169 Hacks & an update

A couple hacks, an update

I see a lot of household hacks on Facebook--many of them seem to be about baking soda and/or vinegar.

I have a few I think are clever, but who knows--everyone may do the same thing.

Cell Phone Hacks

Those round, annoying small disc batteries whose numbers I can never remember, those air filters whose size I can never remember, etc., are all in my photo gallery on my phone. When I go to the store, I can view the image and always buy the right size!

We had to move a hutch for some floor work. I had things arranged in it just the way I wanted so I took a photo so I can easily reconstruct.

General Household Hacks

We use frozen plastic soda bottles in our
portable coolers. We use them over and over. The size in the photo on the right fits perfectly in the bottom of the large cooler, and I just smaller bottles in smaller coolers. The bottles keep some ice frozen for 24 hours. For trips to the store, I keep a few bottle in a grocery bag so I can easily pop them in and out of the cooler.

One of my go-to cleaning tools is the plastic knives that come with take-out food. They scrape surfaces without scratching. Wrap a paper towel or cleaning cloth moistened with water or cleaning solution, and the knife cleans out those narrow spaces around sinks and wooden trim.

Speaking of paper towels, we prefer to dry our hands on paper towels instead of cloth towels. It is a wasteful habit so as soon as they are dry, I store them in a drawer. The damp or dry ones are great for wiping up spills on the floor or wiping food off a plate into the garbage or other jobs that don't need a clean towel. Stepping on a few damp towels and shoving them around the kitchen with my foot is a great clean up between moppings.

An Update

In blog 154, Collecting Nemesis, that was published in July 2017, I shared my obsession with collecting reading figures. To quote myself: "I cherish all those gifts and early acquisitions. The problem is that now that I go to yard sales and thrift shops and can't seem to pass up a reading figure. When they are just a dollar, they don't seem as tacky! I do have standards."

So below is a statue I saw recently at a thrift store. Think I bought it?

Okay, I had not completed my blog today when I went out to a couple more thrift stores. It was a trifecta!

Obsessed but tasteful, Trish

168 Concussion!

CONCUSSION!

My mind, like that of too many NFL players, seems to be in a muddle. I have always enjoyed watching football. From high school days, our team was state ranked with a number of winning seasons. From 1961 to 1965, the Clarke Co. High School Eagles team had a record of 47-1-1 including four undefeated seasons. I grew up with “Friday night lights.”

When I was at William & Mary, the coach was none other than Marv Levy who ended up as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills from the late 1980s through the 1990s. I saw winning football. 

Why is it that a sport that encourages fraternity and loyalty (do you know any Hokie fans?), has plenty of dramatic, emotional action, shows the physics and poetry of the human body in the confines of geometric space (i.e. the field), and encapsulates the unpredictability and electricity of life has become so rife with a problem that must be addressed? 

This photo from the recent Sunday NY--Denver game shows both the beauty and the potential harm. Note the head positions as well as the balletic leg.

This chart shows the problems. What can be done? What is being done? Football causes brain damage. What a simple sentence! 

What a tragedy and what a travesty! Here are some scary facts from a variety of magazine articles and internet sites:

· Most concussions occur without losing consciousness

· Common symptoms which may or may not show up include imbalance, headaches, confusion, vision and hearing changes, and mood swings

· Statistics on diagnosed concussions from the NFL:
  2012 – 261

  2013 – 229

  2014 – 206

  2015 – 275

  2017 -214

Way back in 1994, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue created the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee. The doctor who was chairman had no prior experience in diagnosing brain injuries. Not much happened except acknowledgment by the “men upstairs” that brain injuries were an issue. 

Then Dr. Bennet Omalu, a forensic pathologist, along with others founded the Brain Injury Research Institute and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) publicized a report on the examination of the brain of Steeler Mike Webster, aged 50, who committed suicide. This was in 2002. Three years later, Dr. Omalu identified CTE in both pro players Terry Long and Andre Waters in autopsies after suicides.

In the fall of 2007, the NFL held a medical conference on concussions and issued guidelines. Particularly noted was an established hotline for players to report if they were forced to play against medical advice.

Moving along, Congress, in its infinite wisdom, held a House Judiciary Committee hearing on legal issues relating to football injuries. The NFL Commissioner defended the League. In 2010, Dr. Ira Casson, a member of that 1994 committee of Mild Traumatic Brain Injust denied the link between repeated head impacts and long-term brain damage. (HUH?! Still in denial?)

In 2010, 2011, and 2012 saw more suicides and collateral brain injuries. The issue becomes more public and controversial – 80 plus concussion-related lawsuits were filed on behalf of 2000 NFL players in federal court in Philadelphia. (Multi-District Litigation Case No. 2323)

The NFL filed a motion to dismiss and donated $30 million to NIH for research on “medical conditions” of athletes. In the class action lawsuit of 2013, the NFL agreed to pay $765 million to fund medical exams, concussion-related compensation, as well as litigation expenses. The lawyers continued their days in court with Dan Marino and 14 other NFL players suing the NFL over concussions - claiming the NFL knew for years of the link between concussions and long-term health problems. In 2014 a doctor released his report that NFL linebacker Jovan Belcher had CTE when he killed his girlfriend and himself. This was followed by Frank Gifford’s family saying that he suffered from CTE.

Last year - 2016 – they’ve been passing this issue around since 1994 – a policy was implemented to enforce concussion protocol. This past July a study in the medical journal (JAMA) identified CTE in 99% of the deceased NFL players whose brains were examined. That was 110 out of 111 brains.

New helmets are being designed as you read this. Some of the best identified are: 

Before I close, let’s go back to Dr. Bennet Omalu. “Every child who plays football has a 100 percent risk of exposure to brain damage. It doesn’t mean all will get CTE, but some damage.” 

Ridley Scott, noted film producer, was so taken with Omalu he produced movie “Concussion” starring Will Smith. I recommend this movie to learn about Dr. Omalu and his findings.

So, my fellow sports fans and savvy readers--does football stay the popular sport it is?

Do you want your child to play football? Will new helmets help?
Because I love cartoons, I ask: is this what is coming? 

Glenne            

167 Tree hugger redux

Still hugging the trees

The tree hugger in me loves this time of year for the vibrant colors and shades gracing the landscape. I really don’t like fall because winter follows, but I can’t help but embrace the unbelievable tones that assault our senses from many terrific, tremendous trees.

The view from my front porch is especially gorgeous as the cherry trees that explode with amazing vibrant blooms in spring also put on a colorful show in the fall.

I had always heard those wonderful trees were the same as the ones that line the tidal basin in our nation’s capital. I never knew for sure until Savvy Trish was doing some local research and found an article detailing how the trees were acquired.

The information reinforced the stories I had heard. The D.C. trees were donated to the U.S. in the early 1900s by the government of Japan and are famous for the color display around the Tidal Basin each year.

An article by Wayde Byard was printed in The Winchester Star’s May 4, 1982, edition. He explained how two local residents, Withrow Legge, Handley football coach, and Stewart Bell Sr., a member of the Winchester school board, had the idea of obtaining some of those beautiful trees for the Handley High School campus.

With some contacts and ingenuity, the gentlemen pulled it off, and area residents have enjoyed the trees for decades.

Horticulture students at the school planted the trees along the Jefferson Street side of the campus (which is basically my front yard). They have remained there since that day in the 1920s when they were trucked to Winchester and later planted on the campus. Reports were made yearly to the government about the condition of the trees that have survived many a harsh winter.

So that settles that rumor --- those are part of the Japanese trees that came to D.C. so please enjoy them just a little more now that we know for sure the history.

But there are plenty more trees to enjoy around the area and basically anywhere your travels take you. I have made that my mission the last year or so to photograph as many as possible. I even went back through my photos to pull out ones taken in past years.

I started a Pinterest board called Amazing Trees where the photos tell the story. My latest addition is a tree sculpture in the National Art Gallery’s sculpture garden in Washington, D.C. It is a silver color and towers over the landscape. There is something intriguing and appealing about the tree even though it is not real.

I recently found a three-trunk tree that I added to the collection that was part of a miniature golf course. The shade was appreciated in the summer, but I had no idea what was providing it until I looked a little closer --- three trunks.

 

I can even enjoy the palm trees that populate the beachside locations along the southern states. Not any shade for sure but the effect is striking. 

Also, I have to mention the table tree (the name my grandchildren have given it) on the other side of the Handley campus from the cherry trees. The branches have formed a space in the middle with enough space for at least four of them to take a seat --- bench tree might be a better nickname. 

There you have it--the tree hugger is still on the prowl for more amazing, tremendous trees. Take my advice and make the time to look up and around for some special woody friends that you didn’t know existed and maybe you took for granted. But also look down to make sure you don’t trip or fall while gazing upward at the trees. 

Always a tree hugger, Frances

166 Dad & sports

Dad & Sports

As I watched the Washington Redskins go down to defeat in this week's Monday night football, I found myself occasionally bobbing and weaving in my recliner as I helped Washington runners head down the field. 

The realization of my movements brought a smile to my face and I said, "Hi, Dad."

My father Fred Moore, who died in 2003, was the best bobber and weaver TV viewer I have ever seen. He was skilled in this activity for football and basketball but really excelled as a boxing viewer.

The Saturday Night Fight was a required event in our house in the 50s and 60s. I didn't like watching the fights much but liked keeping my dad company and watching him duck and lurch right and left as the fighters punched. 

Plus the commercials were great:  "Call for Phillip Morris;" "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz--oh, what a relief it is;" and "Brylcreem, a little dab will do you. Use more only if you dare. Brylcreem, the gals will all pursue you. They love to put their fingers in your hair!" Never could understand why you would want to put your fingers in greasy hair!

My dad was 6 foot 2 inches, which served him well in Navy intermural basketball. Since I was the tall child, he had hopes for me as a basketball start. I had small hands and not much interest in playing a sport in which you get sweaty. 



Likewise for baseball where I was very good at hitting a ball or a strike into foul territory. With my fair complexion, I had a tendency to get very red in the face in the summer heat and to sweat even more with baseball than basketball. Adults told me to sit down and cool off because I looked so bad. 

I found a sport that did not cause overheating and could be done in the reclining position--competitive swimming. My father was stationed in Puerto Rico and that also helped.


My folks were so happy to see my sister and me competing in the pool that we were paid when we earned medals and ribbons. $1 for first place, 50 cents for second place, and a quarter for a third-place finish. In the early 1960s, it seemed like a lot of money. 

It is odd to me was that we were not paid for good grades, only for sports achievements. 


My swimming career ended when I went to college. I was not good enough to compete on the collegiate level and was having too much fun doing other things anyway.

My husband Harry and I would frequently meet my dad at college bowl games in the later years of his life. It was dangerous to sit between them at games. If we were all standing for a big play, both men would move downfield at the big pass or run--Squish! 

We would also call each other after an exciting Florida State, Virginia Tech, or Redskins game. Although I never became the athlete he hoped for, we shared a sports bond until the end. I know he is still bobbing and weaving up there!

                                                           Trish

165 The Onion!

The Ancient History of the ONION

Sometimes one keeps running into a subject for no seeming reason at all. That’s how I chose to give you the scoop on the popular vegetable--the onion--this week. 

A funny article about what one can do with an onion beside cook and eat it was on BoredomTherapy.com site recently. 

Then, I was flipping through some year or so old magazine in the doctor’s waiting room (don’t even remember the magazine) and there was a factoid about the world’s largest onion in the Guinness Book of World Records. 

Okay, kind of strange, but when I got home I found an unsolicited email from a farm in Vidalia, GA about how wonderful their onions are (yes, I do think they are the best.) Okay, three times in a period of less than a week. Time to research the onion; seems it was calling to me!

This is not likely to be my most popular blog, but I hope you find some of it curious and interesting! Next time you cut an onion maybe something here will make you smile through your tears.

Enough explanation! Here is what I have learned about the onion.

Onions are incredibly healthy (and tasty) as an addition to almost any meal. Humans have known this apparently for thousands of years. Bronze Age settlement excavations (5000 BCE) show remains of figs, dates, and onions. 

Egypt, too, was farming as early as 3000 BCE. In ancient Egypt not only were the onions a staple of the diet – eaten by the pyramid builders along with radishes (great breath, huh?!), the onion has been shown to be a symbol of worship as well as one of the forms of payment to the builders. Some archeologists posit that the onion’s spherical shape and its concentric rings show eternal life and were even used in burial ceremonies. Traces of onion were found in Ramses IV’s eye sockets.

The Greeks found the onion to have medicinal properties (from “Onions in the Middle Ages,” p. 6) to lighten the “blood’s balance” (whatever that might mean). Athletes’ diets were filled with onions and Roman gladiators rubbed their skin with onion to “make their muscles firmer.” [I did not make this stuff up. It seems so weird that it is likely true.]

On to the Middle Ages and the value of the onion persisted. The onion was so prized that onion bulbs were used to pay rent and were given as gifts. [Shaking my head--thinking next time I need a hostess gift, I’ll just grab an onion or two.] European doctors prescribed the onion to cure infertility in both women and animals, while Pre-Columbian Native American used the onion in making dyes, syrup, and poultice formations.

So today the world onion production is estimated at over 100 billion pounds a year. This calculates to about 13 ½ pounds per person. The National Onion Association says Libya has the highest consumption with 66.8 pounds per person. The NOA data shows that onions represent the third largest fresh vegetable industry in the U.S. producing 2 metric million tons annually. 

I looked up Pace Foods (we like their salsa) and found they use 21 million pounds of fresh onions annually.

Now as a wrap up on the onion history, onions are thought to have originated in Asia and were found at sites from about 3500 BC. Their durability during winter was the impetus that gave them their status as a long-lived food. It was noticed, too, that the thicker the onion skin, the more severe the winter. 

Parsley, although first found in the Mediterranean, was often combined with the onion to sweeten one’s breath. Is it irony that parsley is part of the hemlock family!

The favorite at our house is the Vidalia – that sweet Georgia onion and, on occasion, onion dip. We use these for almost all our onion eating. 

The basic tip for no-tears onion chopping is still grandmother’s suggestion to have a piece of bread sticking out of one’s mouth to catch the fumes before they get to eyes and nose. The chemical irritant is Syn-propanethial-S-oxide (which I did NOT RESEARCH).

You never know what new information can pop up any old time. Thanks for reading!

Glenne