I get started!
Now you know: Pronouncing Arkansas as “Arkansaw” is required by Arkansas state law.
While the phrase, “a picture’s worth 1000 words” is often attributed to Confucius, Wikipedia says it was Fred R. Barnard who deserves the credit. He wrote it in an advertising trade journal in 1921 promoting the use of images in ads. Of course, I’m not advertising anything – but I am sharing a whole bunch of words through images today.
Candid shots are my favorite.
Photos that are unposed capture people as their authentic selves. They aren’t planned or crafted to look perfect.
With my family, candid shots are the only way to capture them without crazy smiles and silly faces.
I do it too… obviously.
Dogs don’t fake smile or pose dewclaws up. 🐶
Even when I TRY to create a posed shot of either of my hound dogs, they never turn out that way.
Humans notice cameras and the second they know they’re being photographed, it takes them out of the moment. Not dogs! Dogs don’t ham it up or pose in a way they think will make them look their best. I’m sure Dharma and Merida have no idea what a camera is… but they do know it pauses whatever they’re doing or what they’re trying to let me know they want.
Dogs remain authentic even when a camera is pointed at them. That’s why they’re almost always candid shots — and one of the reasons I like them so much.
Now you know: All polar bears in Iceland are shot on sight. They are not native to the island, and dangerous because they are hungry after floating over on ice from Greenland. It is too difficult and expensive to return them home.
Oh! The joys of hound dog parenthood! Not quite 5:00 AM and I’m at my computer… wide awake. Why so early? Because Dharma was retching about 4′ from my head at 4:45 AM this morning.
Little puppies make such cute sounds.
Big, adult dog sounds are rarely cute. Especially puke sounds. Puke sounds are horrible and will wake adult humans in a nanosecond. The puppy parent responsible for cleaning up messes will pop awake immediately upon hearing such sounds in an attempt to get said animal to an easy to clean surface before they expel the nasty — preferably that would be outside.
This is NOT the dog that puked before 5:00 AM. This is the flexible, goofy one.
Said no one ever…
“Get a puppy so it will grow to be an adult dog with adult dog needs, bad habits, and will sometimes require care when you want to sleep.“
Now you know: In 1989 a man “with bulging pants” was stopped by Baltimore police for “walking oddly”. The perp was found to have 21 live homing pigeons stuffed in his trousers.
Yesterday morning, I had the luxury of sleeping in. That doesn’t happen often with two hounds — not even on weekends. The extra sleep without being awoken by their “feed me” or “I want out” alarms was bliss.
A deliberate act of self-care.
Replenishing energy reserves depleted by the demands of a busy week help to prepare us for the challenges that lie ahead. Dharma must be expecting a ruff few days to follow this weekend. 😉
A whispered promise to yourself?
Make a commitment to recharge your batteries whenever you can. It’s not just extra sleep… it’s a way to prepare your mind for what lies ahead. Those extra hours of sleep give your brain more time to unwind and your muscles longer to recover from the daily strains of life.
Now you know: Hannah Dagoe, an Irish basket-woman, was to be hanged for burglary. On the day of her execution in 1763, she punched the hangman and dared him to hang her, threw her clothing to the crowd, then jumped off and broke her own neck before the hangman could push her off.
