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Showing posts from July, 2011

The Age of The Sensitive Man

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Splashing in the deep end of the adult water fitness class, I couldn't help but notice a man sitting on the side of the pool holding his infant daughter. She was wearing a pink one piece swim suit and a white floppy hat. I doubted that she was even able to walk yet. Her cherub like legs hung down over the edge of the pool and her tiny toes barely touched the surface of the water. The contrast of the man in his prime with guns that rivaled Mr. Florida holding that tiny human was inspiring.   One of the men in my class introduced us to his grandson.   He’s a handsome young man around fifteen.   My British swim mate commented that he was dishy.    He was- dishy but, what was even better was the fact that a fifteen year old would partake in a water fitness class with his seventy-something Granddad.   As touching as the man with his baby girl sitting by the side of the pool, the grandson and grandfather partnering during water exercises was equally as precious.   It’s not somethi

Clean Up Your Air in 24 Hours

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What's the First Thing You Can Do to Improve Air Quality in Your Home or Office? . Living closer to nature may actually even help increase your quality of life.   It was NASA, along with the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA), that conducted a classic study on the benefits of plants on indoor air.  NASA reported that houseplants were able to reduce up to 87 percent of air toxins in 24 hours. They recommended using 15 to 18 'good-sized' houseplants in 6 to 8-inch diameter containers for an 1800 square-foot house.  And not just any house plants will do… here's a list of the top 10 anti-pollutant plants rated best by The New Ecologist.com… 1.       The Feston Rose plant 2.       Devil's Ivy 3.       Phalaenopsis 4.       English Ivy 5.       Parlor Ivy 6.       African Violets 7.       Christmas Cactus 8.       Yellow Goddess 9.       Garlic Vine 10.   Peace Lily NASA, at the Stennis Space Center, also constructed what they called a BioHo

Rule Breakers

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It wasn’t a lazy morning at the outdoor Olympic sized pool. We worked every muscle, even the ones in our mouth. The first hour was deep water abs, hamstrings, triceps and biceps – pure Hell hour. By the end of the second hour we had digressed to working another muscle, the one that allows the tongue to wag. A group of women ranging in age from 40-60 were talking about a girl’s weekend trip to NYC to take in some shows. “We can use our student ID’s and get in for $30,” she said. “What student ID’s?” “The kids make them, it’s easy to get them-fake ones,” she said. That’s when I said, “Wow.” “You are so American,” she said. “I would never think of that. I’m amazed.” Seeing my surprise at the devilish yet simply brilliant idea another woman spoke up. Here’s what she said, “We- a group of people I worked with made fake ID’s and got all the way to the vehicle staging station during the first shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral.” The hinge on my mouth couldn’t have dropped any