Rabu, 31 Oktober 2018

Financial Planning Tips for Major Life Changes

When you're looking to make a huge professional change in your life, all sorts of planning is required. But financial planning might be the most important.

Financial coach Jerrid Sebesta talks about making a jump from being a TV weatherman to helping people with their finances, and details the most important things you can do financially before making a big change in your career. A few important highlights to consider: Get out of debt and stay out of debt. Get yourself on a budget. Save money. And make sure you live on less than you make. 

With these rules in mind you are laying a stable foundation off of which you can jump into your dream job. 

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips

What Does 'Existential' Mean?

I’ve been seeing the word “existential” in the news recently because of a recent Trump administration report projecting global temperatures will rise 4 degrees Celsius by the year 2100, and the recent climate change report from the United Nations scientific panel that says we have about 10 years to get climate change under control or life on earth—from humans to coral—will suffer.

An Existential Threat

“Existential” can seem like a big, incomprehensible word until you realize it’s related to the word “exist.” In fact, it comes from a Latin word that means “to exist,” and when “existential” is used in its most literal sense, it relates to being. For example, an “existential threat to humanity” is something that threatens humanity’s continued existence or being. For example, the world’s stockpile of nuclear bombs could also be considered an existential threat to humanity because there are enough of them to wipe us out.

Existentialism

“Existential” also has a meaning tied to existentialism—a branch of philosophy that deals with existence. Existentialism was begun by Kierkegaard and expanded by philosophers including Sartre and Camus.

'Existential' comes from a Latin word that means 'to exist.'

The field deals with questions about the meaninglessness of human life and a person’s individual freedom and responsibility to make his or her life meaningful in some way. 

An Existential Crisis

For example, an existential crisis could be characterized by thoughts such as “I’m just one out of more than 7 billion people on earth. Why does my individual life have meaning?”

Interestingly, one study found that about 35 percent of Germans are existentially indifferent in that when asked, they said they didn’t feel like their lives had meaning, but they also didn’t care. From what I can gather, they just didn’t think about it very...

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20 Ways to Harness the Power of Beer (Besides Drinking It)

Some of you may already think beer has superpowers. Nonetheless, here are some lesser-known secrets that cement its place as a home remedy hero.

Household Solutions

1. Love Your Cast Iron
To clean and season your cast-iron cookware, cover the bottom of your warm pan with fresh beer. Let the liquid sit for 5 to 10 minutes, so the carbonation can go to work. Then rinse away any stuck-on food and enjoy the flavor the beer leaves behind.

2. Shine Copper Pots
Soak copper pots in beer to renew shine and remove stains. Throughout history, breweries have used the last of beer to shine copper vats.

3. Clean Gold Jewelry
A light or medium brew makes a great polish for gold jewelry. Pour onto a soft cloth and rub it in, then buff with another clean cloth. The beer’s acid will dissolve oil and dirt and get your jewelry sparkling again.

4. Remove Rust
Rusty spots on metal lawn furniture or garden tools? Cover the areas with a beer-soaked rag and let sit for about an hour. The beer’s carbonic acid will dissolve the rust. Try this tip to loosen rusty bolts as well.

5. Give Grass a Boost
You can revive dead spots on your lawn by pouring on just enough beer to wet the affected grass. The beer’s acids kill fungus, while its fermented sugars nourish healthy growth.

6. Trap Mice
Slugs aren’t the only pests lured by beer. Set out a bucket, with a ramp leading up to the lip. The mice will smell the beer, hop in to drink, then be unable to climb out.

7. De-Skunk a Dog
The yeast in beer cuts through the skunk spray’s water-resistant oils, then the beer’s carbonic acid dissolves them. Rub one or two cans on the pooch, and rinse with water. Finish with your usual dog shampoo.

8. Put Out a Fire
A can or bottle of beer can work as a fire extinguisher if a real one isn’t available. Simply shake and spritz.

Your Secret Ingredient In The Kitchen

9. Tender and Tasty Meat
Beer is a great tenderizer for tough, inexpensive cuts of beef, and it will add great flavor. All you need to do is poke and soak the meat for an hour before cooking, or marinate it overnight in the refrigerator. Try it with your meat for chili, stew, or stir-fry. Bonus: Studies have found that beer marinades reduce levels of cancer-causing compounds that form on grilled meat when fats and juices interact with an open flame. Go with a darker beer for the most health benefit.

10. Flavorful Chicken                  ...

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5 Steps to Grow Rich Without a Budget

If you don’t have a budget, you’re not alone. A U.S Bank study found that only 41% of Americans have one. While keeping a close eye on income and expenses can be the key to making better financial decisions, it’s also possible to build wealth without a budget.

No matter if budgeting just hasn’t made it to the top of your “to do” list or you’ve tried it with lackluster success, I’ll give you 5 steps to grow rich without a budget. Many people, including me, have found smart ways to manage money and achieve financial success without being preoccupied with every penny.

Free Resource: Download the free Retirement Account Comparison Chart for a summary of retirement account rules, plus the best places to open one up.

What Is a Budget?

You’re probably familiar with the idea of a budget, even if you’ve never kept one. A personal budget allocates your expected income to certain expense categories, such as housing, food, debt repayment, and savings.

You create categories and subcategories for all the ways you spend money and set limits on each one. Then you compare the budgeted amounts to what you really spend and make cuts or reallocate funds from one category to another, so you don’t go overboard.

If this sounds like an overwhelming math problem, you’re probably one of the 41% who don’t have a budget!

Budgets are often compared to diets because they seem like a temporary, mad dash to meet a short-term goal.

Budgets become a real brain-buster when you don’t have regular or reliable income. If you’re self-employed, get paid on commission, or qualify for a bonus plan, you may have given up on budgets because you don’t know exactly how much you’ll earn from month to month.

Another wrinkle is that we don’t always spend the same amount per month on each expense category, such as insurance, healthcare, food, or utilities. You can make an estimate by calculating how much you spent last year and dividing by 12. But you may not...

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Selasa, 30 Oktober 2018

Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

One of the biggest diet and nutrition trends these days is intermittent fasting. Every week, I hear from listeners wanting to know my thoughts on it. I've mentioned intermittent fasting on the podcast before, in an episode on the health benefits of fasting. But that was way back in 2011. At that point, the research was still quite preliminary and most of it had been done in rodents. Nonetheless, researchers were excited about the potential for intermittent fasting to prevent or reverse diabetes, weight gain, DNA damage, and other artifacts of aging.

Based on these promising but preliminary results, lots of people started experimenting with various forms of modified or intermittent fastinggenerating a lot of positive anecdotal reports. Over the last few years, more studies have been donesome of them on actual humans.

How Does Intermittent Fasting Work?

Before I dip into the latest research, let me define some terms. Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term that includes a pretty wide variety of approaches, most of which fall into one of two categories: alternate day fasting and restricted eating windows.

Alternate Day Fasting

Alternate day fasting involves switching back and forth between days when you eat more and days when you eat less. In some versions, you eat nothing or next to nothing on your fast days and as much as you want on your feast days. Other versions have you cut your usual food intake by a third to a half on your fast days and allow you to eat more than your usual food intake on your feast days. (This is sometimes described as calorie cycling.)

The proportion of fast to feast days also varies. Some protocols have you fasting every other day. Another popular variation is the 5:2 diet, where you fast for two non-consecutive days every week.

Restricted Eating Window

...

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The Wild West Heroes Who Rode for Wells Fargo

John Boessenecker is a former police officer, current trial lawyer, and considered one of the leading authorities of crime and law enforcement in the Old West. His book Shotguns and Stagecoaches is about  the men who rode for Wells Fargo in the 19th century. 

Unknown History: Shotguns and Stagecoaches focuses on the years of the Wild West. What inspired you to write a book about this time period?

John Boessenecker: I have been interested in the Wild West since I was a boy, for I was raised on TV westerns of the 1960s. I began to wonder whether the Old West was accurately depicted in television and film, and as a freshman in high school I began reading everything I could about the topic. I would ride my bike to the local library and load up with books about the frontier. I found that I enjoyed writing, and at age fifteen I wrote a short piece for a western magazine, about a stage robbery in Nevada. I kept it up, and have now been writing magazine articles and books about the Wild West for fifty years.

UH: What figures played key roles in the Wild West era? How did you capture their voices and personalities while writing about them?

JB: As a former police officer, my particular interest has always been the lawmen and outlaws of the Old West. The noteworthy ones were men of action, and few of them left diaries, letters, or correspondence. Therefore their stories have to be dug out from old newspapers, court records, and collections in museums, libraries, and archives. It is often fairly straightforward to describe what they did, but why they did it is a bigger problem given that these were not introspective men who spent a lot of time recording their thoughts and their emotions. So you have to interpret their acts and make judgments about their lives, their ethics, and their personalities. And that is where many writers and historians get into trouble: they judge historical characters by modern standards, instead of viewing them in the light of their own times.

UH: How do you bring history to life while staying true to its record?

JB: I try to use primary sources—newspapers and memoirs—and stay away from other writers’ secondary accounts that are often colored—sometimes by the author’s own biases, and sometimes by basic errors of fact. I also like to write about characters who are largely unknown; that way there is no paper trail of false narratives. I try to present my narrative in a factual way but also in a way that is exciting to the reader. That is the conundrum: keep it factual and keep it interesting. A cautionary tale exists in two of the most popular biographies of the 1930s...

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11 Ways to Whip Your Kitchen into Shape

Whether you're in the process of making a mess or dealing with the aftermath, these tips can save you some cash and elbow grease.

Save Your Space

1. Splatter-Proof Your Stovetop
When cooking on your stovetop, it’s not uncommon for grease to go everywhere. But you can minimize the mess by covering unused burners with square floor tiles. The tiles are much easier to clean than burners, plus they can give you added counter space. Win-win!

2. Block the Spray
Nonstick cooking spray is incredibly useful. The downside: It can wind up coating more than your cookware when you push the button. But there’s a simple solution! Spray your nonstick cooking spray over your open dishwasher, where it will be easily (and automatically) washed away.

3. DIY Mixer Guard
You can turn a simple paper plate into a splatter guard for your stand mixer. First, remove the blade or beaters. Then poke the top portion of the beater through a paper plate. Reattach and you’re ready for your next recipe!

4. Keep the Can at Hand
If you’re making a recipe that calls for an entire can of an ingredient, don’t rush that empty can into your recycling bin. Set it up as a spoon rest while you finish cooking. It’ll hold your utensils ready at hand and keep your counter clean from drips.

5. Contain Cutting-Board Overflow
Whether you’re slicing seeded bagels or peeling potatoes, kitchen prep around a cutting board can get messy beyond the board. Before you start, slip a sheet of newspaper under the board to help make cleanup of the area as easy as crumpling and trashing the newspaper.

6. Make Any Bag the Perfect Fit
Whether it’s a bag you’re reusing to collect food scraps for compost, recycling materials, or just everyday trash, you can make the bag fit your container snugly and stay open at the top with a simple clip. If you have a binder clip or clothespin, that will work. But even better: Reuse one of those notched clips that come on bread bags. There’s a reuse for everything!

Dishes Be Done!

7. No More Dough Dread
How do you clean sticky dough from your mixing bowls? Taking a dish brush or cloth to it makes a complete mess! Instead, try first getting off the worst of the dough with a crumpled piece of aluminum foil. Then you can simply toss the foil and clean the bowl the rest of the way (much more easily!) with dish soap and hot water.

8. It’s in the Bag!
You don’t need to dirty a colander to thaw frozen shrimp. Just poke or cut a few small holes into the bottom of the shrimp’s bag, then...

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More for Your Floors: 13 Care and Cleaning Hacks

These tips are all-natural, budget-friendly, and best of all — easy! Learn how to utilize the most out of these common household objects and get your wood, carpet, or tile feeling like new.

Good For Wood

1. Oil Away Scratches
For minor scratches and grooves, try a mixture of 1 part vinegar and 3 parts vegetable oil. Gently rub into the scratch; no need to rinse off.

2. Boost the Cleaning Power
Grimy wood floors calling for a slightly stronger cleaner? No need to turn to toxic cleaners! Here’s another DIY solution: In a clean milk jug, add ¼ cup vinegar, ½ cup liquid castile soap, and 30 drops of a citrus essential oil (try lemon or orange). Secure the lid on the jug and shake to mix. When you’re ready to mop, simply add 1 cup of the solution to 1 gallon of hot water in a bucket.

3. Paste Away Marks
Scuffs or even permanent marker marring your wood floors? Try rubbing on a dab of toothpaste with a damp cloth. Toothpaste is one of the mildest abrasives around to do the hard work without damage!

4. Iron Out Dents
Every household has its share of daily drops, which take a toll on wood floors. To undo the damage, dab a bit of water on the area and cover with a cloth. Then with your iron on its highest setting, gently move the iron over the cloth in a circular motion, keeping the iron moving until the cloth is dry. Add more water and repeat the process as needed. The dent should lift up like magic!

5. Stop the Creak
Stop the creaky wood floors with baby powder! With a paintbrush or toothbrush, work a generous dusting into the cracks until the floor is no longer noisy.

Easy Carpet Cleaning

6. Make This Easy Deodorizer
Want your home to smell fresh? Start from the bottom up — your carpets! In a glass container or canister, simply mix 16 ounces baking soda (your standard box) with 20 drops of any essential oil scent you like. To put it to work for you, shake the mixture on your carpet, wait 30 minutes, and then vacuum.

7. Save Money on Shampoo
The commercial cleaners sold for carpet shampooers can be pricey. Did you know that you can make your own nontoxic solution with ingredients you likely have around the house already? Mix together ¾ cup hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup white vinegar, 2 tablespoons dish soap, 2 tablespoons fabric softener, and 5 drops essential oil (any scent you like). Add the mixture to 1 gallon hot (not boiling) water. You’ll never need store-bought again!

8. Give the Rub to Gum
Turn to methyl salicylate, which you can find in analgesic heat rubs like Bengay. Put it on the...

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The Benefits of Routine (or Why Being Boring Has Its Upsides)

Today, we're going to talk about how being boring can be a huge advantage.

Big Corporations! We just love big corporations! They turn everything they touch into mountains and mountains of wondrous prosperity and rainbows and platinum yachts. At least for shareholders. 

When they touch employees, they turn them into nameless, faceless cogs doing meaningless busy work until the day they can be replaced by robots. And even better is when they touch customers. If they could, they would turn us into paralyzed lumps of flesh connected to feeding tubes mindlessly clicking our little Amazon "reorder" buttons until we shrivel and die. Ah, 21st-century paradise. I feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. Although... that feeling could just be a fungal infection.

While we long for the days of the mom & pop stores where everybody knows your name, those are gone. Even in the places where they aren't gone, real estate prices are going up so quickly that soon mom & pop will be replace by WalMart Outlet 56,813. The personal touch will be gone forever, unless you start being boring.

I'm Boring, You Can Be Too

Life is lumpy. In some areas, you can be fabulously interesting. In others, you can be fabulously boring. Take me, for example. I co-wrote a musical about personal productivity and Zombies. That's interesting. I also work out at the same gym, shop at the same bookstore, eat at the same restaurants, and order the same dishes, 99.999% of the time. That's boring. That's really boring.

The thing that's been so surprising is how very useful it is.

You See People Over and Over

When you frequent the same places a lot, you see the people who work there over and over. And over. And over. It may not be your intention, but repeated contact is how relationships form.

On the 20th or 30th visit, you read their nametag. By the time you've been there 60 or 70 times, you work up the courage to say "Have a nice day, Courtney." And ultimately, you and Courtney start a friendship.

Special Orders Become Easy!

It's not a share-your-deepest-desires friendship. But it is a share-your-special-order friendship. Over time, this friendship streamlines your ability to order. 


Soon enough, Courtney knows when you walk in that you're going to want your special order of a super-avocado crepe with extra avocado, two eggs substituted for the cheese, plus salmon. And to drink, an iced-tea lemonade with black tea and no ice. Oh, yeah, and you have a 10% discount card that you bought at a fund-raiser for a local high...

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6 Possible Scientific Reasons for Ghosts

If you believe in ghosts, you are far from alone. Around 45% of Americans believe in ghosts and as many as 18% of people will go so far as to say they have had contact with a ghost. I will also admit to spooking myself out on occasion when my dog has refused to stop barking at what appears to be an empty corner of the house.

But what makes us feel like we are in the presence of a supernatural spirit? Are there possible scientific explanations for that tingling sensation you get on the back of your neck, or the sudden feeling of uneasiness with an origin you can’t quite place? Let’s investigate six possible explanations for that paranormal feeling that are rooted in science rather than the supernatural.

6 Possible Scientific Reasons for Ghosts

  1. Low frequency sound
  2. Mold
  3. Carbon monoxide
  4. The power of suggestion
  5. Drafts
  6. We enjoy being afraid

Here they are in more detail.

1. Low frequency sound

Just as the human eye can only see light at a range of frequencies—for example, we can’t see radio waves—the human ear can only hear sounds in a range of frequencies. Above ~20,000 Hertz, sounds are too high pitched for our ears to parse them, like the echolocation calls of most bats that fall in this ultrasonic range.

Similarly, human ears have trouble hearing low-frequency sounds below ~20 Hertz—known as infrasound—but such sounds do not go totally unnoticed. In a 2003 study, 22% of concert goers who were exposed to sounds at 17 Hertz reported feeling uneasy or sorrowful, getting chills, or "nervous feelings of revulsion and fear."

So what are some of the more ordinary origins of such low frequency sounds? Weather events like earthquakes and volcanic activity or lightning, and communication between animals including elephants, whales, and hippos can all produce infrasound. And if you don’t live by any volcanoes or hippos but still think your house may be haunted? Humans also create low frequency sound via diesel engines, wind turbines, and some loud speakers or chemical explosions.

2. Mold

Breathing in toxic mold can be bad for your respiratory system, but it can also be bad for your brain. Exposure to mold is known to cause neurologic...

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Senin, 29 Oktober 2018

How Exercise Affects Your Brain

You have probably heard people say something along the lines of “your brain is like a muscle.” That comparison certainly supports the brain training industry (by that I mean school) and keeps millions of youth around the world sitting at desks, doing math problems, writing essays, and dissecting unsuspecting amphibians - but is it true?

Interestingly, the brain-as-a-muscle comparison isn’t all that accurate. If you want to build your glutes, you have to flex your glutes but when it comes to your brain, a more coincidental approach is more accurate. Getting busy working your glutes will also directly benefit your grey matter. Yes, exercising your butt will make you smarter!

Exercise affects the brain in many ways. It increases heart rate, which pumps more oxygen to the brain. It aids the release of hormones which provide an excellent environment for the growth of brain cells. Exercise also promotes brain plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells in many important cortical areas of the brain. Research from UCLA even demonstrated that exercise increased growth factors in the brain which makes it easier for the brain to grow new neuronal connections.

From a more feel-good perspective, the same antidepressant-like effects associated with the "runner's high" has been correlated with a drop in stress hormones. A study from Stockholm showed that the antidepressant effect of running was also associated with more cell growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for learning and memory. The study went as far as to say “Thus, suppression of cell proliferation in the hippocampus could constitute one of the mechanisms that underlie depression, and physical activity might be an efficient antidepressant.”

Some Examples

Scientists are continuing to showing that everything from the “runner’s high” to the “yogi’s tranquility” can have profound effects on your brain. Here are just a few examples. 

1. Exercise Boosts Memory

The part of the brain that responds strongly to aerobic exercise is called the hippocampus. Since the hippocampus is at the core of the brain’s learning and memory systems, this finding partly explains the memory-boosting effects of improved cardiovascular fitness.

2. Exercise Increases Concentration

Exercise can actually help you focus and stay on task longer. During a study in Holland, they interspersed lectures with 20-minute long aerobics-style...

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Minggu, 28 Oktober 2018

5 Fun Halloween Hacks for Busy Parents

Halloween continues to create a buzz of excitement throughout communities all across America. My kids are now in high school and college, but that doesn’t curb the amount of planning and genuine fun we put into our Halloween festivities each year.

Trick-or-treating is, of course, the highlight of this "boo"-tiful holiday, but the preparations of decorating, creating clever costumes, baking spooky treats, and hanging out together with friends and family in the pumpkin patch or at a neighborhood fall festival are where spooktacular memories are fondly made.

Regardless of what age your ghouls and goblins are, Halloween can truly be a memorable celebration, and thanks to some crafty hacks it won’t take you hours of time or tons of money to pull it all together.

Mighty Mommy shares five of her favorite Halloween time-savers that will add spook and whimsy to your family’s Halloween in half the time without breaking the bank.

5 Halloween Fun Hacks for Busy Parents

  1. Five Halloween Holiday Fun Facts 
  2. Hearty Prep Ahead Dinners
  3. Decorations on a Dime
  4. Light it Up
  5. Pumpkin Palooza

Let’s explore each in more detail.

1. Five Halloween Holiday Fun Facts

I’ll be honest, I never really embraced Halloween until I had kids of my own. Most of my babies were born in late summer, so one of the first things I did as a new mom was to invest in an adorable infant pumpkin costume. It was a bit pricey, but six of my eight kids did get to wear it so I certainly got my money’s worth. That little pumpkin costume paved the way for my newfound love of Halloween.

I had no idea how much fun it could be to decorate our yard and home for this festive holiday, never mind all the interesting recipes I learned to concoct. And when my kids were young and in school I found a whole new passion for crafting and creating super cool costumes. By the time Halloween rolled around I had spent hours preparing for one of the biggest nights of the year.

Once I became enamored the holiday I began to pay attention to trends and fun facts. Here are five pieces of trivia you can wow the Halloween die-hards in your life with:

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Jumat, 26 Oktober 2018

Carving Out Time for Your Spouse (Once You Have Kids)

The scene: You’re finally alone with your spouse, out for a nice dinner, and all you can talk about are the kids.

Did you talk to Ms. So-and-So about the science project?
Are you taking [the kid] to piano lessons on Saturday or am I?
We have to figure out what camps we’re doing this summer.
Can you believe that hilarious thing [the kid] did last night?

Once you have children, it’s almost as if you forget how to have a real adult conversation. It’s so easy to revert to talking about kid logistics, or kid activities, or kid-anything—but that comes at a cost, to the sense of connection you have with your significant other.

One of the key principles of my new book, Time to Parent, is that taking care of yourself is essential to your ability to care for your child. Deep connections to your significant other (and close friends) are nourishing and satisfying in a different way than the love and affinity you feel for your children.

Being a parent is not the only thing you are, right? It’s also not what brought you and your spouse together to begin with. For the health of your relationship—and your own well-being—it’s essential to make time for each other, with no kids involved. And once you have squared away that time, to protect it as sacred—separate and apart from your lives and identities as parents.

Here are five ideas to get you started:

  1. Discuss as many logistics as you can over email. One couple I know takes care of as many kid and household logistics as possible over email. This includes who’s picking up who when, who’s ordering new car seats, last minute grocery lists, scheduling changes (which they put into a shared family Google calendar). It means they don’t spend the time they do have face-to-face talking logistics. It also creates a record of what they decided.

  2. Babysitters are an important investment. I get it. Babysitters are expensive. Start thinking of your sitter as an investment in your marriage. The $40 or $80 or $100 spend is worth it, if it means creating the space for a quality connection. Once you’re out, kid-related-topics are off limits!

  3. The magic of day dates. Instead of going out in the evening, do something with your spouse during the day—when you already have child care lined up for the kids. Sure, you may need to take a personal or vacation day to make it happen, but what better way to spend that time than a day-long date? Go to the beach, take a walk through the city, go on a long bike ride. And...

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How to Overcome Feelings of Shame

Shame is one of the scarier emotions. And it has the reputation of a bad boytoxic and destructive. But maybe shame is less of a growling guard dog in a spiked leather collar and more of a yappy chihuahua. Maybe it’s something less sinister, more everyday, and even something that can be systematically overcome.

Enter psychologist Dr. Joseph Burgo, who has been practicing psychotherapy for more than 35 years. His articles and commentary have appeared in such publications as the New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post and writes the blog Shame for Psychology Today. He is the author of two previous books, Why Do I Do That? and The Narcissist You Know. His newest book is titled Shame: Free Yourself, Find Joy, and Build True Self Esteem, and you can preorder it now.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • How shame is actually a family of emotions and what ties them together.

  • The telltale signs of shame in yourself and others.

  • How to recognize the physical signature of shame.

  • How the answer to reducing shame isn’t building self-esteem as we know it.

  • The most important steps to take to move forward and overcome shame.

For more, pre-order Dr. Burgo’s newest book Shame: Free Yourself, Find Joy, and Build True Self Esteem.

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Kamis, 25 Oktober 2018

'Sit' Versus 'Set'

 

When I did a show about "lay" versus "lie" a few months ago, listeners wrote in asking me to do a follow up show on “sit” versus “set” because the problem with “sit” and “set” is similar to the problem with “lay” and “lie”—so here it is!

Transitive Verbs

Like “lay,” the verb “set” requires an object. You set something, the object, down. For example, I can set a book on the desk. Or if you want to get more abstract, you can set a date for an event. There is some object that receives the action of the verb. In my examples, it is a book and a date. On the other hand, like “lie,” “sit” doesn't require a direct object; it's something you do. I “sit” on the couch.

Verbs, such as “set,” which require an object are called “transitive verbs,” and verbs, such as “sit,” which don't require an object are called “intransitive verbs.” The way I remember the difference is to think of transitive verbs as transferring their action to an object.

'Sit' Versus 'Set'

I also have a good memory trick to help you remember the difference between “sit” and “set”: When you're training a dog, you tell her to sit. My first dog's name was Dude, and she was a girl, so we would tell her, “Sit, Dude. Sit.” And she would plop her little bottom down. She was a good dog. She was a bull mastiff, so actually her bottom wasn't that little.

So get that image in your mind of a big bull mastiff responding to the command “Sit.” That is how you use “sit”—for the action of sitting.

“Set,” on the other hand, requires an object. Sometimes I would move Dude’s leash and set it somewhere, but she would still think we were going for a walk. I know she saw me set it down, but that leash had moved, and she was always full of hope. In those examples, the leash and the word “it” were the objects. I set the leash on the table, and she saw me set it down.

'Set' as a Collection

'Set' can also be a noun that describes a...

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8 Tips for Improving HVAC Efficiency

Heating and cooling is easily the most energy intensive system in your home. According to the U.S. Energy Information Association, heating and cooling is to blame for almost half of all the energy expenditure in the average American household, beating even the growing energy consumption of appliances and electronics. Thus, by properly maintaining your HVAC system, you can improve its efficiency and reduce heating and cooling costs dramatically. If you want to reap the savings of an efficient HVAC, here’s how.

8 Tips for Improving HVAC Efficiency

  1. Close Up Your Home
  2. Consider a Home Warranty
  3. Calibrate Your Thermostat
  4. Check Your Economizer
  5. Control Your VFD
  6. Cut out Your BAS
  7. Clean Your Coils
  8. Connect Timers

Here they are in more detail.

1. Close Up Your Home

If you have cold or hot air pouring into your home from outside, your HVAC unit needs to work harder than it should to keep your home the right temperature. Therefore, one of the most basic ways to improve HVAC efficiency is to seal and insulate your home. First, you should keep doors and windows closed whenever your HVAC is running; then, you should check that the insulation in your walls and attic (if you have one) is still doing its job. By doing this, you can reduce your heating and cooling costs by up to 20 percent.

2. Consider a Home Warranty

If you’ve ever wondered how to compare home warranty vs. home insurance, now is your chance to learn. Home warranties guarantee the systems of your home, like your HVAC, against the ravages of time. If your HVAC breaks down for any reason, you can contact your home warranty provider, who will send an HVAC specialist to diagnose and fix the problem for a low, flat fee around $70. Though a home warranty won’t keep your HVAC in tip-top shape, it will secure you against total HVAC failure.

3. Calibrate Your Thermostat

You shouldn’t just trust that your thermostat knows what temperature it is in your home. It is easy for thermostats to be anywhere from a percent of a degree to five whole degrees off from the true temperature, and that seemingly small difference will cost you over time. To be certain your thermostat is reading true, you need to purchase a trustworthy thermometer and keep it on the wall a few inches from your thermostat. Then, using that tool,...

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18 Ways to Get More Out of Vinegar

From eliminating windshield streaks to curing hiccups, you'll be sure to find a use for vinegar beyond just in your recipes. Here are all the ways you can start putting this natural and eco-friendly ingredient to work.

Simply Natural Cleaning

1. Vanquish Smells with Vinegar
Vinegar absorbs and neutralizes odors—from smelly pets and paint to smoke. Place a cup of vinegar in any room the odor reaches. In the kitchen, try boiling a cup of vinegar in 2 cups water. In 15 minutes, the smell should be gone. To remove odors from washable items, add 1 cup of white vinegar during the wash cycle.

2. Steam Away Microwave Mess
Microwave walls can take a beating from food and drink explosions. But cleanup and deodorizing are simple when you use vinegar. In a microwavable bowl, combine ½ cup vinegar and 1 cup water. (You can also add a few drops of lemon juice, if you like.) Microwave for 3 to 5 minutes, then let sit for a few minutes while the steam goes to work. You should be able to easily wipe away any formerly caked-on mess.

3. Whiten Grout—Without Bleach
You can dissolve nasty buildup without harsh bleach. Simply create a paste from baking soda and water and apply it to the grout. Spray the area with a 1:1 mixture of vinegar and water. Let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing with a brush. Then rinse with warm water and admire the results!

4. Stop Windshield Wiper Streaks
Dampen a cloth with vinegar and run it down each blade. The acetic acid cleans away any dirt and residue but also coats the wipers to make them frost-free.

5. Get Fresh-Car Smell
A bowl of vinegar set in the car overnight will remove odors left by pets, kid athletes, takeout food, and more!

6. Make Sweat Stains Disappear
Is your laundry nemesis a perfectly good white tee yellowed by pit stains? Vinegar to the rescue! Just pour a small amount of white vinegar directly onto the stain and gently rub it into the fabric before washing.

7. Make your own fabric refresher!
In a spray bottle, add a 1:3 mixture of vinegar and water plus a few drops of an essential oil. Mist onto clothing and let dry.

Your Secret Ingredient In The Kitchen

8. Stop Pasta from Sticking

Skip the oil that can chase away your pasta sauce; turn to vinegar instead. Adding a bit of white vinegar to the cooking water will lower the pH level and stop starch from getting pulled into the water, creating a sticky situation.

9. Out of Eggs? Vinegar to the Rescue!
Already started a baking recipe and realized you don’t have eggs? Just mix 1 teaspoon vinegar with 1...

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4 Freaky Words Based on Monster Names

It’s almost time for Halloween, a time for all things spooky and scary. And what’s scarier than monsters?

Today we’re going to talk about four normal words that are derived from the names of monsters and other mythical beings. 

Pull the blanket over your head if you need to! Here we go.

Hippocampus

You probably learned in fifth grade that the hippocampus is the part of the brain that helps us create and retain memories. (5) But you might not know that it is named after a mythological creature called the “Hippocamp.” This was the water horse in the classical mythology of Greece and Rome. 

The word comes from the Greek “hippos,” meaning “horse,” and “kampos,” meaning sea monster. (1) And indeed, the hippocamp had the top half of a horse, and the bottom half of a fish or dolphin. The hippocamp was said to pull the chariot of the sea god Poseidon. He sometimes even let Poseidon or other nymphs ride on him. (9)

Real-life seahorses look somewhat like the mythical Hippocamp. Because of this, scientists named the genus that seahorses and seadragons reside in “Hippocampus.”

Why does the memory region of our brains also have this name? Because it, in turn, looks like a seahorse! It’s shaped like a C, with a chubby top and a long, curving tail. 

Chimera

Next, we’re going to talk about the Chimera.

The Chimera was another monster from Greek mythology. Its name comes from the Greek word “khimaira,” meaning “she-goat.” (1) It was said to have the head and front legs of a lion, the body of a goat, and the hindquarters of a serpent. It was sometimes shown with the heads of all three animals set along its body.

In case you thought this ugly creature might get lonely, don’t worry. It had a lot of siblings. There was the Sphinx, with the head of a human and the back of a lion; the Hydra, a serpent with many heads; Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the underworld; and the Nemean Lion, who terrorized the people of Nemea before being killed by Hercules. (9)

Because the Chimera was such a fanciful creature—it was made of three different animals, after all—its name came to suggest “the impossible.” Today, it refers to an illusion, or an unrealizable dream. For example, a pessimist might say that having all humanity get along peacefully is just a chimera.

Recently, this word has taken on a new meaning closer to its roots. In scientific terms, a “chimera” is a hybrid of two different species. Scientists create the hybrid by injecting stem cells from one species into the embryo of another. (2) One goal of this research is to grow human organs in the laboratory to help sick...

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Hitler’s American Friends: Henry Ford and Nazism

Over the past century, Ford has become one of the most iconic American brands, from its line of pickup trucks to the Mustang. The company’s first car, the Model T, broke ground and helped create the modern automotive industry. Yet what few people know today is that the company’s founder, Henry Ford, not only held deeply prejudiced personal views but also became one of Hitler’s key American friends in the years before the war. To its credit, the Ford Motor Company has made some efforts to come to terms with this troubling history, but there is still more work to be done. As we’ll see, Ford’s views were more than just a private matter—they translated into real-world action that had a major effect on Germany’s military preparedness before World War II. Certainly, Ford was far from the only American businessman who was enticed by Nazi Germany. His rival—General Motors—had a German division of its own and manufactured aircraft parts for the Luftwaffe.

As I discuss in my book Hitler's American Friends, some of its executives held views that went beyond pure business interests and bordered on Nazi sympathies. Yet Ford’s story is unique not just because he did extensive business in the Third Reich, but because of the influence he held over Hitler’s other American friends in the United States. This industrial leader was far more than just a mere businessman—he was also an American icon who, like his friend Charles Lindbergh who we’ll discuss in the final part of this miniseries, would become practically obsessed with Hitler and Nazism.

Ford was born on a farm in 1863. After pursuing a career in engineering, he founded the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and introduced the revolutionary Model T five years later. Ford’s manufacturing genius was beyond question — by introducing innovations such as the assembly line and standardized parts, he was able to vastly speed up production of his vehicles and drive down prices. Ford scandalized business opinion by voluntarily paying his workers a whopping $5 per day in 1914, which was more than double their previous wages. At the same time, Ford used his own workers as a market for his vehicles and encouraged them to buy Model Ts for themselves. It worked, and just 10 years after the Model T was released, it accounted for half the cars in the United States. It goes without saying that Ford became a very, very wealthy man, arguably the most famous industrialist in the country.

The Führer once indicated his desire to help 'Heinrich Ford' become 'the leader of the growing Fascist movement in America.'

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Rabu, 24 Oktober 2018

Starting a Family? 5 Money Mistakes New Parents Make

Having a baby is supposed to be a joyous time, but it can also be emotionally and financially stressful. The average American family spends about $12,000 on child-related expenses in their baby’s first year alone. And raising a child to age 17 is estimated to cost a whopping $233,000!

To help you get a handle on what to do and not to do, I interviewed Andrea Woroch. She’s a mom and a nationally-recognized consumer and money-saving expert. Andrea regularly contributes to leading national and regional news stories and has been featured on "NBC's Today Show," "Dr. OZ," "Good Morning FOX & Friends," "MSNBC," "CNN," "ABC News with Diane Sawyer," and many print and online outlets.

Some of the topics we cover include:

  • How to cut the cost of childcare
  • Ways to earn more and stop living paycheck to paycheck
  • Tips to raise cash by selling unused household items
  • Best places to buy baby goods for less
  • Getting maternity benefits and disability insurance

 [Listen to the interview using the audio player on this page or on Apple PodcastsSoundCloudStitcher, and Spotify]

The following tips were provided by Andrea.

5 Money Mistakes New Parents Make

  1. Not saving enough.
  2. Under-estimating the cost of childcare.
  3. Ignoring life insurance needs.
  4. Spending too much on baby goods.
  5. Putting off college savings.

Here are five common money mistakes that new parents make and how to avoid them.

1. Not saving enough.

A recent survey from PurePoint Financial found that half of Americans do not have a savings target set within the next five years. If you’re expecting a baby, it’s especially important to...

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Grammar Quirks: Alyssa Palombo on 'Intertwangling'

Grammar Girl: What’s your favorite word and why?

Alyssa Palombo: I love the word “passionate." I love what it means, I love how it sounds, I love how it looks on the page.

GG: What’s a word you dislike (either because it’s overused or misused) and why?

AP: "Nauseous!" No one uses it right. If you yourself are feeling ill, you would say “I’m nauseated.” If you’re nauseous, you are making others feel nauseated.

GG: What word will you always misspell?

AP: "Bureau." Luckily it doesn’t come up much! I think I’ve finally gotten the hang of it, but I second-guess myself every time I write or type it.

GG: What word (or semblance of a word) would you like to see added to the dictionary? Why?

AP: "Intertwangled." One of the hosts on my favorite podcast, "My Favorite Murder," misspoke once and said “intertwangled” instead of “intertwined," and I want it to be a real word so bad. It's a useful word for when things are both intertwined and all tangled up together! Also, it’s very fun to say.

GG: Any grammar pet peeves we should know about?

If you’re nauseous, you are making others feel nauseated.

AP: When people either use semicolons incorrectly or use commas in place of a semicolon. Semicolons are the best! They’re so handy! I want more people to use them (and use them correctly!).

GG: To what extent does grammar play a role in character development and voice?

AP: Grammar in how a character speaks can tell you SO much: where they’re from, what level of education they have, personal quirks, what social class they belong to, how they want to present themselves to the world. It’s definitely important for writers to think about. As an author of historical fiction, I tend to have my characters speak a bit more formally than we do—it helps give their speech a bit of a feel of the past.

GG: Do you have a favorite quotation or passage from an author you’d like to share?

AP: I recently read "Blood Water Paint" by Joy McCullough, a novel in verse, and it has some of the most gorgeous and empowering writing I’ve read. It’s hard...

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Don't Dismiss Walking

I can't believe it! Walktober is almost over and I still haven't written about how amazing walking is and how few of us take advantage of its benefits. 

If you live in the same world as me, you will likely know that walking is no longer necessary for our basic everyday survival. For the most part, the average citizen can get by just fine without walking more than a few hundred meters most days of the week. Between all the cars, buses, subways, taxis, and home delivery services, it is unlikely that any of us are going to starve because we can’t (or won't) walk. Some folks will call this progress, but for many people who come to me wanting to regain their fitness and health, shunning those non-walking conveniences is the first place we start.

Being physically active throughout the day is one of the most important things people of all ages can do to improve their health. But despite all that we know about the benefits of movement, only half of North American adults and about a quarter of adolescents get the (extremely modest) amount recommended in national guidelines—30 minutes per day.

For those movement-less people, let me posit this: walking is a perfect path to fitness. And it doesn't require any special skills or expensive equipment.

What Walking Does For Us

It is true, walking bestows many beneficial changes to our bodies. Here are just a few:

A study at Harvard of 12,000 adults found that people who live in cities have a lower risk of being overweight and obese than people who live in the suburbs. They found that in Atlanta, 45 percent of suburban men were overweight and 23 percent were obese; among urbanites, however, only 37 percent were overweight and 13 percent obese...

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5 Lawn Tasks You Should Never Skip (and 3 to Ignore)

Amidst all of the fun and frivolity that comes with the fall season (trick-or-treating anyone?) also comes some chores. The colorful leaves might look great on your Instagram feed, but they can wreak havoc on your lawn if you don’t take care of them before the snow flies. But getting your lawn ready for winter and giving it a great start in the spring requires a bit more than just a few hours with a rake. In fact, there are a few lawn to-dos that you should never skip.

5 Lawn Tasks You Should Never Skip

  1. Keep Mowing
  2. Weed Control
  3. Aerate
  4. Fill in Bare Patches
  5. Fertilize

Here they are in more detail.

1. Keep Mowing

Don’t pack the lawn mower away just yet. As long as your grass is still growing, you need to keep mowing. Typically, grass will continue to grow until the first frost, so you could be mowing well into October or even later, depending on where you live. While it might be tempting to just forgo the mowing until spring, letting the grass get too long will encourage thatching over the winter, which only invites pests and diseases into your lawn. Cutting the grass shorter than normal (about 2 or 2.5 inches is ideal) not only helps reduce the amount of raking and thatch removal you will have to do in the spring, but also helps cut your fall workload, as your mower can easily mulch remaining leaves and other debris on the lawn.

2. Weed Control

Just because it’s getting colder doesn’t mean the weeds are going to wither and die. In fact, some perennial pests like dandelions are busy sapping nutrients from the soil and your grass to get ready for the winter. Get a head start on spring, and give your lawn a fighting chance over the winter, by treating problem areas now with an herbicide when weeds are most vulnerable to it. Just be sure that you follow the package instructions, and if you have warm season grasses (like Bermuda grass) ensure that they are completely dormant to avoid killing them too.

3. Aerate

Aerating your lawn involves using a tool or machine to punch holes in the soil and pull out small plugs, leaving small holes. Aerating allows more oxygen and water to reach the roots of your grass by breaking up tangled root systems and compacted earth, which can eventually kill the lawn. This fall lawn care task can easily be handled by a pro, or you can rent a walk-behind...

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Selasa, 23 Oktober 2018

Pesticides on Our Plates: Is Our Food Safe to Eat?

The FDA recently released its annual Pesticide Residue Report. As pesticides are one of the things people worry most about, I thought we should take a look at what they found. Here to help us make sense of this very technical and complex data is Dr. Carl Winter of the UC Davis. Dr. Winter is a toxicologist who researches the detection of pesticides and naturally-occurring toxins in foods and how to assess their risks. Below are highlights from our conversation. Please click on the audio player to hear the entire interview.

Nutrition Diva: As part of their ongoing pesticide monitoring program, FDA tested 7,000 foods for residues of over 700 different pesticides and selected industrial compounds. Over half of all the samples analyzed contained no pesticide chemical residues at all. 94% of samples were compliant with federal standards. That means that 6% of the samples were NOT compliant. Does that mean that they were unsafe?

Dr. Carl Winter: When higher than expected (or “violative”) residues are found, it doesn’t mean that these foods are unsafe to consume or expose consumers to unsafe levels of chemicals. The vast majority of these violations aren’t due to levels of a pesticide being higher than expected. They usually indicate the presence of trace amounts of a compound that’s been approved, but not for this particular food.

ND: Also, we should point out that these are not random samples. The FDA is purposely testing those foods that they think are most likely to be in violation—because this part of the program is not designed to assess consumer exposure to pesticides. It’s designed to ensure that these chemicals are being used as directed to control the bugs they are intended to control.

CW: Yes, this is sort of like the cop setting up a speed trap. He or she knows exactly where to set up to catch the maximum number of offenders!

ND: This year, the FDA also used some new methods to test foods specifically for glyphosate or Roundup, in response to public concerns about the presence of this chemical in our food supply. What did they find?

...

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What Is the Plural of 'Mouse'?

Today’s topic is irregular plural nouns, odd nouns such as “ox” and “oxen.”

Robbie from Keene, New Hampshire, called in with this question:

One of my friends knows that I'm kind of geeky and into grammar and was asking me about adding the “-s” onto words to make the plural but in the same question came up with the question about words like "moose" and "mice" and "ox" and a "goose"—how all of those aren't formed into the plural by adding the “-s.” And I was wondering if you can give any insight? Is there any rhyme or reason into this? Is it only animals that we don't have to add an “-s” on to make it plural?

Robbie made me laugh when he placed a follow-up call asking me to imagine pluralizing all these words like the word "oxen": "goosen," "micen," and "moosen." Very funny. Perhaps we would say some plurals that way if we were all still speaking Old English. More on that in a minute. 

In modern English, most of the time we make a noun plural by adding an “-s.” So the plural of “animal” is “animals.” Robbie, on the other hand, is asking about irregular plurals, and we’re going to delve into the history of English as we learn about three irregular types of plural nouns. Many irregular plurals in English do seem to be animal names, but odd plurals aren't limited to animals.

Plurals Derived from an Old English Form

The first group of irregular nouns we’ll discuss come from an obsolete form in Old English. “Ox” and “oxen” fall into this category. Old English is a West Germanic language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and southern Scotland between the mid-5th and late-11th centuries (1). “Beowulf” was written in this language.

If someone from a thousand years ago traveled through time to visit us, we wouldn’t be able to understand each other, but as modern English evolved, it retained some elements of Old English. So we can blame Old English for the plural noun “oxen.” Only two other plural nouns in modern English end this way: “children” and “brethren.” Some other nouns, such as “eye,” “house,” and “hose,” used to be pluralized in a similar way, but the plural forms “eyen,” “housen,” and “hosen” are now dialectic or obsolete (2).

Seeing the word “hosen” reminded me of the German word “lederhosen,” which has a similar plural ending as...

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Why Including Travel on Your Resume Can Land You the Job

When writing your resume, you know to focus on the important stuff: your experience, your best skills, how well you meet the qualifications of the job you want. And while in some cases that can be enough to at least get you invited for an interview, when a recruiter receives dozens of resumes for the same position, a resume that isn’t like everyone else’s is necessary to get you noticed.

If you are looking for that elusive “something” that can get your resume to the top of the pile, consider adding your travel experience. Now, employers aren’t likely to be impressed—or even interested—in your rum-soaked beach vacations or the class trip to Disneyland, but meaningful travel can pique their interest and provide more insight into who you are, your values, and the soft skills you bring to the table.

The Benefits of Including Travel

So what makes travel meaningful, and what does it add to your resume?

“Meaningful” travel is anything that provides you with an experience that expands your mind, changes your perspective, or gives you new skills. Including this type of travel (and it can be both domestic and foreign) can accomplish a number of things on your resume.

Explain gaps.

If you traveled between jobs, let employers know. An employment gap without any explanation is much worse for your image than saying that you spent several months in Asia or explored National Parks. Not only does the employer learn more about you as a person, but you have evidence of how you spent your time.

Highlight skills.

A growing number of people are working while traveling, giving them a chance to experience a new place more fully, while also paying the bills. Include the work you did overseas in your work experience, highlighting anything that is especially relevant. For instance, if you lived overseas and taught English while pursuing your masters in TESOL online, that experience will give your teaching applications a boost.

Highlight experience.

Did you volunteer while you traveled? Have you blogged about your adventures? Did you improve your photography skills? Think about everything you did while you traveled and how it translated into new skills and experiences that you might use on the job.

Highlight soft skills.

Communication. Negotiation. Budgeting. Planning. Dealing with crises. No, these aren’t just skills required in the boardroom. These skills are vital to successful...

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Want to Jump Higher? 8 Ways to Improve Your Vertical Leap

Leg muscle power and vertical jump performance are considered critical elements for successful athletic performance, not to mention for simply performing successful daily activities. Not surprisingly, a lot of research has focused on the development of vertical jump performance. Here are three studies that I think stand out from the crowd. 

In a study called Does plyometric training improve vertical jump height? A meta‐analytical review, the researchers found that, yes, plyometric training significantly improved vertical jump height. Researchers actually saw an increase in jump height between 4.7% and 8.7%. With results like that, plyometric training appears to be an effective form of physical conditioning for augmenting the vertical jump performance in leaping individuals.

Then there is a study called Improved Maximum Strength, Vertical Jump and Sprint Performance after 8 Weeks of Jump Squat Training with Individualized Loads which concluded that eight weeks of jump squat training resulted in significant improvements in countermovement jump, squat jump, maximum isometric squat force and average force over 100m, as well as 50m sprint time. This suggests that short-term (8 weeks in this case) jump squat training can improve your vertical leap plus a bunch of athletic performance abilities simultaneously.

Finally, a study called Evaluation of Plyometric Exercise Training, Weight Training, and Their Combination on Vertical Jumping Performance and Leg Strength provides support for the use of a combination of traditional weightlifting, Olympic-style weightlifting exercises, and plyometric drills to improve vertical jumping ability and explosive performance in general.

Take a balanced approach to your training inputs in order to maximize the different strength characteristics involved in jumping.

This final study, combined with the other studies, reinforces the importance of taking a balanced approach to your training inputs in order to maximize the different strength characteristics that are involved in jumping. Weight training improves your ability to generate force, while plyometrics help you apply that force quickly. Put them all together and they will help you jump higher.

How High Can You Jump?

I don’t know who said it first (someone smarter than me, for certain) but it is true that you can’t improve what you don’t measure. So, let’s look at how you can measure...

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4 (Science-Backed) Tips on Being More Lucky

In episode 465, we learned how to make your own luck. It turns out that science also wants to make luck. Professor Richard Wiseman’s book The Luck Factor lays out four essential principles (all supported by science) in how to make more luck.

How fortunate that I stumbled across this book in the bookstore...

4 Tips on How to Be More Lucky

  1. Make the most of opportunity.
  2. Use your intuition.
  3. Expect to be lucky.
  4. Turn bad luck into good.

Let's break down these concepts and some related ideas. 

Make the Most of Chance

By definition, luck isn’t planned. When you go to a casino and play craps, it’s lucky if the first roll is seven. But if you make sure it’s seven by exercising your psychokinetic powers to levitate and rotate the dice, that’s not luck, it’s magic, and you’ll be escorted out of the casino by two guys named “Bubba.”

Luck is the opportunity you aren’t expecting. If you want lots of chance opportunities, you have to plan to make them happen. 

As we saw in episode 465, luck comes in the form of people. So the more, varied people you bring into your life, the more luck will come your way.

Luck comes in the form of people.

Wiseman recommends meeting a new person each week. Go out somewhere there are people. Find someone you don’t already know who looks friendly and strike up a conversation. Anyone wearing a T-shirt that says “Shy multibillionaire in search of friends” should be first on your list to approach.

If you don’t know how to strike up a conversation, just say “Excuse me. I was listening to this podcast that told me to meet a new person. You look like someone who’s fun to know. Would you object to making a new friend?” 

Keep In Touch With People

Once you’ve met someone, they’re now a friend. Friendships must be maintained. So also once a week, reach out to a friend you haven’t spoken with in a while. Set up a phone or in-person meeting and renew your relationship.

This isn’t networking in the...

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Do Tattoos Boost Your Immune System?

A series of popular science articles have recently been touting the health benefits of tattoos, specifically their ability to boost your immune system. Most are based on a study from Dr, Christopher Lynn and Johnna Dominguez at the University of Alabama. But is a little ink really the cure for the common cold?

The answer is, as is often the case, not as simple as many of these headlines might suggest. The study focused on a group of 29 people visiting a tattoo parlor in Alabama for a new tattoo. The researchers tested both the levels of cortisol—an indicator of our body’s stress response—and Immunoglobin A (an antibody that helps our body fight infections, called IgA for short) in each person before and after getting their new body art. In addition to monitoring our body’s response to stressful situations, cortisol also is known to act as an immunosuppressant, i.e. an inhibitor to our body’s natural defenses. The tests were meant to quantify any changes in the body’s immune system functions before and after getting a tattoo.

The study revealed that those with no pre-existing tattoos experienced a greater strain on their immune system (a larger dip in their IgA levels) possibly due to greater feelings of stress. Those on their second, third (or twelfth) tattoo instead experienced a surge in their IgA immediately following their inking session. Their bodies appeared to be less stressed by the experience having gone through the process at least once before. The researchers titled the paper releasing their result “Tattooing to Toughen Up.”

However, it’s not clear how long these surges in immune system strength last beyond the few minutes post-inking. The researchers also note the possibility that the pool of repeat tattoo customers could possibly be biased toward individuals with healthier immune systems in general. If someone with a weaker immune system has a bad response or a long healing period after getting their first tattoo, they may not return for a second.

How Do Tattoos Work?

Of course, we can only talk about possible health benefits for tattoos if we are talking in the context of ink applied via clean and sterile tattoo equipment. We are frequently shedding parts of our outermost layer of skin, called our epidermis, so to gain permanence, ink for tattoos is injected into the dermis, a lower, more stable layer of skin about a millimeter deep. So when you view a person’s tattoo, you are actually looking through their first layer of skin.

To get beneath the epidermis, tattoo ink...

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Senin, 22 Oktober 2018

The History of the Word 'Weed' with David Bienenstock

What follows is a lightly edited transcript of a Stitcher Premium bonus podcast.

Grammar Girl: Hey, everyone! I have a special treat for you today because I'm here with David Bienenstock whom I met at the podcast movement conference last year, and he had a really interesting idea for a show about some interesting words because he hosts the “Great Moments in Weed History Podcast with David and Abdullah.” Hi David, thanks for being here today.

David Bienstock: Absolutely. I'm thrilled to talk with you.

GG: Yeah! I'm excited about these special words. So why don't you first tell the audience just a little bit about your podcast.

DB: Sure! We're a weekly podcast. Each episode covers a different—as the title strongly implies, I hope—great moment in weed history...cannabis history if you will, marijuana history if you will—we'll get into all those different words and their meanings. But this is everything from, you know, episode one is Willie Nelson smoked a joint on the roof of the White House to Maya Angelou's first time getting stoned, did Jesus use cannabis in the holy anointing oil to perform healing miracles, and some of this sort of lesser-known people who've had a huge impact on cannabis history and social change in this country and to me and my partner, from our perspective, a really important social movement that's been taking place toward legalization, towards allowing medical use of this incredibly helpful substance. So we're really proud to be telling these stories, sharing this history, and making sure people understand all the struggle and all the joy and and all the culture that's gone into our current moment of of legalization.

GG: Wow, I did not know any of those anecdotes. They all sound really interesting.

So, I live in Nevada, where marijuana recently became legal recreationally. It's been legal as medical marijuana for a little bit longer. Is it legal where you live too?

...

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Minggu, 21 Oktober 2018

4 Ways Failure Can Benefit Your Child

During the 25 years that I’ve been raising my kids, I’ve seen a range of academic-, sport-, social-, work-, and peer-related successes, wins, personal bests, and victories (big and small). I've also seen awkward mishaps, school struggles, social catastrophes, and everything in between. 

Watching your children grow up is an amazing journey with plenty of highs and lows. It’s always exciting to see them hitting new milestones and thriving. Of course, that’s when all is going well. It's a different story when your child hits a roadblock and you watch him fall flat on his face. 

Naturally, no parent wants to see their child have setbacks. But quite frankly, failure is not only a part of life, it’s necessary. The next time your child faces one of life’s struggles, don’t fret—instead, embrace it. Mighty Mommy shares four ways that failure can benefit your child and even leave you as the parent feeling stronger.

Four Ways Failure Helps Your Child

  1. Learn From Their Mistakes
  2. Helps Handle Life’s Setbacks
  3. Encourages Growth
  4. Keeps You Focused On Your Goals

We’ll explore each in more detail.

1. Learn From Their Mistakes

Raising as large a family as mine certainly has had its challenges, but it has also afforded me a big advantage: the ability to step back and let my kids do for themselves. I’ve been outnumbered for most of my parenting years, so I've had to rely on my gut instincts and I've had to trust in my children’s abilities to make their own choices, even when I wasn’t totally on board.

This includes things like their choice of friendships, how they’ve managed homework assignments, not studying for major exams, and making poor choices with their hard earned money ($200 sneakers that were outgrown in a month).

Each of these scenarios yielded a different outcome for my kids, and although some of the scenarios ended in full-blown meltdowns—for instance, flunking the Spanish II midterm because watching the final weeks of "The Voice" was apparently far more important than studying—the bottom line was that they had to learn to own their own decisions—good or bad—and continue moving forward.

In Psychology Today’s How Allowing Children to Fail Helps Them Succeed, columnist Susan Newman Ph.D. makes a very astute statement about how today’s parent is trying to raise superstar kids,...

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Jumat, 19 Oktober 2018

'A' Versus 'An'

A lot of people learned the rule that you put “a” before words that start with consonants and “an” before words that start with vowels, but it's actually more complicated than that. For example, here's Matthew with a question:

I've been wondering if it is actually “a hour” or “an hour.” “An hour” sounds more correct, but “a hour” reads more correct to me. I'm just curious what it should be.

The rule is that you use “a" before words that start with a consonant sound and “an” before words that start with a vowel sound.

Should You Use 'A' or 'An'?

So to answer Matt's question, “an hour” is correct, because “hour” starts with a vowel sound. People seem to ask most often about words that start with the letters H and U because sometimes these words start with vowel sounds and sometimes they start with consonant sounds. For example, it is “a historic monument” because “historic” starts with an H sound, but it is “an honorable fellow” because “honorable” starts with an O sound. Similarly, it is “a Utopian idea,” but “an unfair world.”

The letters O and M can be tricky too. Usually you put “an” before words that start with O, but sometimes you use A. For example, you’d use A if you were to say, “She has a one-track mind,” because “one-track” starts with a W sound. Similarly, you’d say, “She has an MBA, but chooses to work as a missionary,” because “MBA” starts with a vowel sound and “missionary” starts with a consonant sound.

Use “a” before words that start with a consonant sound and “an” before words that start with a vowel sound.

Other letters can also be pronounced either way. Just remember it is the sound that governs whether you use “a” or “an,” not the actual first letter of the word.

One complication is when words are pronounced differently in British English and American English. For example, the word for a certain kind of plant is pronounced “erb” in American English and “herb...

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Homework Done Right: What's a Parent's Role?

Lots of parents struggle with knowing what their role is when it comes to their kids’ and school. Should I (gasp) do their homework with them, to be sure it’s done right? Or should I stay out of it completely? How important is it to join the PTA, anyway?

In the process of researching my new book, Time To Parent, I came across a helpful mantra for parents of children at almost any stage and phase: Be Your Child’s Learning Coach.

When it comes to homework, you—as a parent—have the perspective to see homework for what it is:  a chance to help your child learn time management skills, monitor his own learning and asses whether not he’s meeting teacher standards. Those are important life skills. As your child’s “learning coach” it’s not your job to do the work—but you should be offering the space, time and support to work on assignments.

Here’s how:

Get to know your kids’ teachers. Invest time in building relationships with your kids’ teachers.  The better you understand their expectations, the better you can help your little student meet them. Don’t be afraid to ask teachers how much time your child should allocate to specific assignments, or even for clarification on how your child is being assessed (creativity, neatness, accuracy, and so on).

Make homework time a family affair. Starting when children are young, set a regular schedule that the entire family can follow: while kids do homework or read books, parents do their own quiet activity nearby (and stay available to answer questions if/when they come up). Make sure you create a quiet space and environment to support the routine—no one should be having loud fun or playing/watching an electronic device. Think of it as your daily opportunity to model good study habits.

Match your children’s age and stage. How you interact with your kids’ schoolwork will depend, in part, on how old they are. A few general guidelines:

  • For kids younger than five-years old, your primary goal is to communicate that learning is fun. Don’t worry so much about giving your kids a head start—focus on talking, reading and play.
  • By the time kids reach elementary age, parents can help their young students start to form good study habits.  Provide the right supplies and ensure kids are well-fed, rested and have the energy to do the work.
  • By about 10-years old, kids may start to resist advice from their parents. Congratulations, you’ve reached the tween years. Consider enlisting outside help. A tutor—or even a “cool” older neighbor kid or cousin—can help your child start to learn how to keep track of a...
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10 Fresh Uses for Lemons

Keep your home and yourself feeling fresh and clean with this well-known household hero.

Around The House

1. Whiten Toilet Bowls
Forget the nasty chemicals and overpowering scents! You can use ½ cup lemon juice in your toilet bowl to deodorize and remove stains naturally. Let it sit for several minutes before scrubbing clean.

2. Green Cleaning for the Grill
Grill cleaners often contain harsh chemicals. But if you want to remove rust and sanitize your grill, you can use a simple lemon. Just cut in half and rub on the grill grate.

3. Quick Fix for a Stinky Microwave
Microwave odors? They plague every busy household. Simply cut a lemon into quarters and put it in a bowl of water, then place in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. Wipe the inside with a soft cloth and any stains will lift easily.

4. Beat Tough Fridge Odors
No matter how often you try to clean out the fridge, odor happens. The solution: Soak a sponge in lemon juice and let it sit in your fridge for a few hours. Ahh, better!

5. Keep Insects Out
Many little buggers—including ants, silverfish, roaches, and fleas—hate the smell of lemon. Squirt some lemon juice around cracks and openings where they may be tempted to enter in. For extra defense, mop your floors with a solution of the juice of four lemons and ½ gallon water.

Super Food Tips

6. Master That Marinade
Make a simple marinade for meats by combining lemon juice with your favorite oils and herbs. The acid in the lemon juice breaks down the meat to tenderize and allow flavor in.

Health And Beauty

7. Whiten Nails
Take advantage of the natural acid in lemons to lighten and brighten nails. Dip your fingers in a mixture of lemon juice and warm water for about 5 minutes. When you’re in a hurry, you can also just rub a lemon wedge right over your nails.

8. Drink to Better Digestion
Add lemon slices or squeeze fresh lemon juice into your water glass. The healthy acids in lemon help your stomach break down food and improve overall digestion. Experts say warming the water provides the greatest belly benefits.

9. Get Rid of Warts
Warts can be stubborn, and many remedies seem less than gentle. Start with a simple cure: lemon juice. Squeeze the juice of a lemon onto a cotton ball, then dab on two to three times a day until you see the wart disappear. The acidity of lemon juice breaks down warts gradually—and naturally.

10. Soften Corns
Soak your feet in warm water, then apply a lemon juice compress made with a...

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