Tips for the cold weather

I got this great tip for walking on icy streets. Do not walk with your hands in your pockets. Resist the temptation, wear gloves if you are cold. If you fall, your hands can come out to break the fall and lessen the impact. It is better to have a broken wrist than a fractured skull. This was not obvious to me at all!

Great ideas 1

I know! Cheating. But I couldn't resist sharing this app. What a simple brilliant idea! You can scan texts and it provides instant translation. Watch the one minute video. Though it is currently available only in Spanish<->English, imagine the potential. If they developed the translation software to Mandarin, Japanese, Korean or even Indian languages you suddenly can communicate so much more in rural parts of various countries where English speakers may be few and far between.

How to clean tea kettles

I hesitated to post today's tip because I'm sure there is a more green way to get kettles clean. I have two wonderful Beehouse teapots which were gifts from friends. When my in laws visit it is put to very good use because they all love tea. They have the highest per capita tea consumption. One of them was really stained with tea over the years. It is tall and also has a very narrow neck. My attempts to remove the stain with baking soda and vinegar just didn't work because of the shape.

So here is the tip - You can use simple household bleach mixed with water and let it soak for 10 minutes. It even gets the metal mesh strainer stain free! I took some comfort in the fact that only 4% of bleach produced in the US is actually used for household cleaning and swimming pools. Most of the pollution from chlorine comes from the use of chlorine in paper mills and plastic production.

It does sound obvious but it never occurred to me till someone gave me this tip.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I was egged by two of my dear friends to start this blog. I guess they aren't tired of hearing me spouting opinions, tips on very random topics. I thought I will start on a healthy note. I attend the occasional Yoga class and have tried different instructors. Needless to say, my appreciation of the class depended a lot on the instructor.

I've often heard both cardio and yoga instructors say things like roll up your trunk one vertebra at a time and stand up. But there was this one teacher who insisted you first tuck your tummy in to engage your core muscles and come up with a straight back. This protects your lower back.

As time goes by and my body gets a little creaky, I find this tip really works for me. The only place I make that exception is if I'm in a squat and stretching my upper back. That's a bit different, almost like a standing cat-cow transition.