Tag: Storage Omaha

Ten Things That May Disappear In Our Lifetime

Change is inevitable. Sometimes it is welcome. Sometimes not. In November 2011, scioto.com published a list of 10 things likely to disappear from our lives. The list has been making the rounds on the internet ever since.

The article may be correct on some or all points, but there is good reason to doubt some of the predictions. Our take on why some of the allegations are questionable appears in brackets after the original item’s explanation.

1. The U.S. Post Office
Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

[It remains entirely possible that the Congress may wake up some day and allow the postal service to operate like a business, rather than like a child with an allowance from Congress. There remain many folks who for reasons of location, disability, age or other things, can’t rely on electronic media to deliver to them what they currently receive in the mail. While the demise of the post office remains possible, it’s just as likely it will undergo changes that will allow operations to continue.]

2. The Check
Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with check by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

[Once again, the article flails at the post office. Checks may well disappear, but for those who must use mail to make payments, money orders can replace the check.]

3. The Newspaper
The younger generation simply doesn’t read the newspaper. They certainly don’t subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.

[It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say the younger generation doesn’t read the newspaper, though they may be less faithful at doing so than their elders. And even this article notes that the newspaper may disappear in printed form, but not electronically. The “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett, has sunk many millions into purchasing newspapers in recent years. One of the world’s richest people, Buffett doesn’t normally make huge mistakes when it comes to money. His faith in the newspaper business surely does not indicate that the death of newspapers is imminent.]

4. The Book
You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can’t wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you’re holding a gadget instead of a book.

[Maybe, but a good many readers have shut off their Kindles and gone back to flipping printed pages to get the true satisfaction of reading a book. “Fahrenheit 451″ didn’t get rid of all the books, and neither did the dark ages in Europe, when Irish monks took it upon themselves to save and make copies of every written thing they could get their hands on.]

5. The Land Line Telephone
Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don’t need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they’ve always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.

[Land lines certainly are on the decline and may cease to exist. But they are vastly less expensive than cell phone services and there are certain situations when only a land line will do. For example, inmates on furlough from the Nebraska corrections system must stay only at a home with a land line so that the corrections department can phone them via that land line to ensure that they are where they are supposed to be.]

6. Music
This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It’s the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is “catalogue items,” meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, “Appetite for Self-Destruction” by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, “Before the Music Dies.”

[We don’t have enough knowledge of this industry to dispute the article. But new and innovative music remains available for purchase on-line and new groups continue to pop up and thrive.]

7. Television Revenues
The networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they’re playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It’s time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

[Cable and network TV may be the big losers here. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and the like are thriving and seem destined to dominate what’s watched on TV.]

8. The “Things” That You Own
Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in “the cloud.” Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft and Google are all finishing up their latest “cloud services.” That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That’s the good news. But, will you actually own any of this “stuff” or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big “Poof?” Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

[It’s a bit of a stretch to label electronic files as the “things” we all own. Today, six years after publication of this article, there is indeed a great deal of our data etc. in the cloud. But computers with huge memories are popular and likely to remain so.]

9. Joined Handwriting (Cursive Writing)
Already gone in some schools who no longer teach “joined handwriting” because nearly everything is done now on computers or keyboards of some type (pun not intended).

[And already many of those schools are bringing cursive back. The invention of the printing press did not kill handwriting and it seems unlikely that today’s electronics are about to deliver the fatal blow. We still want to be able to read those old family Bibles and tales and the letters grandfather sent home from the battlefield.]

10. Privacy
If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That’s gone. It’s been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, “They” know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. “They” will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.

[This one seems spot on. And it grows ever worse in the interests of “national security” or just plain “security” as with the new rules mandating that anything going into Memorial Stadium in Lincoln must be contained in clear plastic so it can be seen on entry.]

B.C. Women Can Kick Off High Heels

Great news for the women of British Columbia. The province has passed a law banning mandatory high heels in the workplace. British Columbia’s government announced that it has deemed the requirement of high heels unsafe based on the risk of injuries, as well as the damage that comes from prolonged wear.

“This change will let employers know that the most critical part of an employee’s footwear is that it is safe,” Shirley Bond, minister of jobs, tourism and skills training and minister responsible for labour, said in a release. The regulation “ensures that workplace footwear is of a design, construction and material that allows the worker to safely perform their work and ensures that employers cannot require footwear contrary to this standard.”

Under the new regulation, employers must consider specific safety factors when choosing mandatory footwear codes – factors such as uneven terrain, ankle protection and foot support, and tripping hazards. The release notes that British Columbia’s Human Rights Code already protects against gender-based discrimination, which can include enforcing a dress code based on gender.

The news comes nearly a year after a photo of a Canadian woman’s bloody feet and accompanying story went viral. The woman was allegedly “berated” for changing into flats at her restaurant job, despite the fact that the heels she had been required to wear were making her feet bleed and causing one of her toenails to fall off. At the time, the restaurant in question said its dress code policy had recently changed, making flats an acceptable option and nixing its requirement that heels be over 2.5 inches.

Dress code regulation has come under scrutiny in other places. In May 2016, a U.K.-based woman who was working as a receptionist was sent home for not wearing heels. The experience prompted her to start a petition that garnered over 150,000 signatures and was brought to Parliament. The government concluded that “dress codes which require women to wear high heels for extended periods of time are damaging to their health and well-being in both the short and the long term in the U.K.,” but that there were “not currently enough disincentives to prevent employers breaching the law.”

In short, while the government acknowledged the issues with enforcing dress code, the repercussions are not yet harsh enough to make companies stop using them.

In the United States, there is some disparity on federal and local levels. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that  “an employer may establish a dress code which applies to all employees or employees within certain job categories,” with exceptions made for a person’s religion or disability.

The New York City Commission on Human Rights, on the other hand, announced guidelines in December 2015, which say dress code enforcement based on gender “may be a violation of the law.”

 

Be a Better Friend

An expert on aging offers some tips on things you can do to be a better friend and attract more friends. Anthny Cirillo, a consultant and professional speaker who lives in North Carolina, offers these suggestions:

Be a good listener. Friendship is less about you and more about the other person.

Be interested in other people. Focus on finding out about them by asking thoughtful questions.

Be positive. Positive friends add emotional and health benefits to your life. People who can put it all in perspective and move on are often the ones that have an easier time making friends.

Be proactive about helping friends. Be ready to help friends through a difficult time. Friendships sometimes end when one person experiences a rough patch and feels that the other person just wasn’t there for them. When a friend is hurting, reach out before your friend needs to ask you for help.

Engage with the people you meet. Make an effort to talk to five people per day. The conversations don’t have to be long or involved, but by actively engaging others you will be more aware when a new friendship opportunity arises.

Be genuinely happy for your friends. Don’t get competitive with your friends. Life isn’t a race. Celebrate your friend’s accomplishments as if they were your own.

Cirillo, president of The Aging Experience, says isolation and loneliness can lead to negative health consequences. He says everyone needs to do their part in staying connected to family and friends.

Today’s Collectibles, Tomorrow’s Classics

Buying a car as an investment might pay off big time or leave you wondering what happened to your initial capital. Making an informed decision might improve your odds. The folks at Hagerty Insurance offer their annual “Hot List” of future collectible vehicles to aid your planning. The list includes vehicles carrying suggested retail prices (in U.S. dollars) from $25,255 to $70,000.

“All ten have that ‘it’ factor that makes them stand out from the crowd,” said McKeel Hagerty, CEO of Hagerty. “In some cases it’s power, in some cases it’s innovation or drivability, but all of them have the qualities that define a future classic.” Hagerty Insurance is one of the world’s leading insurance providers for classic vehicles, giving them a unique perspective for predicting which vehicles will be desirable in the future. Here’s Hagerty’s take on the cars of today that are likely to be classics in 25 years. To be included on the Hot List, a car must be produced in the 2017 model year and be priced below $100,000.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: MSRP: $72,000
This sexy Italian is not simply another high-performance sedan. The Quadrifoglio stands out from the crowd with Bi-Xenon headlights, dual-mode quad exhaust, high-performance Brembo brakes with red calipers, a carbon fiber active-aero front splitter and 19-inch bright Technica aluminum wheels. Inside are sport seats trimmed in leather and Alcantara, a useful rear seat and a nicely-integrated display screen.

The principal reason Giulia Quadrifoglio makes this list of future classics is its performance capabilities. Under the hood sits a 2.9-liter bi-turbo V6 engine rated at 505 horsepower with 443 lb-ft of torque as low as 2500 rpm, making this the most powerful production car ever from Alfa Romeo. The sprint to 60 mph takes a mere 3.8 seconds on the way to a top speed of 191 mph. With Brembo 6-piston front and 4-piston rear brakes, stopping power is equally impressive – taking just 102 feet to stop from 60 mph. If that isn’t good enough, the Giulia Quadrifoglio lapped the famed Nurburgring race circuit in Germany in 7 minutes 32 seconds – the fastest time ever recorded by a 4-door production sedan.

Audi TT RS: MSRP: $60,000 (est.)
The Audi TT has always offered high performance wrapped in a very attractive package, but the TT RS takes everything up a notch. With its muscular front end, large air inlets and fixed rear spoiler, this TT looks like it means business. And it does. Audi fitted this RS variant with a newly-developed 5-cylinder engine putting out 400 horsepower and 354 lb-ft of torque. With power being directed to all four wheels via Audi’s latest quattro all-wheel-drive system, this little sports car can reach 62 mph in 3.7 seconds. The convertible takes slightly longer – 3.9 seconds.

Very low and wide, the TT RS features a stiff chassis that delivers up to 1.2 Gs, making this special TT more than capable of handling twisty roads with ease. Four different driving modes – selectable by the driver – alter the character of the TT RS from a comfortable ride to ultimate performance. The RS will be available as a coupe or convertible, arriving in the U.S. later this year.

Chevrolet Camaro ZL1: MSRP: $61,140
CamaroChevrolet takes the Camaro to an all-new level with the introduction of the powerful ZL1. This Camaro variant sports a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 engine that puts out an incredible 640 horsepower and 640 lb-ft of torque. The big engine gets teamed with either a 6-speed manual gearbox or a new 10-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters. Performance stats are impressive – a sprint to 60 mph takes a mere 3.5 seconds.

The new ZL1 gets differentiated from the rest of the Camaro lineup via a lower grille opening, a new hood, a larger front splitter, wider fenders, a wing-style rear spoiler and 20-inch forged aluminum wheels fitted with Goodyear Eagle F1 high-performance tires. As Hagerty states, “The legend continues to inspire today just as it did 50 years ago, as the Camaro reaches a whole new audience with this instant collector’s item.”

Chevrolet Colorado ZR2: MSRP: $40,995
Designed for high performance after the pavement ends, the Colorado ZR2 is a brand-new model from Chevrolet for 2017. This go-anywhere truck features purpose-built off-road suspension, Multimatic shocks, raised ground clearance, front and rear electronic differentials, skidplates and a wider track for increased stability. Large 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac off-road tires provide maximum traction.

Power for the new Colorado ZR2 comes from either a 3.6-liter 308-horsepower V6 or a class-exclusive 2.8-liter Duramax diesel engine putting out 186 horsepower and an impressive 369 lb-ft of torque. All ZR2 Colorados are 4WD and can be set up with a crew cab or extended cab. “ZR2 is truly a segment of one and does everything well – from traversing heavy two-track trails to high-speed desert running and full-on rock crawling,” said Sandor Piszar, marketing director for Chevrolet trucks.

Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport: MSRP: $65,450
The original Corvette Grand Sports were purpose-built racing prototypes that looked like production models – only five were ever built. There have been a few other Grand Sport Corvettes through the years, and the latest version is the C7 Grand Sport. “The racing DNA of the original Grand Sport race cars is in the 2017 model, adding greater dimensions of capability and driver involvement to the Corvette’s award-winning architecture, for a purer driving experience,” said Harlan Charles, Corvette product marketing manager.

This special Vette features Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, Brembo brakes, a 7-speed manual transmission, an electronic limited-slip differential and unique springs. An optional Z07 package adds ceramic brakes and Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, making the Grand Sport the ultimate track toy. Performance stats are impressive – the Grand Sport can corner at 1.2 Gs and reaches 60 mph in 3.6 seconds.

Fiat 124 Spider Abarth: MSRP: $28,195
It’s been several decades since Fiat sold a 2-seat roadster in America. The last one was the Fiat 124 Spider. Designed to honor its namesake, the new 124 Spider carries on the traditional long hood, short overhangs and, of course, rear-wheel drive of the original 124. The 124 shares basic architecture with one of the most popular 2-seat roadsters in the world, the Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Abarth is the sportiest variant of the 124 lineup, featuring a sport instrument cluster, matte gray trim, leather-trimmed sport seats, a sport steering wheel, performance-tuned suspension, a limited-slip differential, body-color sport fascias, a gunmetal roll bar, quad exhaust outlets and 17-inch gunmetal aluminum wheels. Power comes from an Italian-built 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine making 164 horsepower.

Ford F-150 Raptor: MSRP: $48,860
RaptorFord introduced this off-road performance truck in 2010 and it continues to be a unique offering in the U.S. truck market. An all-new version of the Raptor is now available with bold styling, enhanced suspension, an improved power-to-weight ratio and even better off-road agility than the previous version. Weighing 500 pounds less than its predecessor, the new Raptor boasts a 3.5-liter high-output EcoBoost engine that produces 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque, teamed with an advanced 10-speed automatic transmission.

To better utilize all that power, the Raptor features a Terrain Management System that optimizes performance for nearly any driving condition. “F-150 Raptor means superior off-road capability, from rock crawling to sand running,” said Dave Pericak, Ford Performance global director. “With the addition of SuperCrew, F-150 Raptor customers can leave the pavement behind – without sacrificing comfort and space,” Pericak stated.

Mazda Miata RF: MSRP: $31,555
MiataMazda introduced an all-new MX-5 Miata last year, and the fun-to-drive roadster immediately made Hagerty’s Hot List. This year the Miata is back, but now with an innovative retractable fastback (RF). With the top in place the sports car looks like a hardtop coupe, but with the flip of a switch the rear section lifts while the roof folds with the window, ultimately hidden with only the rear section in place. With just the roof panel and rear window removed, the MX-5 looks more like a targa than a convertible. The top can be operated at speeds up to 6 mph and takes only 12 seconds to operate.

Aside from being slightly taller, the RF retains the same dimensions and proportions of the soft-top MX-5. Engineers were able to use the same real estate that stores the soft-top, so trunk space remains unchanged in the new RF. With a more rigid structure and quieter ride, the RF is likely to expose new customers to the “Zoom-Zoom” joy of driving a Miata.

Porsche 718 Cayman / Boxster: MSRP: $53,900 / $56,000
This German automaker has a rich history of sports cars – in 1950s and ‘60s, the company raced the legendary 718 lightweight mid-engine sports car. In the spirit of that original, Porsche brings us the 718 Boxster / Cayman. This updated sports car – Boxster is the roadster, Cayman is the hardtop – with the new naming designation is available with a newly-developed 2.0-liter turbocharged engine producing 300 horsepower, while the S upgrades to a 2.5-liter turbo producing 350 horsepower.

The new models offer fresh styling as well as updated chassis tuning and stronger brakes, which should make for great fun on the road or track. Performance numbers corroborate this claim – the Boxster S / Cayman S can reach 60 mph in just 4 seconds with a top speed of 177 mph. As Hagerty puts it, “Those who have a love for cars have a love for driving and few things are better to drive than the 2017 Porsche 718 lineup.”

Toyota 86: MSRP: $26,255
Called the Scion FR-S Coupe until last year when Toyota eliminated the Scion brand, the 86 is a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive sports car. Developed with Subaru (the 86 shares a platform with Subaru’s BRZ), the Toyota 86 is powered by a 2.0-liter flat 4-cylinder engine putting out 205 horsepower, teamed with either a 6-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission.

Last year the 86 received a few updates to go with the new name – the front end got new LED headlights, a revised bumper and a larger center air intake, giving the sport coupe a more aggressive stance. The rear of the car also received LED treatment as well as a new bumper design. With a low starting price and the fun-to-drive traits one looks for in a sports car, the Toyota 86 should be entertaining for the next 25 years.

Nightmares Translated

Most of us nod off as our sleeping brain uses this time to make sense of our day-to-day experiences. We continue to fall deeper and deeper into a slumber as our dream world unfolds, putting us face-to-face with our unconscious fears and desires. This could manifest into a cycle of bad dreams from seeing zombies to being cheated on.

So, what is the meaning behind these nightmares?

In the video, “The 10 Most Common Nightmares and Their Meanings!,” Matthew Santoro explains bad dreams can reveal a lot about our life. Nightmares affect as many as 80 to 90 percent of people at some point in their lives, making them extremely common. The American Sleep Association explains some of these cases can be caused by medication use; extreme levels of anxiety in everyday life; or if someone in our family has a similar problem with nightmares, which can increase the likelihood of a sleeping disorder.

Santoro notes a common nightmare we all get is being naked in front of people. This dream is often accompanied by an audience of fully clothed people. Dreaming of being naked in front of people can represent a fear of revealing something to others; a secret we’re worried people have or soon will discover; a loss of identity; or feeling ashamed or misjudged about something we took or said.

Other dreams take us to a more supernatural world where ghosts, zombies and the undead surface. For example, seeing a ghost in our dream doesn’t mean impending doom. The dead can symbolize regret, thoughts we find upsetting or a repressed memory trying to break through. A ghost can also signify a task or goal we’re having trouble achieving.

Being lost trapped or buried in a dream may mean we are faced with real life insecurities. Indecisiveness can be met with dreams. If you also are trapped, this can indicate you are stuck, perhaps in a relationship, job or a school program you regret taking.

Dreams of falling are among the most common. But how or where you are falling can drastically change the dream’s meaning. For example, if you are falling from the sky this can indicate fear of losing control of some elements of your life or an insecurity that things are not going to stay the way you like them. Falling into a bottomless pit can indicate something that is overwhelming in your life such as a major work project, or concern about an exam or waiting for major health news.

Some of us, whether we’re in a relationship or not, will dream about being cheated on. This doesn’t necessarily mean our partner did so in real life, or even that we’re worried they will. Often, this means we’re worried about the stability of our relationship, or maybe even our career. We dream a person closest to us betrayed us emotionally, because of a lack of trust in ourselves or our decisions.

Understanding the symbolism behind our nightmares can help us better cope with fears and desires in real life.

The Face of Business Is Changing

Big name retailers – Sears, Macy’s, J.C. Penney, for example – are struggling as the rise of e-commerce propels Amazon and even Wal-Mart to consume ever larger shares of the retail pie. But are traditional brick-and-mortar businesses en route to the graveyard?

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) says 1-in-11 jobs are related to shopping centers and retail is the largest employer in more than half the states in the U.S. “Retail is very healthy,” says Tom McGee, President and CEO of ICSC. Despite all of the upheaval, McGee notes that “more than 90% of sales still happen in a store.”

Some commercial real estate experts echo McGee’s optimistic outlook.

“E-commerce can’t paint your nails, cut your hair or serve you a burrito,” says Travis Carter. “Consumers still need to see, touch, and feel those tangible goods.” Carter says the biggest change in retail he’s seen in his Greensboro, NC, market is visible in the dynamic of the shopping center tenant mix, which continues to shift towards businesses that provide services.

“I can see the pendulum swinging back away from everything happening online,” says John Propp of Denver where the market is in the midst of a commercial real estate boom unlike anything he can remember. He feels the last real impediment is the issue of sales tax. Purchases made online don’t typically include a state sales tax, a decision stemming back to a 1992 Supreme Court decision. “Once this is settled there will be even less conflict between the two.”

Transwestern recently highlighted three commercial trends in its first quarter Insights report covering the retail, industrial and multifamily sectors.

1. Retail: The Rise of Mobile Data
Retailers are getting more sophisticated in how they’re collecting mobile data about their customers. Many businesses are using mobile apps coupled with monitoring devices in their stores to track and interact with customers. If a consumer has that business’s app on their phone, it allows the retailers to engage with them by offering coupons or product suggestions.

2. Industrial: New Demands for E-Commerce Distribution Centers
Demands for faster shipments in online sales and massive increases in e-commerce business are causing companies that have large fulfillment centers to rethink location. Previously, these online retailers chose industrial warehouses in lower cost areas outside of population centers. Today, there is a new demand for large commercial space closer to metro areas in order to more quickly and efficiently store and ship commodities to customers, according to Transwestern.

3. Multifamily: Micro-Unit Apartments in Urban Markets
As renters flock to urban centers for the live-work-play lifestyle, entry-level lease rates are becoming unaffordable for many recent college graduates, service workers and young professionals. One way of providing more affordable living space is through micro-unit apartments.

Reports on the death of traditional retail may be greatly exaggerated. Anchor stores continue to change, pivoting from big-box retailers to smaller service providers, medical facilities, restaurants and multi-unit residential. National chains are downsizing and refocusing on personalization, catering to more specific clientele rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

Both the United States and Canada have substantial populations of folks with Irish ancestry and both nations have parades and celebrations across the land to observe St. Patrick’s Day, though many of the parades are not on March 17, but rather on the Saturday before or after. In Winnipeg, for example, this year’s parade is set for March 18, while in Omaha the parade was held on March 11 and in Des Moines the parade is scheduled for March 17.

In Canada, St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in Newfoundland and Labrador on the nearest Monday to March 17 each year. In the states it is a legal holiday only in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and in Savannah, Georgia

The observance remembers St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint. He was a missionary who converted many of Ireland’s inhabitants to Christianity in the 5th century.

WinnipegStPatsIn Canada there are annual parades celebrating Irish culture in Edmonton, Halifax, Hudson, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Richmond, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg. The Chicago River is dyed green for Saint Patrick’s Day every year. The holiday is widely recognized throughout the United States. In addition to parades, celebrations include prominent displays of the color green, eating and drinking, religious observances and numerous parades. The holiday has been celebrated on the North American continent since the late 18th century.

Irish Canadians are Canadian citizens who have full or partial Irish heritage including descendants who trace their ancestry to immigrants who originated in Ireland. From 1825 to 1970 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived in Canada , and at least half of those in the period from 1831–1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group, after the French, and comprised 24% of Canada’s population.

The 2006 census by Statistics Canada, Canada’s Official Statistical office, revealed that the Irish were the 4th largest ethnic group, with 4,354,000 Canadians with full or partial Irish descent or 15% of the country’s total population. This was a large and significant increase of 531,495 since the 2001 census, which counted 3,823,000 respondents quoting Irish ethnicity. According to the National Household Survey 2011, the population of Irish ancestry has increased since 2006 to 4,544,870.[5]

About 33.3 million United States citizens – 10.5% of the total population – reported Irish ancestry in the 2013 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. This compares with a population of 6.4 million on the island of Ireland. Three million people separately identified as Scots-Irish, whose ancestors were Ulster Scots who emigrated from Ireland to the United States.

Alcohol Affects Your Ability to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Have you ever returned from a night out and wondered why you can’t seem to fall asleep? Drinking before going to bed can affect your ability to get a good night’s sleep. The food website Spoon University tells you why:

1. Not all of the alcohol has been metabolized in your body. It typically takes about an hour for the alcohol to be completely digested. If you go to bed immediately after you stop drinking, the alcohol is most likely still in your system and hasn’t been fully digested yet. The alcohol in your system wants you to keep partying, but your body wants to sleep.

2. Drinking before bed reduces REM sleep. Disruptions in REM sleep may cause daytime drowsiness, poor concentration and rob you of much needed sleep. It’s important to get a restful night’s sleep, and alcohol limits your ability to do that. Disruptions in REM sleep may also cause you to be less productive the next day, so if you plan on tackling a bunch of tasks the morning after a night out, think again.

3. More likely to sleep walk. It’s okay to sleep walk occasionally. However, sleepwalking on a regular basis can be problematic and somewhat dangerous. Think of all of the dangerous things in your home that you could encounter while sleepwalking.

4. More likely to sleep talk. Similar to sleepwalking, sleep talking is another effect of consuming alcohol before you go to bed. While it isn’t necessarily dangerous, talking in your sleep can cause you to say things that you might not have wanted to share with the world.

5. More likely to have problems with your memory. If you consume an excess amount of alcohol before you go to bed, you can also have problems with your long-term memory. Alcohol makes you forget things that happened throughout the night, but it can also lead to long-term memory issues.

6. Alcohol is a diuretic. Alcohol causes your body to lose extra fluid through sweat too, making you dehydrated. This can lead to other negative side effects like feeling light-headed and lethargic. Since alcohol is a diuretic, it causes you to wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom. Or you may wake up in the morning and realize you didn’t quite make it to the bathroom (whoops), leading alcohol to negatively affect your kidneys in the long run.

7. You spend more time awake. Alcohol can prevent you from having a restful night’s sleep. You spend the night tossing and turning, without really getting the sleep you need. Alcohol messes with your brain and therefore can keep you awake all night , preventing you from getting a full night’s sleep.

8. You have fewer dreams. Alcohol prevents you from entering into a deep sleep, which is when most dreams are formulated. So don’t bank on any great dreams.

9. You have an elevated heart rate. Alcohol makes the peripheral blood vessels relax to allow more blood to flow through the skin and tissues. Therefore, in order to maintain blood flow to the organs, the heart rate increases. An increased heart rate is what happens when you exercise, and you wouldn’t be asleep for that.

Oscars Snubbed Some of the Classics

The Oscars are coming on Sunday, Feb. 26, with a strong slate of nominees for Best Picture: “Arrival,” “Fences,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Water,” “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land,” “Lion,” “Manchester by the Sea” and “Moonlight”.

OscarsMaybe some of these will be like some of the films listed below – snubbed for the Best Picture Oscar, but enduring classics nonetheless.

Here are some of the now classic films snubbed for Best Picture in their day:

Brokeback Mountain (2005)
“Crash” was 2005’s big winner. But a decade later Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain,” a romantic drama about two gay ranch hands, is the movie everyone remembers. The ranch hands were played brilliantly by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Like Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg is a great director who has often been given short shrift by the Academy. Spielberg won the Best Director award for “Saving Private Ryan,” but the Academy Award for Best Picture went to the period comedy “Shakespeare in Love.” It was one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history.

Pulp Fiction (1994)
“Forrest Gump,” starring Tom Hanks, had its charm, but Best Picture? Many believe that award should have gone to Quentin Tarantino’s dazzling “Pulp Fiction,” a movie full of surprises and scenes at once frightening and hilarious.

Goodfellas (1990)
Nobody even talks about 1990’s Best Picture winner “Dances With Wolves” anymore, except to note that its Oscar should have gone to Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, “Goodfellas.”

Tender Mercies (1983)
Exquisite and understated, this film is a small gem. Yet the Academy preferred the big-budget tearjerker “Terms of Endearment.” “Tender Mercies” star Robert Duvall did, however, win his first and only Oscar for his performance.

Taxi Driver (1976)
“Taxi Driver” is positively twisted. Martin Scorsese’s vigilante drama stood out as one of the most brilliant and original movies of the ’70s, a great decade for films in general. Sylvester Stallone’s “Rocky,” on the other hand, was strictly formulaic, though a rousing entertainment, and it won the Oscar for Best Picture.

The Graduate (1967)
One of the most groundbreaking and entertaining films of the ’60s, Mike Nichols’ “The Graduate” seduced an entire generation, just as Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) seduced Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman). But apparently no one clued in the Academy. On Oscar night, the award for Best Picture went to an old-school mystery, “In the Heat of the Night.”

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
This one isn’t so surprising when you remember the competition. “Lawrence of Arabia,” which won Best Picture and still stands up as a spectacular epic. Even so, it’s strange to think of the beloved “To Kill a Mockingbird” as one of the year’s losers.

Some Like It Hot (1959)
“Ben-Hur” swept 11 Oscar categories, including Best Picture, and its chariot races were undeniably impressive back in the day. But Billy Wilder’s “Some Like It Hot” never gets old. It ranks No. 1 on AFI’s list of the 100 funniest American movies. Not to mention it’s Marilyn Monroe’s best film.

Vertigo (1958)
In 2012, a poll of leading critics named Alfred Hitchcock’s psychological thriller “the greatest film of all time,” knocking “Citizen Kane” out of the top spot for the first time since 1962. Yet “Vertigo” received only two Oscar nominations, for sound and art direction, and it didn’t win either. The Academy’s pick for Best Picture was the musical, “Gigi.”

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
“Rebel Without a Cause” is the masterpiece of director Jean-Luc Godard. It’s also the movie that defined James Dean. Yet the Academy Award for Best Picture went to a touching but now dated romantic drama, “Marty.”

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
A musical that really deserved to win Best Picture, “Singin’ in the Rain” wasn’t even nominated for that award, which went to Cecil B. DeMille’s circus movie “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Stanley Donan’s classic – famous for Gene Kelly’s iconic dance scene – lost in the category of Best Musical Score to “With a Song in My Heart.”

Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Few would argue that “All About Eve,” the witty and engaging classic about an aging actress (Bette Davis) and the world of Broadway theater, didn’t deserve all nine of its Oscars. Even so, it’s hard to imagine Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard” – about another aging actress (Gloria Swanson) – failing to win Best Picture.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1947)
William Wyler’s “The Best Years of Our Lives,” about difficulties faced by GIs returning from World War II, was certainly of the moment when it won the Oscar for Best Picture. Today it seems pretty dated – especially compared to Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which remains a cultural touchstone, a perennial holiday favorite and AFI’s pick for the most inspirational film ever.

Double Indemnity (1944)
It’s the original film noir. Director Billy Wilder collaborated with Raymond Chandler on the screenplay, based on James M. Cain’s tale of a femme fatale (Barbara Stanwyck) and an insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) plotting to kill her husband. But “Double Indemnity” was too dark for the Academy, which gave Best Picture honors to the warm and fuzzy Bing Crosby flick “Going My Way.”

Citizen Kane (1941)
This one is often called the greatest film of all time. But despite nine Academy Award nominations, Orson Welles’ “Citizen Kane” won only one – for screenwriting. Meanwhile, John Ford’s more sentimental “How Green Was My Valley” made off with five Oscars, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
The Academy routinely snubbed Alfred Hitchcock, nominating him five times without giving the Master of Suspense a single Oscar for Best Director. The only Hitchcock film to be voted Best Picture was 1940’s “Rebecca,” a fine movie but not even one of his Top 10. “The Philadelphia Story,” one of the nominees it edged out, ranks No. 5 on AFI’s list of the all-time greatest romantic comedies, thanks partly to the magic combination of Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
When Hollywood types got wind of Walt Disney’s plan to make an animated feature based on one of Grimms’ Fairy Tales, they dismissed it as “Disney’s folly.” It went on to become a critical and box-office sensation, and six decades later the American Film Institute (AFI) named “Snow White” the best animated movie ever. As for the Best Picture of 1937, the Academy gave that honor to a sober biopic, “The Life of Emile Zola.”

Engineers Made It Happen, Sometimes By Chance

Observation and developmental work by engineers that followed led to the development of products from Silly Putty to Velcro, according to the American Council of Engineering Companies.

While trying to create a rubber substitute, chemical engineers made a bouncy mistake – Silly Putty was the result.

A Canon engineer inadvertently rested his hot iron on his pen, causing ink to eject from the pen point moments later. This accident led to the creation of the inkjet printer.

A mechanical engineer saw a spring fall off a table. This led to creation of the Slinky and made toy history.

Engineer Perry Spencer stood in front of a radar magnetron tube he was testing in 1947. The candy bar in his pocket melted. This led him to develop the microwave oven.

Engineer Wilson Greatbatch was working on a heart rhythm recorder when by mistake he used an incorrect value resistor in a circuit. The circuit pulsed for 1.8 milliseconds, stopped for one second and repeated like a heartbeat. Greatbatch worked on this to invent the implantable cardiac pacemaker.

George de Mestral, an electrical engineer, returned from a hunting outing in 1941 and noticed that burrs were stuck to his clothing and his dog’s fur. Using a microscope, de Mestral saw how the tiny hooks of the burr seeds attached to fabric and hair. The observation led him to develop Velcro, now used in everything from sneakers to spacesuits.