On a quest for better health
I’m not making any this year. I’m not tempting fate.
I’d love to resolve not to have any surgeries this year, but we all know how *that* went last year.
So, if you’re planning on making New Year’s resolutions this year, I recommend this post by J. D. Roth about goal setting that leads to greater chances of success.
Wishing you a healthy 2018!
As a military family, we love Christmas cards [and Hanukkah cards, and Kwanzaa cards, and Festivus – whatever you want to send us!] We have friends and family slung all over the globe, and it’s a great way to keep in touch. We get pictures and letters and cards updating us on the events of our tribe’s lives. [Even got a spreadsheet last year!]
Plus, once a year you have a great incentive to make sure you have the correct address for your nomadic acquaintances.
But, you know, what with all the *other* holiday activities, sometimes our cards didn’t get sent until the next summer – if at all. When my health declined, the cards did not get sent for several years. [Which means, if you’re not diligent, you start to lose touch with people who have moved, possibly several times, in the interim.]
So last year (2016), we were inspired by Mrs. Frugalwood’s example to send Christmas postcards. Great idea! Less time, less money, less effort. We ordered and sent personalized postcards, with a custom photo, in December, and kept in touch with everyone. Huzzah!
However. This year (2017) things did not go as smoothly.
Wait. Say again?
Yup, you heard me correctly. This year I had an allergic reaction to the postcards. Same company as last year. Don’t know why, except that I have become increasingly more sensitive to odors and fragrances ever since that “unfortunate incident” at the VA. All I know is when I took the postcards back out of the package to address them, the smell was overwhelming. I sat near one of our air purifiers and tried to get them done, but by the time I’d addressed 20 postcards I had a raging headache, couldn’t stop coughing and clearing my throat, had itchy, watery eyes, and was starting to itch on all of my exposed skin. Time to abort this mission.
Spousal Unit will probably finish addressing the cards (most likely using computer printed address labels, thus limiting exposure to the cards), although they will definitely be late this year.
And then it looks like we’ll transition to e-mailed holidays greetings next year. Even less expensive, although taking the same amount of time to write the message. Better for the planet too.
A bit less fun than cards that can sit on the mantel (or wherever you display them) or pictures you can put on your fridge or bulletin board.
But a better option than being taken out of action for a day (or two, or three).
Bottom Line: Are the holidays stressing you out? Costing too much? Making you ill? Eliminate the B.S.!
Find ways to reduce stress, expenses, and, especially, expectations. That might be sending postcards instead of traditional greeting cards. It might be emailing photos and greetings instead of mailing them. Or you might decide to call or video message or Skype/Facetime/etc. a few close friends and family instead.
Don’t lose sight of the big picture: celebrating your family’s holy days (if applicable), maintaining and sustaining relationships, and living a healthy, sustainable (in every sense of the word) lifestyle.
Most of the over-the-top Pinterest-y type stuff you see on the internet is just another way for the advertisers to part you from more of your money. You don’t have to be a Grinch, but don’t be a chump either.
Decide, along with your significant other, what makes you happy at the holidays. (Maybe give the kids a vote, maybe not.) Examine why you do all the things you do: Tradition? “We’ve always done it that way?” The neighbors are doing it, so we have to compete/keep up? Figure out what is essential to your health and happiness, and do only that. As for the rest?
Take a deep breath, relax, and eliminate. 😉
Happy Holidays from Crew Dog & the gang at One Sick Vet.
Time was, most men carried a bandana or a handkerchief (depending on whether they were country folk or city folk). Most women carried handkerchiefs too. But, somewhere along the way, cloth handkerchiefs fell out of favor and were replaced by disposable paper ones. However, I have decided that what my life was missing was a bandana, and I have decided to bring them back.
The idea began, as many good ideas do, over lunch.
While researching safety razors, I had discovered a new (to me) Zero Waste blog: Kathryn’s blog, “Going Zero Waste.” After noodling around on her blog a bit, I had gone to the archives and started reading my way through her posts chronologically.
[I have been reading Zero Waste blogs for some time, beginning with the woman who started the genre: Bea Johnson and her blog “Zero Waste Home.” Ideally, I aspire to create less and less waste until I would approach zero waste. However, my ability to live a zero waste lifestyle tends to wax and wane depending upon my health.]
Newly reinvigorated by Kathryn’s example and enthusiasm, I set out to do my grocery shopping armed with my zero waste shopping kit and my Kleen Kanteen full of drinking water. Having completed my shopping, I decided to eat out at a restaurant that uses real plates. Since I had my own water bottle, I was able to avoid the plastic disposable cup with plastic disposable straw in a paper disposable wrapper. In fact, my entire lunch was waste free except for the sandwich toothpicks (with frilly plastic decorative ends) – and the paper napkin.
Suddenly, I was determined to stop wasting paper napkins. I remembered Kathryn saying in her blog that she carries reusable straws, cloth napkins, etc. in her bag, but I’m not ready to start carrying a pic-i-nic basket with me everywhere I go. And most cloth napkins are pretty bulky to be carrying around in one’s pocket, just in case. So I pondered…and pondered…
And then I had a flash of inspiration: Bandanas! Large but thin, and *made* to be carried around in a pocket. Not only could I easily carry a bandana around with me, but it’s also multipurpose. A bandana can be a handkerchief, a napkin (not necessarily in that order), a dust mask, a head band, or even a make-shift tourniquet. *And* I could wrap up the remains of a sandwich or a generous helping of potato chips in a bandana as well, thus avoiding a disposable food carton. (Anyone else remember learning how to make a hobo sack on a stick in scouting?)
I am well pleased with my elegant (in the engineering sense of the word) solution. Bandanas are lightweight and multipurpose. I have selected some that are 100% cotton (beware! some are made of polyester these days), and intend to use them to replace disposable products such as tissue paper and paper napkins, thus saving the planet and my bank account.
There are a variety of designs, including traditional cowboy paisley, and several sizes. I have selected a traditional 22″ x 22″ size, although you can also get them in 27″ square. If you shop around a little bit, you can buy a bandana for less than $1. I call that a pretty good deal.
Why is this a health hack? 1. Less garbage. 2. Most disposable paper products are made using toxic chemicals, including bleach. 3. More money to spend on healthy food, healthy products, or to invest in a healthy savings/investment account. Financial security is very good for your health! 4. You never know when you might need an emergency tourniquet…
In fact, here’s an entire blog post on survival uses for a bandana. Awesome!
Now go and buy yourself a bandana – Tell ’em Crew Dog sent you. 😉 Might even still be time to grab some as stocking stuffers… Heck, maybe we’ll start a stampede.
Some things in life are intimidating when you first attempt them – like jumping out of an airplane, getting Botox injections, or using a safety razor.
Backstory: I started using a cartridge razor (the kind with the disposable heads [cartridges] but permanent handle) decades ago. I was thoroughly, completely, and in every other way satisfied with my razor. And then disaster struck.
I dropped my razor one time too many, and a tiny plastic piece broke off – a piece which, it turns out, was critical to keeping the cartridge heads in place. I tried to keep using my trusty razor, but the head kept coming off while I was shaving – not ideal, to say the least.
Since I had a significant cache of cartridges (bought on sale at the BX/PX), and I had always been happy with my razor, my first thought was to buy a replacement handle. No joy.
It turns out that those handles are no longer being manufactured. Furthermore, I could not find one on Amazon, eBay, or anywhere else on the internet. In fact, I discovered that replacing that particular handle was a Holy Grail quest.
My search led me to shaving forums – oh, yes, there are multiple forums online, on which shaving enthusiasts debate the relative merits of cartridge razors vs. safety razors, various shaving brushes, shaving soaps/foams, and even razor blades. It turns out, my cartridge razor, unbeknownst to me, is considered one of the last good ones, before the handles became all plastic, and the cartridges kept sprouting more and more and more blades.
People from all over the world were searching for replacement handles for my razor, but the lucky few who had found them were not parting with them. Even individuals who nearly exclusively shave with safety razors or even straight razors clung to their [brand name] cartridge razors for travel, or just nostalgia.
Having failed to procure a replacement handle for the world’s best cartridge razor, I turned to Plan B. Although cartridge razors generate less garbage than plastic disposable razors, the cartridges are still thrown away after use. But safety razors only generate used steel razor blades, which can be recycled (please use a blade bank or a tin can to safely house the blades when you recycle them – don’t cut some poor unsuspecting person or animal who encounters your used blades to shreds!)
I had long been thinking that if anything ever happened to the world’s best cartridge razor, I would switch to a safety razor. Many people who are trying to reduce the amount of garbage they generate and the impact they have on the planet have switched to them – safety razors are typically all metal, and generate no plastic waste at all.
The process of selecting a safety razor to purchase was arduous – I read blog posts, search engine results, and many, many, shaving forum discussions. I did not find a safety razor with the same handle length as the best cartridge razor in the world. My cartridge razor is 5 inches from the top of the cartridge head to the end of the handle, and has always felt very good in my hand. I could not find any safety razor this long. The best I could find was 4 1/8 inches from the top to the end of the handle.
Having selected the razor, I then needed to select blades. I learned that quality razor blades are made in many countries: Sweden, Germany, Egypt, Russia, Israel – even the U.S. According to the forums, some brands of razor blade are “more aggressive” than others. This is important if you have sensitive skin or if you are a beginner.
One of the significant differences between cartridge razors and safety razors is that the head of a cartridge razor swivels to maintain a fairly constant angle between the blade(s) and your skin. Safety razors, on the other hand, hold the blade in a fixed position, and the human must adjust the blade angle manually in response to the changing contours of the surface being shaved. Fortunately, since humans have wrists, this is fairly easy to do.
However, there can be a bit of a learning curve during the transition from cartridge razors to safety razors. Therefore, the forums recommended beginning with a “milder” or “less aggressive” blade. I narrowed my list of possible blades down to two, and ultimately ordered the brand that could be delivered to me on the same day as the new razor.
The initial shave: It is a bit intimidating to unwrap the double-edged razor blade and place it in the razor. Especially if, like me, you only saw videos of safety razors with butterfly clasps, but the razor you purchased doesn’t open that way.
Unable to “open” my razor to insert the razor blade, despite my best efforts, I turned to Google, and eventually discovered how to work my razor (the entire head screws off, then it comes apart in two pieces, you insert the blade between the two places, sandwich them together, and screw it back on the handle – carefully).
Having watched several tutorials, I gave it a go, using the same old soap I always use. I was pleasantly surprised to discover how easy it was. The intimidation was for nothing – the hair disappeared easily, with fewer strokes than I was used to making, and I didn’t nick myself at all. Although I started out slowly, I soon was shaving with my normal speed.
Although there were a few moments when I missed the handle length of my old trusty cartridge razor, overall I was very pleased with my new safety razor. I’d call it a successful experiment that will lead to a lifestyle change and less plastic in the landfill (and everywhere else plastic migrates).
Why is this a health hack? 1. No plastic. 2. No garbage. 3. Many people report less razor burn and fewer ingrown hairs with the use of a safety razor. 4. Less expensive – so you can spend your money on quality food, exercise, or other healthy things (or invest it in a retirement fund).
Intimidated by the thought of trying a safety razor? Here’s a tutorial for men:
And here’s one for women. (There’s an article and an imbedded video at this link.)
Have you tried a safety razor? Why or why not?