What is the best way to deal with a virus and/ or allergies?

With my environmental sensitivities, I come down with allergic reactions and symptoms of viral infections all the time. I deal with both ailments in pretty much the same way and feel that sharing what works for me just might help anyone else trying to combat all those bugs going around right now.

First of all, if there's no fever, vomiting, and diarrhea, its probably just a virus or allergies. Both of these have very similar symptoms and neither can be treated with an anti-biotic. A visit to the doctor, in my opinion, is not necessary since they would either want to prescribe something unnecessary or just tell you to rest and drink lots of fluids and send you on your way while cashing in on the expensive office visit.

Yes, I agree that fluids and rest are a must, but by incorporating some good old fashioned "granny treatments" along with that, recovery time is drastically reduced. They say that recovery from a virus should start to occur within 7-10 days of when you first experience symptoms. Its been five days for me and I'm already starting to feel better! Each case is different of course.

I think my symptoms started out from allergies and turned into a virus. My symptoms included sore throat, coughing, sneezing, congestion, and sore swollen glands. The intensity, type of virus and/ or allergies, and health background and restrictions are always different from person to person. For instance, right now I'm pregnant and don't dare to take something like echinacea because it can stimulate the uterus and cause contractions whereas it would be fine for someone who is not pregnant.

Here's a list of tips and treatments that worked best for me. Use all of it or none of it if you want. I happen to swear by it!

-Treat symptoms AS SOON AS YOU FEEL THEM!!
-Be absolutely consistent about treatment EVERY day.
-Continue multi-vitamin as usual

THROUGHOUT THE DAY:

Drink at least a gallon of purified water

This flushes out the bad stuff and provides the fluid in which your immune cells need to multiply and attack infection.


Wash hands when necessary... especially before eating or touching eyes, nose, or mouth

If you're like me and work around kids all day, this is a must! Wash often and remember to moisturize to encourage the good bacteria to stick around.

TWICE A DAY:

1000 mg Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an immune system booster and helps the body act like a sponge to soak up essential nutrients. Usually, the worst side effect of taking too much vitamin C is a stomach ache and diarrhea. If this happens, just cut back as necessary. The forms that work the best are a chewable tablet or fizzy drink like Emergen-C. They seem to be absorbed quicker.

BEFORE BED:

Flush sinuses with a neti pot

This can be found at any health food store. It looks strange, but trust me, it gets gunk out of your sinuses you could never get out by simply blowing into a tissue. Once you have the pot, mix 1 cup of warm filtered water with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Sea salt should be avoided because it can be too harsh. Place a nostril over the spout opening, tilt head to allow water to run through that nostril, into the sinuses, and out the other. Blow nose and repeat on the other nostril.

Drink some hot tea

This loosens mucus, provides relief to swollen glands and sore throat and just feels good!


Take a hot bath

Hydrotherapy is good for pulling out toxins by making you sweat, relaxing tissue which allows the immune system to do its job and provides relief to swollen glands, and clears nasal passages.


Turn on the humidifier

If you live in a dry climate or have been inside with the heat or a/c on to create an artificially dry environment, your system can get all dried up! Turn the humidifier on at night when the effect of a dry environment can be felt the most.


Aromatherapy with eucalyptus

Just a few drops can be added to the bath and/or humidifier. Eucalyptus has amazing properties that kill germs, open nasal passages, and provide soothing and cooling effects.

Gargle

This one can be hard to do especially if you don't like the old vinegar, warm water and salt recipe. Here's a recipe to gargle with that will provide even stronger relief and in my opinion, just tastes better:

1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Pinch of cayenne

I know that all of these remedies sound like a lot work and it would be way easier to take a pill and forget about it. That only gets you through the short-run of things and can be dangerous. When you just take a pill, you are telling your body to shut up and leave you alone, which causes a disconnect and makes healing difficult to impossible. Not only are you suppressing the symptoms, there is no support being given to the immune system so it can do its job properly.

I've done everything listed faithfully as I've laid it out and I swear its why I'm feeling so much better so quickly. Healing is not just about killing pain by popping a pill, its about a mind-body connection. This can be achieved by listening to your body and letting it know you care by taking the time to treat it right! Once you learn to listen to your body and give it what it needs and asks for, the better off you will be in the long-run.

How does the German- American Bund relate to Hinduism?

Schindler's List was on t.v. last night and as I watched it, a slew of questions started running through my head much like the ones I had in my high school history classes. It seems like after studying the Holocaust all those years, none of my personal questions really got answered.

Like, what did Hitler have against the Jews... really? How can such a large group of people like the Jews get bullied around so much to the point of so many of them getting killed? Why didn't more people fight back? Since Jesus was a Jew, would he have been killed if he lived during the time of Hitler's reign?

Of course, as with anything, there are opposing viewpoints of answers to every question. The sad thing is, the more time passes, the more information is lost in written records of history and word-of-mouth as the people who were actually there die off. Some people believe that the Holocaust never really happened. I can't say that for sure, but it sure seems skewed the way it is presented in the public school system. The typical History lesson plans always consisted of the same points and material:

-Hitler was evil and wanted to create a perfect race by ridding the earth of all the Jews.

-Many countries were in opposition to Nazi Germany's treatment of the Jews.

-People were afraid of the rise in communism, which would have created a classless society. This fear is what lead to the requirement of people to wear the infamous arm bands to identify themselves as Jewish, gay, Jehovah Witness, etc.

-Videos shown depicting images of emaciated Jewish people with commentary describing the horrible conditions they were forced to live in. Then images of, presumably the same people, dead in massive piles who had just been gassed by the Nazis.

-Assigned reading: "the Diary of Anne Frank"

While this information isn't necessarily false, it is definitely one-sided and, to me, never has seemed to paint the whole picture. I mean, was Hitler really evil? Was his original intent to create the results recorded in the history books? If one goes off the information presented in high school History classes, the assumption is that Hitler was definitely evil. What about all the different sects of Nazi-ism?

Which brings me to the German-American Bund (pronounced: "boondt"). We never learned about this group in class, but I know it exists because my great-grandfather was a member of the Seattle chapter and I've heard some word-of-mouth history through family. Most publications I've found, talk about the Bund much like the Nazis and how "evil" they were. On the contrary, my family has always told me that the Bund my great-grandpa was a part of consisted of German-American activists interested in peace who happened to use the swastika as their symbol.

It actually makes sense that they could be a peace group. The answer lies in the meaning behind the swastika. You see, the swastika didn't originate with the Nazis. It seems to have originated with Hinduism and spread amongst other Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Jainism as a symbol that literally means "that which is associated with well-being." Since the swastika has four points, it also represents the importance of the four directions - north, south, east, and west. It also represents the four-headed Lord Brahma - the creator of the universe.

Even before my knowledge of my great-grandpa's involvement with the Bund... before my understanding of the connection of that group with the peaceful ways of Hinduism, I've always been drawn to Hinduism. I've never been able to completely explain why. Just a psychic connection of some sort. I feel at home when I look at pictures of all the gods, goddesses, and avatars of Hinduism. My dad's side of the family was raised Catholic, my mom's was Southern Baptist and Lutheran. I know in this lifetime that each of these religions has something to offer, but it is my personal assertion that the roots of their goodness for me lies in my connection with Hinduism.

So the big parallel here is that my family history and its affiliation with the swastika conflicts with what I've been taught in school about the Nazis who also used the swastika. This is much like my beliefs in Hinduism and the perpetual cycle of the universe in the hands of many gods and goddesses versus the Christian belief that there is only one god. Who is right? The public school system and their text books or oral history and psychic attraction? Hinduism or Christianity?

I don't think this is a question that can ever be answered. The truth is, I don't even believe everything about Hinduism. Its just what I can most personally identify with. The only thing that can be done is to learn from the goodness each has to offer and personally asses each issue as it comes. Much like my belief that there can't be just one god, there are many gods AND goddesses, the same goes for spiritual beliefs. There can't be just one, there are many.

Why do guys always get the remote control?

I could answer this question in so many ways. There are countless articles published about this very topic, but for now this is more of an introspection of my response than a quest to find the actual answer. I mean ladies, does this sound familiar? You could be minding your own business just hanging out with the t.v. on and before you know it, the channel has been magically changed to golf?

Wait, I don't watch golf, what the hell happened? Just because my undivided attention isn't consumed by the t.v. doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention to what I picked out. Women are amazing multi-taskers. I don't know about you, but I'm able to fold laundry, talk on the phone and watch t.v. all at the same time. Somehow, with all my multitasking abilities, my partner seems to poses a magical power of his own. That's sneaking the remote and turning the channel to what he wants to watch and maintaining control over the t.v. for the rest of the day.

This happens all the time! I usually give into it because I feel like spending time together watching whatever ends up on the screen is more important than arguing over it. I try to justify it by saying, "I don't like t.v. anyway," or "I have other things to do besides watching t.v."

After a time, I realize that sitting together, watching the screen isn't spending time together at all. When guys watch t.v., they watch t.v! No talking allowed! So I get sick of watching golf and usually end up doing laundry or cleaning because I feel like I don't deserve to just sit and veg out until these things are done.

Why, oh why, do I feel this way? Its like a computer program in me that automatically ensues when a certain sequence of events happens... I'm watching t.v., leads to... program gets changed to what he wants to watch, leads to... "I must not deserve to be watching what I want," leads to finding something "productive" to do.

Why do I feel like if the t.v. is turned from what I'm watching, its my cue to do some dishes or clean the floor? It drives me insane! Recently, I've tried to boycott my regular responses by forcing myself to sit and watch whatever is on and I feel like a lazy bum. Most of all, I feel GUILTY!

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like a common feeling in women is guilt. Why do we bear the burden of the world through this feeling? Not just with the microcosmic example of dealing with who gets the remote, but with EVERYTHING!!! Personally I hate it. I don't quite know how to confront this, but I know as women, it is an epidemic that plagues us all.

How do you explain "color" to a kid?

I was sitting at circle time with the kids at work. We were going over all the daily academics of talking about letters and the sounds they make, sign language for different words, and naming colors. I started to wonder what all this meant. What if a kid stopped me in the middle of a lesson and asked, "What is color?"

I talk about it all the time. I "teach" by pointing to an object like a banana, for instance and say, "that is yellow," but does that really explain what a color is? It seems like such an example falls short of the plethora of meanings behind color.

I know that color can be used as a noun or verb. We talk about the color of things and to color things as an action such as coloring a picture or using color to reflect emotions, etc. But what I want to know is, when we look at something that is red, what are we actually seeing and how do we know its red?

The dictionary's first definition of color is: the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue.

Okay, so its all about how we perceive the light that is reflected off of a given object. What about people that are "color blind?" They see color differently. How can someone say that they are blind to what is "normal" color? Maybe it goes both ways. Since the majority of people are blind to what color blind people see does that mean we're all blind? Blindness indicates a deficiency and is hardly a good way to describe differences in perception.

Even between two people who are deemed to not be color blind, a color could possibly be perceived in very different ways. Especially when the subject comes about in a special ed classroom like the one I work in. There are many degrees of vision in each child and we really can't be sure what they're seeing because most of them are nonverbal.

How can I say that I really know what color things are when there are so many perceptions all around me? Who is right? Am I right to say that a banana is yellow when a kid might look at it and actually see purple? Maybe there's a whole different or additional spectrum of colors that most of us have never experienced that's available to these kids.

Who's to say? Once again I'm baffled at how little I really know. I guess I'll have to keep doing it the way I know how and just pay attention to the reactions I get from students. Most importantly, I should shift my focus of awareness from how I can teach them to what I can learn from them in an attempt to further understand each subject.

Where does nutritional yeast come from?

I was casually sharing a delicious cheese substitute recipe that contains nutritional yeast when I was asked, "What is nutritional yeast?"

I answered with, "Its a type of yeast, but I don't know where it comes from."

Its funny, all those years as an ingredient-conscious vegan and I did't really know the answer. I could tell you all about why you shouldn't eat things with red 40 in it because its made from crushed up red bugs and to avoid using shampoo containing urea because it probably came from horse pee, but I couldn't explain an ingredient that I've used hundreds of times!

All I knew is that its a tasty ingredient that can be added to cheese substitute and other recipes or used as a condiment in order to supplement the much needed B-vitamins vegetarians and vegans sometimes miss from the absence of meat in their diets. I've always known it to be "good for you" even if you're an omnivore so I recently started adding it back into my diet.

It turns out that "Nutritional yeast is a form of deactivated yeast called "saccharomyces cerevisiae." It is made by mixing sugarcane and beet molasses, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging the yeast."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutritional_yeast

Well, that's simple enough! Although I'm not vegan anymore, I do believe that much of our food is deficient in the vitamins we need. Besides, most of us eat too much dairy anyway, so a good cheese substitute is essential to have in your recipe arsenal. If you'd like to try my delicious cheese sauce substitute recipe that can be used in mac and cheese, broccoli rice casserole, on pizza... whatever!!! Here it is:

Modified from "the Compassionate Cook"

1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 and 1/2 cups boiling water
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
1 and 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
pinch of turmeric
pinch of paprika
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the margarine in a medium pot over low heat. Beat in the flour with a whisk over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and bubbly, then whisk in the boiling water, salt, soy sauce, garlic and onion powders, turmeric, and paprika. Cook until it thickens and bubbles, then whip in the yeast flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

What was the world like before computers?

I finally got my computer back after it crapped out about a week ago. Thank god I have someone in the family who is great with computers and saved me $85 an hour if I would've hired someone to fix it! (Yeah, as if that's even an option right now!) Anyway, he really saved my butt by going beyond just fixing and helping me learn more about my computer.

As the saying goes... "You don't know what you've got till its gone." Ain't that the truth? I don't know when I became so dependent on computers. Then again I don't know what the world was like before them. After all, I was raised with them. I remember our first family computer my mom bought for a pretty penny when I was in fourth grade.

It was a Laser 128 Apple Compatible. The word processing program was basically like having a type-writer hooked up to a monitor. There was no such thing as editing tools or spell check. The colors on the screen usually consisted of white or green against a black background. Anything more was breathtakingly beautiful and amazing! My favorite was blue lettering against a bright fuschia background.

The Internet was basically a bulletin board system (BBS) where people could hook their computer up to a phone line, dial out, wait a while for connection, log in and leave a message, upload or download software. Playing games was pretty popular too, but I never got into that. I was just fascinated by the sudden annonymity of communication. I got a real kick out of sending and receiving random messages to someone in Ohio or New York. It was kind of the CB radio system of the modern Internet.

Our printer was a dot-matrix. You know... the one where you have to thread the paper through just right and when you're done printing you had to tear the pages apart ever-so-carefully. Not to mention that the printing speed was about a page per minute or two and the sound was so loud that it was comparable to a screaming robot. Aww memories.

So, yes, even in my short lifetime, computers have come a long way, but what was the world like before computers? I'm reminded of all the stories my dad used to share with me about his childhood and I remember that he despised the "three C's" because they were essentially non-existent in his era. They were cell phones, credit cards, and computers.

From listening to his stories and what I'm able to put together from other sources, without computers, I imagine a very simplistic, slow, black and white world. People spent more time talking face-to-face and working through their problems like human beings. Handwriting was a LOT nicer and there seemed to be more of an emphasis on the importance of "proper" language and grammar.

Now, with computers, the world is more colorful and complicated. There's so much information available to everyone that for every "fact" you find, there are plenty of other sources to dispute it with convincing arguments to back it up. People seem to be almost afraid to speak to one another and would rather send a text message or email instead of confronting an issue with another person by talking. Language and grammar have blossomed into a plethora of dialects to fit every sub-culture imaginable.

I could go on forever about this, but with anything, there are advantages and disadvantages. It is true that we live in a time ruled by computers and the speed of technology is increasing exponentially. Acceptance of this fact if the first step. It seems that the current trend is to ride the wave of technology or drown in an ocean of ignorance.

I've learned that its good to know some basic maintenance techniques to keep up on the health of your computer just like its good to know how to change the oil in your car. Basic computer knowledge will help your brain think like a computer and protect it from these annoying crashes like I've experienced this past week. So, if we think like computers now, does that mean our brains will fuse together with them and someday create a hybrid race of human-computers? Maybe there's already people out there like that. I mean, look at Steven Hawking for crying out loud!

How fast does a sneeze travel?

It never fails, every time my boyfriend sneezes, I practically jump out of my skin. The power and force behind each sneeze is enough to launch a rocket. Mine, on the other hand are gentle and barely noticeable.

I've heard the average sneeze travels at about 100 miles per hour. The highest speed recorded was apparently 630 miles per hour. From this data and comparing my style of sneezing against my boyfriend's I wondered what made his so much stronger. Was there a formula to determine the exact speed of the sneeze?

His schnoz is way bigger than mine, so I figured that the length of the nose the sneeze would have to travel would vary the speed. After all, speed = distance / time. Surprisingly, our nose lengths, from bridge to tip are the same! The volumes, on the other hand, differed, but that doesn't fit into the equation.

I quickly abandoned my mathematical approach and dug up more information. The sneeze involves so much more than just the nose. I guess it seems obvious now that I've said it. I'm sure there's a formula for it, but I wouldn't even know where to start since the variables include the muscles of the face, nose, throat and chest. I suppose too that he is way more allergic to things than I am, so
his body is more equipped for pushing allergens out than mine. Who knows how to calculate that? Not me.

So what have we learned? The amount and size of muscles involved with the body's own defense system and need to push a sneeze out, are all variables for each person's sneeze speed. I'd be willing to bet, though, that Cam has probably broken the sound barrier with a few of his. I wonder if I could get hold of some sort of measuring device so I can get him in the record books. Would we get money for breaking a world record? Gotta be creative in this economy!

Do people really go to Hooters for the wings?

I probably first heard of Hooters in the early nineties. I learned that it was a place that people go to for beer and wings and the waitresses wear very little clothes. I'll have to admit, back then I thought, "Well, THAT sounds sexist. I'm never stepping foot in a place like that. How disgusting!"

To top it off, over the years I've seen billboards with their slogan "Delightfully tacky yet unrefined since 1983." Not helping! Of course, the myriad of billboard tag lines like, "Liquor in Tampa, Poker in Vegas," and "Only a rooster gets a better piece of chicken," don't change my mind either.

I'm not sure when, but at some point my initial impression was spiked with curiosity. I mean, the place is still in business after all these years. People constantly say how great their wings are... they must be doing something right.

A few weeks ago I got a unique opportunity to finally check it out. The family was trying to decide where to eat, which is a challenge in itself since there are so many differing opinions. My cleaver partner came up with the idea for everyone to write the name of a place on a piece of paper and to keep it non-biased, we'd have the 2-year-old draw one out of a hat.

Someone had the clever idea of writing "Hooters" on a paper as a joke. That's the one that was drawn. If you only knew, it was pretty funny to see the looks of horror on peoples' faces as they realized what was drawn. It was decided to put the paper back and draw again from a newly shuffled hat. Keep in mind that only one paper out of eight had "Hooters" on it. Guess what was drawn again... yep! Hooters!

It was destiny. The universe had a plan for us and to go against it at this point would be pure blasphemy. I was glad to finally have a reason to go. I was determined to see how good these damn wings were. It didn't take long to get there, but the anticipation of going to a place I was against going to for 15 years was making the drive quite exciting.

Our group met up in the parking lot and made our way in together. There was nobody there to greet us, so we waited for a little bit. I could see the bar was lined up with all men probably in their mid 50's. As my eyes skimmed to the end of the bar they were caught by a bright orange pair of shorts with butt-cheeks poking out the bottom that belonged to a waitress bending over with her elbows on a table at a booth taking an order. "Hmmmm. Yes, delightfully tacky indeed," I thought.

We didn't see a hostess anywhere so, seat-yourself seemed to be the policy. We walked to the back of the restaurant where we were able to put two tables together to accommodate our large group.

Our waitress brought menus and seemed overly rushed right from the beginning. It wasn't that busy so I wondered what the hurry was. She came back a short time later, took the drink orders. After that, we ordered our food, which is when the real fun began. She didn't even ask two of the gals at our table what they wanted. As the waitress started to walk away, they both had to get her attention to come back and take their orders.

The appetizers came and the quesadilla didn't have the guacamole that was ordered with it. "I'll be right back with that," our waitress said and she disappeared for about ten minutes. Again, not many people in the restaurant. She came hurrying back after the quesadilla was already eaten with the side of guacamole. Nobody even touched the guacamole, but when we got the bill, we saw that were charged for it anyway. To top it off, the waitress later argued about it that if we ate it, we needed to pay for it. Nobody ate it, but she seemed determined to get that extra dollar from us.

Alright, if you can't tell by now, so far, not a good experience. These wings better be good! Our platter of hot wings arrived along with the customary dipping sauce and celery. I tried my first wing and noticed that my teeth didn't sink far before hitting a bone.

"Where's the meat on this thing?" I wondered. Did this bird starve before they killed it? It was skimpy and dry as an Ethiopian chicken that had been dead and laying in the sun for a week. To top it off, the sauce wasn't any consolation. The seasoning wasn't necessarily spicy like it should've been. It was damned acidic! Nothing about this first wing impressed me. So I tried another. Same thing. Another...same thing again and again.

Around the table was the same opinion: people must not come to this place for the wings. It must be the gimmick behind the wings. What exactly is the gimmick? I can't really say, "at least we had pretty girls to look at." Our waitress's attitude sucked so bad that no matter how she looked with her skimpy clothes on, she lacked as much spice as the wings did. In the end, it was interesting to see for myself what it was about, but I'm probably not going back.

What do non-combat troops do?

By now, we've all heard Obama's plan for ending combat missions in Iraq by August 2010. After that, 50,000 non-combat troops will remain until the end of 2011.

First of all, it is clear, combat or not, the troops will continue to fight and die. The difference is their mission and label. The biggest explanation for what our non-combat troops will be doing is training Iraqis to maintain a police force to enforce the laws of a democracy. Before that can happen, though a stable environment needs to be reached and maintained.

How, exactly will they go about this? With such a short time line at play and the huge amount of work they've got cut out for themselves, it seems to make the most sense to take the war from the public forum and create an underground enforcement system protected under the umbrella of agencies like the ones we have; FBI, CIA, etc.

What better way to deal with something as big as this war than to throw a blanket of agencies over to hide it? Don't get me wrong, I'm not personally supporting that approach, but I don't see it happening any other way. I guess, with the past eight years of Bush in my sites, its hard to see the picture through rose-colored glasses. So far, I do stand behind Obama with my fingers crossed that the established system doesn't swallow him whole too quickly. I want to give him a chance.

It seems that he at least has the bases covered. Obama has increased the budget spending on health care and other veterans' programs by about 11% and plans to vastly increase VA funding over the next five years. An important investment since we will be seeing a surge of soldiers coming back and having to face the war of home. It will be interesting to say the least to see how we all cope with the mass amounts of soldiers transferring from one dimension into another. I feel a shift of consciousness on the way. You know, 2012 is just around the corner.

Does a bee know it will die before it decides to sting?

It is common knowledge that after a bee stings, it dies, right? This isn't necessarily the case for many reasons. First of all, depending on the classification method used, there can be tens of thousands of species. To make things easier, let's just talk about the common honey bee. This particular type is divided into three categories: queens, workers, and drones.

Of these three, only queens and workers have stingers. The queen stinger is actually straight and smooth, making it capable of stinging many times without dying. The worker honey bees, however, have a barbed tip on the end of their stinger, making removal impossible. This rips their whole back end off as they attempt to fly away, causing their inevitable death.

It is said that queen and worker bees have vastly different reasons for stinging. Queen bees use their stinger to fight and kill other queen bees to be the last remaining ruler. Worker bees apparently sting to protect the group and hive. It sounds kind of noble, but I wonder if they would be so noble if they knew it involved getting their ass ripped off?

The real question seems to lie in the capability of the bee to have awareness and intention. What are the parameters for intention and awareness? Is it brain size? If so, comparatively, bees are out of luck. Regardless, there seem to be many studies out there that prove the intelligence of bees.

Its been broken down and analyzed many times that bees have their own language composed of dance used to communicate with each other. Communication is an act that requires intention and interaction. Their intention to protect the hive is exhibited when they attack anyone who comes close to the hive by stinging them. Which brings me back to the original question. Does a bee know it will die before it decides to sting?

From analyzing all this, I think the answer is a little less foggy. It seems the life of the worker bee consists of the purpose to protect and serve the queen and the hive as a whole. Utilitarianism at its best. So, yes, I do think the worker honey bee does know it will die before it decides to sting. In fact, I think it seems to be the ultimate sacrifice on their part to fulfill their calling in this lifetime.

Why does my cat make out with plastic?

I was cleaning my room the other day and heard this grinding sound of sandpaper against a hard surface. "What the hell is that!?" I thought as I looked around. Then I saw it. My cat, Simon making out with the overhanging lip of the plastic drawer I use to store my office supplies in.

As I watched, I noticed him rub his head along the edge, lick under the lip, smell the aroma and repeat the process over again and again and... again. I laughed as I remembered him doing this with a lamp some time ago. He did it for so long then that I had time to find my camera and take a series of pictures.

This time, I wanted to do some research instead of taking pictures. I crawled over on my hands and knees next to him. He didn't even seem to notice me as he continued in the bliss of the make-out session. I was able to get my face right next to his to see if I could see or smell something that would clue me in.

Sure enough, the overhanging lip of the drawer was capturing the smell of his breath and magnifying it. The shape of the lamp from before must've been doing the same thing. So I guess he would lick the area, smell it, then mark it with his approval by rubbing his face on it. Just a hypothesis, but whatever he was doing, it was a total sensory experience that he was really getting into! It seemed addictive.

With all my experience with cats, I know that they're really conscious of their hygiene and marking their territory. Although, I've never seen anything quite like what Simon does, its a pretty funny site to see a cat make out with plastic.

Where does creativity come from?

This might very well be something you can relate to on many levels... So many times, when I want to create something, I'm held back by that voice in my head that says,

"Don't bother. Its not going to be good enough. A thousand other people must be having the same idea. Its already been done. You're wasting your time."

Sound familiar?

In the end, most of the time, that voice wins. Is that voice really me talking? It certainly doesn't feel like it. It feels like some crazy old demon that sits on my shoulder, gobbling up any good energy I might have for ideas, taking it for himself and thriving on it. Using my ideas as sustenance for himself to get stronger and his voice to get louder.

So how do I fight it? Am I really the one in charge? When I write a story, take a picture, or cook a meal, can I really be the one to take credit for the outcome? Is it really me that creates anything? Or is it another entity working through me? If I can step back and see all the elements at play, I can start to see the control board with the switches all through the body of my mind. Among the switches are the volume control for the demon voice and the play button for the ideas ready to surge through.

This way of being seems to really take the fear out of going ahead with an idea. A great tool for anyone aspiring to make a living through creating. I first heard about this concept by listening to the author Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote "Eat, Love, Pray." Her talk makes a lot of sense and gets the enthusiasm going to go ahead a create something... anything! Check it out!

What is the difference between "chunk light" and "albacore" tuna?

When I shop for groceries I like to get good quality for as cheap as I can. I realize that with most products, you'll end up paying a few cents more for a fancy label when you can get stuff just as good with a generic label. Those few cents per item really add up!

Anyway, tonight, Cam and I went shopping together. Everything was a breeze until we got to the tuna. Since I don't buy it that often, its been a while since I've looked at the price. I was amazed to find that the albacore was almost a dollar more per can than the chunk light. I looked for some generic labels and found that the generic albacore was still more expensive than the name brand chunk light.

My immediate reaction was that the albacore was better quality. I compared labels and they seemed pretty similar. The albacore had a few more grams of protein and a few less calories, but not enough for me to justify spending so much more for it. So we opted for the chunk light and I left the store feeling a little defeated. Like I somehow compromised my health by getting the cheaper stuff.

Once I got home, I couldn't resist finding some little tidbit of information that would make me feel better about my purchase. Sure enough, immediately I found that because albacore is caught and canned at an older age, its mercury content is over double of the amount found in the fish used in the chunk light variety.

What does that all mean? The warning for mercury is mostly directed at pregnant women and children, but it can affect anyone. Just look at Jeremy Piven from "Entourage." He got mercury poisoning from eating too much sushi. He claims to have suffered through extreme exhaustion from the ordeal. Its also known to cause brain function impairment and various auto-immune issues.

I don't know about sushi, but as far as the canned stuff goes, the experts say its safe to eat one can of albacore every 10 days while you can eat one can of chunk light every 4 days. This is good news to me since I do like the occasional tuna sandwich and tomato soup combo. Discovering this information made me feel better about the chunk light I got. I'm also reminded, yet again, that just because something costs more, doesn't necessarily mean its better.

What is it about Tiger?

It hasn't even been a year since Tiger Woods has been gone from golf, but to me it feels like an eternity. His return today reminds me of how much I've actually missed the guy. My partner, the man in charge of the remote is crazy into golf. Me, I'm not much into it. Actually, I cringe every time the t.v. gets turned to the golf channel except if Tiger is playing. As long as he's on the screen, it doesn't seem so bad.

Some people say he's so great because he's a man that has everything... an amazing golf career, wife, two kids, and he finds time to give to charity. Maybe its his exotic look with his big beautiful eyes and bulging biceps? All else aside, I think the thing about Tiger is that he is so frickin' good and is able to take the game seriously without taking himself too seriously. But, what makes him so good? Put simply, its his philosophy.

When he goes up to the tee, his concentration is phenomenal. Who knows how he focuses so well. Not that he's not nervous. After all, even he said,

"When you get nervous, it just means that you care."

Such an ability to recognize what a feeling means and to put it so simply not only helps himself and the golf industry, but also empowers millions of regular people like you and me to look at life a little differently.

To look at a challenge and realize that that sickening feeling in the pit of your stomach is simply a spark of compassion inside of you to face it and do your best can transform the thought process to overcome and be a champion. Of course that's only one of his quotes. Here are some others that conjure inspiration:

"I smile at obstacles."
"My will will move mountains"
"I get to play golf for a living. What more can you ask for? Getting paid to do what you love."
"It will always be the ball and me"
"You can always become better"