I have learned that this is the only way to charge my phone overnight if I want to make sure that I have it with me on those crazy early Boston-bound mornings:
And because I learned this the hard way, I also learned a new term from Christy: Nomophobia, the panic that comes from realizing that you are without your phone (as in no – mobile – phobia)
On this day, I learned, from Jo Ann, that fabric-softener sheets for the dryer, specifically Bounce sheets, are effective in repelling mosquitoes. According to Jo Ann, you just tuck them strategically in your clothes, one or two per person.
You try it.
Let me know!
These are some things I learned on the Downeast Sunrise Rail Trail:
1. According to the sign of complex rock/paper/scissors/lizard/Spock-like hierarchy of right-of-way, cross-country skiers trump most other forms of transportation but must yield to dogsledders.
2. Mile markers do not necessarily start with zero at the start of the trail. Apparently there is a Secret Start somewhere else.
3. If you get hooked on finding that really cool (at least in our imagination) store at mile 9ish, which is always just around the next bend, you can forget to do that math and end up biking over 18 miles.
I learned, on the Amphitheater Bridge carriage trail in Acadia, that one person’s ideas of “easy/family” biking can be another person’s “are you kidding me?” hill.
Some of you may find this useful and others may wonder why on earth anyone would need this lesson, but I learned from A Friend that you can always step onto the doctor’s scale backwards and ask to not be told your weight.
“The first 20 minutes of moving around, if someone has been really sedentary, provide most of the health benefits. You get prolonged life, reduced disease risk — all of those things come in in the first 20 minutes of being active.”
I learned this from Steve, who sent a post from the New York Times: “The Surprising Shortcut to Better Health”
In this, science writer Gretchen Reynolds explains the research behind this claim, which she has distilled into her new book on the topic.
Here is a radical quote from the post, one that speaks to me directly: “It would be nice if people would look at exercise as a way to make themselves feel better and live longer and not necessarily as a way to make themselves skinnier.”
Here is another quote that speaks to me (as I sit): “I really do stand up at least every 20 minutes now, because I was spending five or six hours unmoving in my chair. The science is really clear that that is very unhealthy, and that it promotes all sorts of disease. All you have to do to ameliorate that is to stand up. You don’t even have to move. I’m standing up right now as I talk on the phone. I stand during most of my interviews now.”
I would love to hear your thoughts on this – click the link, check it out, and then post a comment here!
From Gale H: “I have learned life can be unexpected, throw you curve balls but facing forward can get you home”
Jane's Lessons Learned 