Thursday Things: Ninth Issue
10 October 2019. Vol 1 No 9. By Dan McGirt. #9
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Photo by Bao Menglong on Unsplash
The 2018 and 2019 Nobel Prizes for Literature will be announced today and may already have been by the time you read this. The odds that I will win are slim, but I do meet the main qualifications:
I am alive. (Not sure if this is an actual requirement)
Few people have ever heard of me. Bob Dylan was the first Nobel Laureate for Literature I had actually heard of in as long as I can remember. Seriously, can you name the last ten winners? (Sure, you can get Bob Dylan, but I just gave you that one.) Still, fingers crossed!
Plastic straw bans are ridiculous for a variety of reasons. Many people are happy to get on board because, hey, we’re supposedly saving turtles and all the cool kids are doing it. But banning straws can present serious problems, and even be life-threatening for disabled people who cannot drink without a straw.
Graphic: People with Disability Australia
“Depending on a person's disability they may need to use a plastic straw for drinking, eating or taking medication.” For some people, no, the mushy paper straw won’t work. The reusable silicone straw isn’t flexible. The metal straws conduct heat and cold, which can be a problem, and have to be washed, which can also be impossible for people with motor control issues. I’ll spare you the full rant. But maybe stop and think it through before you jump on the latest “save the world” bandwagon…
© American Heart Association
People who own dogs may live longer and benefit from improved cardiovascular health, according to new research from, I assume, the Good Dog Institute of Dogology. (Or maybe human researchers in Sweden) The study found people who have survived a stroke or heart attack and who live alone may particularly benefit from dog ownership, in part because owning a dog can reduce social isolation. It makes sense. You walk your dog. So you’re getting exercise. Then people want to pet your dog. Now you’re meeting people. Also, dog owners are less subject to loneliness and depression. Dogs really are our best friends! Though I expect a rebuttal from the Feline Institute of Cat Scientists any day now.
Speaking of cats, what have our feline friends been up to? Well, Xiaopi the Russian Blue wound up needing a glucose drip after he mated with at least five females in one night when he was let out of his cage by pet hotel staff. I did not know pet hotels charged by the hour. Be sure to click through for pictures of the exhausted, yet happy cat.
One in four American claim to have never eaten vegetables. How are those people even alive? I for some reason have this impression that vegetables contain vital nutrients that we need to survive. Am I mistaken? So it seems. Do you eat your vegetables? What is your favorite or least favorite veggie?
I have a combination podcast and book recommendation for you. I’m a big fan of Tim Ferriss, perhaps still best known as the author of the 4-Hour Work Week. An excellent book that has helped thousands, if not millions, of people escape the 9-5 treadmill and redesign their lives. I like the way Tim thinks. But that’s not even the book I’m recommending today.
One of Tim’s more recent works is Tools of Titans — and the Kindle edition happens to be free for Amazon Prime members for the next few weeks. The book is based on Tim’s interviews of more than 200 world-class performers for his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, and compiles the tools, tactics, mindset, habits, routines, etc. of top athletes, scientists, entrepreneurs, soldiers, performers. Lots of great advice and actionable information — and, again, free at the moment for Prime members, so worth grabbing if you can. Also worth paying full price, but why do that if you can get it for free?
One thief got a big surprise: A California reptile lover says thieves who made off with his duffel bag probably thought they were taking swag. But it was full of snakes. Reptile breeder Brian Gundy, owner of (not making this up!) For Goodness Snakes, set down a duffel bag full of three pythons and a lizard while he went to retrieve his car. When he returned, the bag was gone. Two of the snakes were recovered in a nearby dumpster. No word on the remaining snake and the lizard. Or the thief, for that matter. But I bet he was hissed.
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