Things I've Noticed

Do Bad Habits A Better Way

I would guess that 50% of the people who made New Year’s Resolutions are still going strong.  The others have already succumbed to lack of discipline or temptation.  Outside of not following through on resolutions, we all do things we shouldn’t do (often while chiding others for doing them).  But these habits can be done in a way that is less dangerous, less harmful, and therefore less detrimental to society.  I’m here to give some ideas on how to lessen the effects of bad habits (only if you’re already practicing these).  I’m not advocating taking up these bad habits if you are not doing so already.  (My lawyer made me write that).

For instance, we all know texting and driving is dangerous but many people do it.  I would guess that most accidents from texting and driving occur because the person texting looks away for too long and in a busy situation.  The answer here is to only look away and type what 2 seconds allows at a time, hold the phone closer to driving line of sight and most importantly, don’t text when there is a lot of traffic around or on a 2-lane road where it would be easy to merge into oncoming traffic.  Don’t even try when somebody could stop suddenly in front of you and never if pedestrians or cyclists may be around.

As for eating unhealthy food, try only doing it when it’s free or after you’ve worked out or eaten a salad.  You’ll eat less of it and reduce the unhealthy effects while still getting the desire for it out of your system.  One strategy I use is to try not to buy desserts at the grocery store.  As soon as they are in my apartment, I tend to keep eating because it tastes so good, is addictive and is there!

When it comes to not exercising as much as we should, the best thing to do is make regular life more exercising.  Park far away from the store.  Take the stairs instead of the escalator, and even if you do take the escalator, go up or down the stairs (preferably in the same direction as it’s moving.)  Recent research has said that sitting is bad for you and that standing burns more calories.  Try putting your computer somewhere that you need to stand to type.  You’ll also reduce time on the computer which is a definite time-waster.

Smoking should just never be done.  I have no other advice here.  It stinks, leads to addiction, lung cancer for the smoker and the innocent who are exposed to second-hand smoke.  It’s expensive, can lead to fires, wrinkles, rougher voices, nicotine stains and land pollution from cigarette butts that aren’t disposed of properly.

A lot of us like to have a few more drinks than we should.  This leads to empty calories, potentially dangerous driving situations and often the hunger to eat greasy food late at night which leads to even more calorie consumption.  Try drinking mixed drinks and drink them after you fill up on healthy food.  This is a win-win.  Less carbs and a stomach full of nutritious food is less likely to want to have too many drinks filled in it.

My main advice is to not partake in bad habits but since most of us don’t listen, do them in a less harmful or less risky way and come out ahead.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Life

"Life is one big to-do list and dying is the last thing on it."

+ Atul

Reasons to Boycott Are Many and Conflicting

It’s the Holidays everybody.  The staff at “Things I’ve Noticed” would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas.  ‘Tis the season for joy, peace, happiness and for buying stuff.   Deciding what to buy is hard enough, but d eciding whose products to buy or where to buy them is getting harder.  There are a lot of admirable movements to boycott certain companies for various reasons.  Many of us want to speak our mind and make a statement with our wallets.  But I’m finding that the reasons for doing so sometimes conflict and at frequently leave one with no choice but to just buy without thinking or to not buy at all.

A great example of a boycott movement was when people stopped buying BP gas because of the Gulf oil spill.  It makes sense, but the gas station owners get hurt the most and they make little on gasoline anyway.  Then I found out that Royal Dutch Shell has had many environmental violations and we all know about the Exxon Mobil oil spill in Alaska.  Oil in general is a dirty business but most of us need it to make a living.

Sometimes I feel compelled to stop buying from a company simply because I’ve had poor (or nonexistent) customer service but I’m finding that this is the norm.  Case in point.  I avoid Comcast due to many instances of really bad service.  I now have AT&T for cable and internet, but their service has been poor as well.  They errantly changed the price on me and make it impossible to correct.

One might choose to only buy products that are not made in China so as not to support a nuclear weapons capable Communist government with a questionable human rights record.  Good luck with that.  I recently did find a pack of New Balance socks that were made in the USA.  I was shocked.  Along the same lines, activists boycott companies that use child labor in undeveloped countries, but what about companies that have frequent mass lay-offs and work their white collar employees to the bone?  I’ve heard this is the case with Progressive Insurance which I support because they are from Cleveland.  But I’ve been a loyal customer for 11 years due to good service and prices.  I am probably  getting lower prices at the expense of their professionals’ personal lives, physical and mental well-being.

Another obvious reason to boycott a company is due to offensive advertising.  Some religious groups try such movements.  I would ideally like to support companies that hire a diverse workforce but what if their Board of Directors is all rich older white men?  I used to boycott products from companies that interviewed me and didn’t hire me but then I realized that they at least gave me an interview unlike others who never called.

There are no easy answers and it’s not practical to buy everything local from people that aren’t supporting huge corporations.  What if the local farmer is just a jerk?  Do you want to buy from that guy?  I guess the only way not to have to make boycott decisions is to go live in the woods and live off of nature.  But nature can be mean and nasty too.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Aliens

"Aliens from other planets are the most illegal aliens of all."

+ Atul

Impersonal Christmas Card Shortcuts

I appreciate Christmas cards from friends and family as much as the next guy… or girl... or family.   Because my parents were and always have been very social people, we used to get 75 or more every year.  We would tape them to the wall almost as if they were decorative wallpaper on our hallway wall.  Of course some cards looked cheap while others were beautiful works of art so we chose wisely.  And generally, these were handwritten cards with personal notes that at least mentioned the names of the people in our family and were signed by the sender.  Some even had unique paragraphs of writing customized for our family!  It was an amazing time.  But due to technology, things have changed.

These days, I tend to receive a picture of my friends’ kids and pets on a postcard lacking a real signature.  The friend and spouse usually aren’t present although it would be nice to see their smiling faces too if I haven’t seen them in person recently.  Sometimes friends create a nice write-up about their lives and although it's good to know what they’re up to, it’s still not personalized.  I suppose these cards did take some effort and the people sending them took the time to make sure my address was right.  Sometimes my name and address is handwritten too!

I don’t want to offend any of my friends that might send me one of these form picture cards.  (Please don't take me off your card list.)  But there’s something missing in a mass-produced card.

I may be guiltier than others for lacking Christmas effort since I send cards perhaps once every three years.  I used to write personalized notes in each card but few others did so in return.  And that takes a long time.  I feel if it’s not a personalized card, I might as well send out e-cards or a Facebook wall post.  But then, it’s the thought that counts.  And a phone call is probably better anyway.

Happy Holidays!
+ Atul