Showing posts with label but. Show all posts
Showing posts with label but. Show all posts
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Food shopping optimizing it all but still enjoying it
Food shopping optimizing it all but still enjoying it
From time to time everyone of us has to reconsider our food shopping strategies. You either move to a new area, have a new baby, or send old baby away for college, get laid off from work, start a new demanding job, or simply discover new stores in the neighborhood. Either way your old shopping strategy falls apart and you have to piece it back again ensuring everything is covered, feasible and optimal.
You want to remember it all - baby products, kids breakfast foods, fruits and vegetables, meats, breads, dinner components, cleaning supplies - and renew it all on a weekly basis. What is your strategy for accomplishing this?
For a few years I have been encouraging you to create and utilize a Master Shopping List and even posted my list for you to copy and edit. I advised to check the supplies before leaving for the store, crossing everything you dont need to get, take a pencil with you to the store and check-mark the items as you drop them into a cart. But guess what, I am seriously questioning this strategy now.
It may be the new baby that we got that requires a load extra items; or the frequent long lines in the meat department, but I came to realize that my weekly shopping became an impossibly tedious and dull process that I am always trying to postpone. It takes me about an hour to zigzag the supermarket and efficiently gather all the items on my list. But approximately after 30 min it stops being fun. The pleasures of smelling fresh produce, trying samples, browsing through and discovering new products or combinations, planning the meal in my head - all expire at about 30 min from the store entry and all my senses shut down. I feel like a pawn in a reality show trying to mark off all the remaining items in a least possible time. At about 60 min threshold I get angry and start transferring my anger to the foods in my basket. A very sad beginning of the food as a pleasure process.
I discover that I enjoy short specialized shopping trips much more than I enjoy one long exhaustive food purchase. Biweekly stops at a bakery, weekly order from a fruit and vegetables farm, one or two quick specific visits to the supermarket (breakfast stuff only, dinner products, diary and meat items). I still do shopping lists but not the long master shopping list that I believe turns me into a food soldier. I create short lists of absolutely-do-not-forget products and try keeping the number of items in them below 20. This way I can keep my eyes on the shelves rather than in the list and let me mind explore and discover, noting, touching and smelling the items. I feel that I am adding fun as a new component to my overall shopping puzzle that already included time and money optimization, overall product coverage and product quality. The new strategy is definitely more time consuming but the fun factor makes it much less strenuous.
I think long shopping lists are still great for some people (aka food soldiers) and some situations. If, like my father, all you want is to restock on the items your wife asked without adding any frivolities, you cannot accomplish it without a long list. If you have to assemble an elaborate meal consisting of tens of obscure ingredients, you need the list and the focus on the list. You cannot avoid the long list also when coming back from a vacation. But for the rest of the days I insist on making my food shopping an adventure. What about you?
Image via Flickr, distributed under CCL.
You want to remember it all - baby products, kids breakfast foods, fruits and vegetables, meats, breads, dinner components, cleaning supplies - and renew it all on a weekly basis. What is your strategy for accomplishing this?
For a few years I have been encouraging you to create and utilize a Master Shopping List and even posted my list for you to copy and edit. I advised to check the supplies before leaving for the store, crossing everything you dont need to get, take a pencil with you to the store and check-mark the items as you drop them into a cart. But guess what, I am seriously questioning this strategy now.
It may be the new baby that we got that requires a load extra items; or the frequent long lines in the meat department, but I came to realize that my weekly shopping became an impossibly tedious and dull process that I am always trying to postpone. It takes me about an hour to zigzag the supermarket and efficiently gather all the items on my list. But approximately after 30 min it stops being fun. The pleasures of smelling fresh produce, trying samples, browsing through and discovering new products or combinations, planning the meal in my head - all expire at about 30 min from the store entry and all my senses shut down. I feel like a pawn in a reality show trying to mark off all the remaining items in a least possible time. At about 60 min threshold I get angry and start transferring my anger to the foods in my basket. A very sad beginning of the food as a pleasure process.
I discover that I enjoy short specialized shopping trips much more than I enjoy one long exhaustive food purchase. Biweekly stops at a bakery, weekly order from a fruit and vegetables farm, one or two quick specific visits to the supermarket (breakfast stuff only, dinner products, diary and meat items). I still do shopping lists but not the long master shopping list that I believe turns me into a food soldier. I create short lists of absolutely-do-not-forget products and try keeping the number of items in them below 20. This way I can keep my eyes on the shelves rather than in the list and let me mind explore and discover, noting, touching and smelling the items. I feel that I am adding fun as a new component to my overall shopping puzzle that already included time and money optimization, overall product coverage and product quality. The new strategy is definitely more time consuming but the fun factor makes it much less strenuous.
I think long shopping lists are still great for some people (aka food soldiers) and some situations. If, like my father, all you want is to restock on the items your wife asked without adding any frivolities, you cannot accomplish it without a long list. If you have to assemble an elaborate meal consisting of tens of obscure ingredients, you need the list and the focus on the list. You cannot avoid the long list also when coming back from a vacation. But for the rest of the days I insist on making my food shopping an adventure. What about you?
Image via Flickr, distributed under CCL.
Available link for download
Friday, February 17, 2017
Four Things You Didnt but should Know about Economic Inequality
Four Things You Didnt but should Know about Economic Inequality
According to a June 11, 2015 Fortune article by Chris Matthews, there are four things you didnt (but should) know about economic inequality in the United States:
1. Americans don’t like the way wealth is currently distributed in this country. But they dislike wealth redistribution policies even more.
2. There’s no such thing as the 99% and the 1%.
3. The American economy has treated older generations much better than the younger ones.
4. It’s the older, richer Americans that are increasingly benefitting from the distribution we do have.
Read more here:
http://fortune.com/2015/06/11/income-inequality/
Available link for download
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Flu activity increasing in Europe remains moderate but widespreads in US
Flu activity increasing in Europe remains moderate but widespreads in US
In Japan, there were more flu incidents, mostly of 2009 H1N1 origin. Google flu map predicted lower activity for Japan and highest for Norway, lowest for the Southern hemisphere.
In the United States, influenza-like illness (ILI) was down the week before but still above the national baseline. Yet three more states reported widespread flu than the week before, updating the list to: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia. New York City and six states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma reported high ILI activity, Nevada and New Jersey reported moderate ILI activity, and the remaining states reported either low or minimal activity. No antibiotic resistant strains have been found. Available link for download
Monday, February 13, 2017
Fracking Does Contaminate Groundwater With Methane But Jury Still Out On Process Overall
Fracking Does Contaminate Groundwater With Methane But Jury Still Out On Process Overall
A study has been undertaken by Duke University of methane levels in water from 68 private wells above the Marcellus and Utica shales in Pennsylvania and New York. The details have just been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/05/02/1100682108.full.pdf+html. Of these, around one third were in an "active extraction area", which by definition is within one kilometre of a gas well, the remainder being more distant.
The results of the study are striking: in all but one case, making 15 altogether, it is only within 800 metres of a gas-well that levels of methane are high enough (10 - 28 mg/L) to merit warning of the occupants and prudent remediation down to levels ; 10 mg/L, according to the US Office of the Interior, or above 28 mg/L at which point "potentially explosive or flammable quantities of the gas are being liberated in the well and/or may be liberated in confined areas of the home," which requires immediate mitigation. http://arblast.osmre.gov/downloads/Mine%20Gases%20and%20Dust/FINAL-Methane.pdf
In this particular study, no evidence for fracking fluid finding its way into the groundwater was found nor for intrusion from deep saline brines into aquifers closer to the surface. According to an isotopic analysis, the excess methane is consistent as originating from deeper thermogenic sediments, rather than being produced biologically in near surface environments.
The Energy Institute at the University of Texas is set to conduct the first integrated study of the science, policy and environmental issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing to recover shale gas at a cost of $300,000, with preliminary findings expected to be released in October. This project aims to combine an independent assessment of groundwater contamination, fugitive air emissions and seismic events for which fracking has been blamed in shale formations, and to evaluate the effectiveness of legal regulations attendant to the process, focussing on Barnett Shale, which extends under over 20 counties in North Texas . The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting its own investigation with results expected after the end of the year 2012.
The overall conclusions of these studies could not be more crucial to future US energy provision. Production of shale-gas was 2.02 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2008: a 71% increase over the previous year, which in 2009 grew 54% to 3.11 Tcf. Proven US shale reserves at the end of 2009 were observed to increase by 76% to 60.6 Tcf. In its Annual Energy Outlook for 2011, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) more than doubled its estimate of technically recoverable shale-gas reserves to 827 Tcf from 353 Tcf, by including exploration data taken from new fields such as the Marcellus, Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales. It is estimated that shale-gas production will increase from 14% of total US natural gas production in 2009 to 45% by 2035. But this of course depends on whether the process of hydraulic fracking is proved sufficiently safe to be so widely adopted.
Available link for download
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Flu Season is not over yet but February marks the peak
Flu Season is not over yet but February marks the peak
As of mid February 2011, influenza activity in the United States remains elevated, but it appears to have peaked in the majority of European, North African and Middle Eastern countries.
- There were more outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI): 4.5% vs the national baseline of 2.5%, it was above region-specific baseline levels in all US regions.
- Twenty states (Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia) experienced high ILI activity.
- Nine states (California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming) experienced moderate ILI activity.
- New York City and five states (Arizona, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, and Wisconsin) experienced low ILI activity.
- Minimal ILI activity was experienced by the District of Columbia and 16 states (Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington).
- The geographic spread of influenza in 37 states was reported as widespread; 10 states reported regional influenza activity; the District of Columbia reported local activity; Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and three states reported sporadic influenza activity, and Guam reported no influenza activity.
Global flu activity (see CDC page for current information), was most prominent in the tropical regions of Asia. From February, cases of respiratory disease were high in Singapore and Hong Kong, and 90% of influenza-positive samples were 2009 H1N1. Influenza activity continued to rise in southern China, where 46% of ILI specimens in Week 5 tested positive for influenza, a 3% increase from Week 4. 2009 H1N1 was the predominant subtype.
According to WHO, Madagascar reported an increase in influenza activity, with the co-circulation of influenza B and A (H3N2). There was little influenza activity reported in the tropical regions of the Americas or in sub-Saharan Africa.
Influenza activity in the majority of North African and Middle Eastern countries appears to have peaked, except for Algeria, where flu activity increased. The percentage of influenza-positive respiratory specimens was also high in Pakistan, Iran and Oman, where 2009 H1N1 and type B viruses co-circulated in relatively equal numbers.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, influenza activity increased slightly in Week 5, but remained below the peak reported earlier this season. The percentage of influenza-positive respiratory samples increased from 17% in Week 4 to 19% in Week 5. Since the beginning of the influenza season, 88% of subtyped influenza A specimens have been influenza A (H3N2).
According to the China National Influenza Center, influenza activity rose in recent weeks in northern China. In Week 5, 21% of influenza-like illness (ILI) specimens were influenza-positive, and 2009 H1N1 viruses were predominant. WHO reported that Mongolia saw an increase in 2009 H1N1 virus detections, while Japan saw a sharp increase in ILI activity.
Activity in the Southern Hemisphere remained low.
In Europe, 2 countries (Georgia and Luxembourg) and the Siberian region of the Russian Federation reported very high intensity of influenza activity; 8 countries reported high intensity; 27 reported medium intensity and 4 countries, low intensity. 23 countries reported widespread activity. Of the 25 countries reporting on the impact of influenza on health care systems, 1 (Georgia) reported severe impact; 14 countries reported moderate impact and 10, low impact.
Of the 41 countries reporting on consultation rates for ILI and ARI, 8 (Albania, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Slovakia) reported increases while 6 (Ireland, Israel, Malta, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom (England)) reported decreases. Influenza activity has apparently passed its peak in 24 countries in this region. In general, the highest consultation rates were reported for children aged 0–4 and 5–14 years.
WHO/Europe received sentinel surveillance data on hospitalized SARI cases from 9 countries (Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Ukraine). Sentinel SARI hospitalizations are at the highest levels observed for the season so far in Georgia and Serbia. In Georgia, however, outpatient clinical consultation rates declined from week 5 to week 6, while the relative percentage of both SARI and ILI specimens testing positive for influenza B increased. Sentinel SARI hospitalizations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania and the Russian Federation have declined somewhat from observed peaks in weeks 3–5, but remain notably elevated above pre-season levels, with 30–50% of sentinel SARI specimens testing positive for influenza in each of these countries. Sentinel SARI admissions in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are at levels below prior peaks. Nevertheless, a significant percentage of sentinel SARI specimens continue to test positive for influenza, and the proportion of influenza A detections in sentinel SARI specimens in Ukraine increased in week 6. Further information on the sentinel SARI surveillance systems represented in the EuroFlu bulletin can be found in the “Overview of sentinel SARI systems in EuroFlu”.
Of the 41 countries reporting on consultation rates for ILI and ARI, 8 (Albania, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia and Slovakia) reported increases while 6 (Ireland, Israel, Malta, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom (England)) reported decreases. Influenza activity has apparently passed its peak in 24 countries in this region. In general, the highest consultation rates were reported for children aged 0–4 and 5–14 years.
WHO/Europe received sentinel surveillance data on hospitalized SARI cases from 9 countries (Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Serbia and Ukraine). Sentinel SARI hospitalizations are at the highest levels observed for the season so far in Georgia and Serbia. In Georgia, however, outpatient clinical consultation rates declined from week 5 to week 6, while the relative percentage of both SARI and ILI specimens testing positive for influenza B increased. Sentinel SARI hospitalizations in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Romania and the Russian Federation have declined somewhat from observed peaks in weeks 3–5, but remain notably elevated above pre-season levels, with 30–50% of sentinel SARI specimens testing positive for influenza in each of these countries. Sentinel SARI admissions in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine are at levels below prior peaks. Nevertheless, a significant percentage of sentinel SARI specimens continue to test positive for influenza, and the proportion of influenza A detections in sentinel SARI specimens in Ukraine increased in week 6. Further information on the sentinel SARI surveillance systems represented in the EuroFlu bulletin can be found in the “Overview of sentinel SARI systems in EuroFlu”.
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