by Fern Shaw | Jun 17, 2014 | Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
Last week in Part I, we were all about bad nutrition and productivity and skipping lunch. This week, the debate continues with mentions of the (for some) dreaded broccoli, superfoods and eating well at work.
Two journalists battled it out; one had spent time working in France, where lunch was always taken away from one’s desk. The other said that she would far rather power through her lunch break and have her sandwich at her desk as it would give her more time after work to spend with her family.
It would seem that having lunch away from your desk is the way to go, according to studies at the University of California. Taking the time out of your work environment gives your brain a breather and allows your brain to ‘power up’ and go back to work refreshed and ready for the next haul. Sitting at your desk doesn’t allow for that brain refresh. I’d say it’s similar to power napping, which I do and believe it works. (That’s a whole other topic for another blog).
Superfoods
*In the nineties, it was all about organic food. Then along came the concept of “superfoods,” a term used to describe foods that are supposedly really, really good for you. But it turned out to be more of a re-branding exercise for otherwise fairly mundane supermarket produce, like berries. And if you ask a scientist, the term superfood actually means something completely different. It’s used in academia to refer to calorie-dense food, like chocolate (aha!).
Broccoli
Apparently, the little green forest trees (as I like to call them), have been shown to help the immune system to clean harmful bacteria from the lungs. A compound found in the vegetable is now being trialled as a treatment for people with lung disease.
To ensure that the lungs function correctly, white blood cells called macrophages remove debris and bacteria that can build up in the lungs and cause infection.
**This cleaning system is defective in smokers and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – a combination of emphysema and bronchitis – who suffer from frequent infections.
Now, researchers have figured out that a chemical pathway in the lungs called NRF2, involved in macrophage activation, is wiped out by smoking. They also found that sulphoraphane, a plant chemical that is made by broccoli, cauliflower and other cruciferous vegetables when damaged, such as when chewed, can restore this pathway.
A brief aside here – I’m not lauding cauliflower because people have been raving about ‘delicious, creamy’ cauliflower mash that you make in place of mashed potato. Problem is I don’t have a blender, so I tried to hand mash the cauliflower. Let’s just say that cauliflower will not be darkening my door again, for some time.
Eating well
When surveyed by researchers from Nottingham University, staff at the UK’s National Health Service said they felt they had a responsibility to set an example for healthy eating at work. But the American Journal of Public Health found that for healthy eating habits at work to take any effect, workers’ families also had to get on board. What people eat at work is linked to their overall lifestyles and attitudes to nutrition.
I must say I do like the can-do attitude of the people at the NHS. Overall, I think it is important, as your working day takes up a lot of your hours awake (bar those power naps), to make sure that the powers-that-be in your work environment focus on your well-being too. Is there a water cooler? A water boiler? A hot drinks dispenser? Are there kitchen facilities at your workplace? Some type of eating station?
If not, perhaps you should squeak up and point out to said powers the clear benefits between nutrition and productivity.
*Excerpts from an article in Quartz.
**Excerpts from an article in the New Scientist
by Fern Shaw | May 19, 2014 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
Continuing my love affair with all things tree and in keeping with ‘best of British’, have a gander at 5 trees native to Britain. By native, we mean trees that are at home in Britain and have grown in the country for thousands of years. I’ve included two images of the beautiful birch trees that I mentioned in Trees and Water Part I.
All of these can be planted in your garden (should you have the space) and are fantastic to have as they encourage native insect and bird life.
Alder, Alnus glutinosa
- A quick-growing, nitrogen-fixing, insect-harbouring, bird-loving son of a gun
Planting an alder is a great way to invite birds and insects to live in your garden. These trees grow fast and love damp soil. In the winter, male catkins and female cones dangle from the branches. Its timber was used as a lure for woodworm, which would
prefer to eat away at a block of alder wood placed in a wooden cupboard than the cupboard itself.
Ash, Fraxinus excelsior
- A grand tree shrouded in mystery and folklore
For the Vikings, their ‘world tree’ was an ash: Yggdrasil united heaven, hell and earth. Many pagans saw the ash as a healing tree, and used it in ceremonies and treatments. The wood is very springy and can withstand sudden shocks, so is great for snooker cues and hockey sticks.
English oak, Quercus robur
- Famous for having strong timber, being a home for insects, and for living to a ripe old age
Oaks grow all over Britain. They’re the best at attracting insects (who’ll help to pollinate other plants in your garden)
and can live for over 500 years. Talk about heritage!
Hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna
- Its white flowers are a welcome sign of spring after a long winter
The hawthorn is also known as the May tree, and you’ve probably seen loads of its beautiful white flowers blooming in the month of May. Used in spring ceremonies, this tree also has more practical uses and its berries are thought to benefit the heart
and to lower blood pressure.
Hazel, Corylus avellana
- Nut bearing, food for humans and animals alike
If you grow a hazel, you can look forward to harvesting the tasty nuts and perhaps sharing them with garden friends such as squirrels and dormice. The catkins that grow on hazels also look pretty cool – they’re known as lamb’s tails.
So, there you have it. Five gorgeous trees for your garden, most bearing Nature’s bounty for the two legged, four legged (and even six and eight legged) alike.
You’ll need to forgive me if I don’t wax lyrical much more. Mrs Fitzsimmons took exception to my ‘plant a tree / bring a bonsai’ station at the water cooler and in protest, I’ve lashed myself to said water cooler as a last ditch stand. I see things going pear-shaped right smartly!
‘Plant a Tree! Plant a Tree!’
*Excerpts from 10 British trees to grow in your garden.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 25, 2014 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that thanks to social media, the gathering place to shoot the breeze, hang out, flirt a little, or just generally compare notes about how your Uncle Seamus’ carrots beat your colleague’s Aunty Bettina’s leeks in the local produce fair is not so much in the real world at the water cooler but rather through social media sites.
In a global survey by Alexa, as of December 2013, these social media sites took top dog position:
Facebook (colour us not surprised); QZone; V Kontakte; Odnoklassniki; Cloob and Drauglem.
Facebook is the dominant social network in in 127 out of 137 countries analysed.
Facebook has now 1,189 billion monthly active users, but it is growing less rapidly than before (it has added just 34 million active users in 6 months). 351 million users in Asia, 276 million in Europe, 199 million in US & Canada, 362 million in remaining countries. This according to Q3 2013 Earnings.
Active users as of January 2014 on various social media are: Facebook – 1.2billion; QZone – 623.3million; Google+ – 300million; Tencent Weibo – 220million; Twitter – 218million; Instagram – 218million and 4Sq at 8million.
Now I’m well immersed in the world of social media (for obvious reasons I hope) but these stats did jog me out of my little neck of the woods comfort zone to be sure – Cloob? Really?
When all is said and done though, I must say that I’m a little nostalgic. I recently received an article posted to me from a friend overseas – my address – ‘Blogista woman lurking at the water cooler, AquAid Water Coolers, Cambridge’- was handwritten. I pounced on it like it was platinum. A couple of days after someone e-mailed me this funny which sort of brought it home.
So, yes, it seems that social media is very likely the new water cooler, but I think I’ll stick with lurking around my local water cooler to catch up on the latest – before I truly become a ghost in the machine.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 25, 2014 | Water, water cooler
The image is of John Collier’s painting of Queen Guinevere’s Maying
May Day, not to be confused with the emergency ‘mayday’, on May 1 is an ancient Northern Hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday. It is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures. May Day coincides with International Workers’ Day, and in many countries that celebrate the latter, it may be referred to as “May Day”.
The emergency call: ‘Mayday, Mayday, Mayday,’ is believed to have originated in 1923 with Frederick Stanley Mockford (1897–1962). A senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London, Mockford was asked to think of a word that would indicate distress and would easily be understood by all pilots and ground staff in an emergency. Since much of the traffic at the time was between Croydon and Le Bourget Airport in Paris, he proposed the word “Mayday” from the French “m’aider” (“venez m’aider” meaning “come help me”). Now you know!
Back to the topic at hand though;
Traditional British May Day rites and celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a maypole. Much of this tradition derives from the pagan Anglo-Saxon customs held during “Þrimilci-mōnaþ” (the Old English name for the month of May meaning Month of Three Milkings) along with many Celtic traditions.
May Day has been a traditional day of festivities throughout the centuries. May Day is most associated with towns and villages celebrating springtime fertility (of the soil, livestock, and people) and revelry with village fetes and community gatherings. Since the reform of the Catholic calendar, May 1 is the Feast of St Joseph the Worker, the patron saint of workers. Seeding has been completed by this date and it was convenient to give farm labourers a day off. Perhaps the most significant of the traditions is the maypole, around which traditional dancers circle with ribbons.
The May Day bank holiday, on the first Monday in May, was traditionally the only one to affect the state school calendar, although new arrangements in some areas to even out the length of school terms mean that Good Friday (a common law holiday) and Easter Monday (a bank holiday), which vary from year to year, may also fall during term time. The Spring Bank Holiday on the first Monday in May was created in 1978.
Now, what has this to do with water coolers one may ask? Hm, well, May 1st is in spring; spring means renewal; May blossoms; blossoms require water as without water there would be no blossoms blossoming; crops growing and without hydrated humans to grow those crops … you get the general idea.
So, should you need water to keep you hale and hearty in order to produce food and rig up maypoles, think of us, AquAid, for all your hydration requirements!
by Fern Shaw | Apr 16, 2014 | Water Boilers, water cooler
I was trolling through the Google avenues when I came across this article about a seal that took up residence in a dinghy of a couple that were honeymooning on an island. When I saw the photo, I snorted my Kenco Coffee that I’d just served myself up from our AquAid Compact Boiler and narrowly missed electrocuting myself in the process.
From the article in The Telegraph:
A newly-wed couple were stranded on a remote island three miles from the mainland when a giant bull seal climbed into their inflatable dinghy and refused to budge for four days.
Eddie Stebbings, 35, and his bride Bee Bueche, 36, spent their first three months of married life together with a colony of Atlantic grey seals on Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast.
But their wildlife adventure took an unexpected turn when a giant seal took up residence in the dinghy they used to reach the mainland.
Eddie and Bee were married in August and returned to the windswept island where they are wildlife wardens just in time for the seal pupping season.
Eddie said: “One morning in October the seal flopped itself into the boat.
“It refused to budge for four days and was at one point joined by another seal.
“He was about four times my weight, eight foot long and clearly not worried about people coming close to him.”
The couple chose to spend their honeymoon on one of Britain’s most remote islands, which they shared with over 400 adult seals.
Have another gander at the weight of this cubby chappy! Almost makes me feel good about my weight issues. (Then again, I don’t live in the icy cold water which would justify extra warm keeping blubber).
*Sigh* Oh well, guess I’ll just take another schlurp of my coffee … and where’s that Danish that I asked for?!
Photo: CATERS
by Fern Shaw | Mar 26, 2014 | water cooler, Water Coolers
Last week I was sitting in my cubicle minding my own business, when Larry the Lurch came trundling past with a trolley.
The load was covered in one of those scary (but super useful) grey blankets movers tend to use. It slipped a bit and there was a flash of bright colour.
‘What ho?’ says I to Larry.
‘None of your beeswax’, came the reply.
Talk about waving a red herring in front of a carnivorous cat! I was off my stool and after Larry quicker than a flash.
Anyhow, after a minor scuffle, some choice language and a dressing down from the powers, I uncovered the hidden gems.
So, with much fanfare, a dash of facts and much hulabalooing, allow me to introduce AquAid’s latest little water cooler beauties:
The AquAid H-Duo is stylish, affordable, comes in a range of colours to suit any decor and offers unlimited amounts of both boiling and chilled filtered water.
Designed especially for the UK market, the model sits on your work surface and fits neatly under all overhead kitchen and office cupboards. As part of the package AquAid offers the complete service. WE do the installation, WE change the filters and in that rare event anything should go wrong, WE offer a guaranteed next-working day service call out.
What colours does the AquAid H-Duo come in?
The AquAid H-Duo comes in 10 gorgeous colour options. Silver, cream, black, bright red, dark red, yellow, lime green, blue, purple or orange. Simply enlarge any of the stylish AquAid D-duo’s on this page to see an enlarged version of the colour options.
Do I have to fill the AquAid H-Duo with water myself, like my coffee machine?
No, the beauty of the AquAid H-Duo is that it’s simply plumbed into your mains water supply. It automatically refills as you take water from it, so it is always ready to go, for both boiling and chilled water.
How much water will the AquAid H-Duo produce?
The AquAid H-Duo will produce 7 Litres per hour of chilled water. It will also produce 15 Litres of hot water. We recommend the H-Duo for offices with up to 15 staff.
How hot is the water when it is dispensed from the AquAid H-Duo?
With its unique ‘superhot’ button, the H-Duo can dispense water at temperatures as high as 98 ºC. This is the same temperature as a typical kettle dispenses water at.
How big is the AquAid H-Duo?
The AquAid H-Duo measures 32.5cm high, 30cm wide and 35cm deep. The dispensing spout is 23cm high.
How often do AquAid change the filters?
Our engineers will visit you every six months to change the appropriate filters, ensuring you always have clean, filtered water available.
Is the AquAid H-Duo difficult to operate?
The AquAid H-Duo has a state of the art touch screen panel. To dispense water, you simply choose whether you would like hot or cold water.
How do I clean it?
Simply wipe the AquAid H-Duo down with a damp cloth. The drip tray can be removed and cleaned separately.
It is energy efficient?
The AquAid H-Duo has an energy efficient, CFC-free cold water system and a powerful hot water system, yet both cost as little as 10-15p per day to run.
There you have it. Aren’t they grand? If you’d like one, contact AquAid and let us know which one of these little wonders you’d like. We’ll be happy to help.
