by Fern Shaw | Jul 24, 2013 | water cooler
So, last week, we spoke about the keeping hydrated in a heat wave. This week, before everyone goes doo-lally with water usage, the Sergeant Major in me (he’s as stocky as Stockton and he’s moustache is more bristly than Bristol) harrumphed up and hissed ‘Water conservation at all costs Shaw, regardless!’ to me.
So, this blog, I’m moving away from the how to look after ourselves aspect and looking at how to look after our gardens, lawns and plants in this heat:
- Adjust your lawn mower to a higher setting. A taller lawn shades roots and holds soil moisture better than if it is closely clipped.
- Use sprinklers for large areas of grass. Water small patches by hand to avoid waste.
- Do not water your lawns and or plants during the hottest hours of the day – more than likely it will just burn the lawn and or plants and not feed either.
- Remember to check your sprinkler system valves periodically for leaks and keep the sprinkler heads in good shape.
- Don’t water your lawn on windy days when most of the water blows away or evaporates.
- Trickling or cascading fountains lose less water to evaporation than those spraying water into the air. In fact, during a heat wave, it’s advisable to turn the fountain off (unless it’s a drinking fountain or is a source of water for animals and pets).
And remember, preferable not to use the water from your office water cooler to water your garden, lawn or plants – unless of course it’s your carefully cultivated, ten year old bonsai that you keep on the conference table (a. because it’s inside and b. because it’s in the shade, so you’re allowed).
by Fern Shaw | Jul 24, 2013 | Health and Hydration
I’ve always had an inkling about the too little / too much salt intake factor. To me, it’s always about balance and moderation. Yes, most foods are so stuffed with salt that we’ve become a nation that could probably turn into a pillar of salt without any help from Lot and his tribe. Or a salt lick for a gee-gee (that’s horse in adult language). So, whenever I am tempted to salt everything (which I pretty much do anyhow), ending up as a salt lick for an animal gives me pause for thought.
I’ve always had a fascination with salt; my current obsession is curing olives. From scratch – well, from pick. Yes, olives that I picked with my very own pale and interesting hands. Basic requirements: bags of salt, water and oceans of patience. Like, really. Up to 9 weeks of patience. As this is a rather lengthy subject (as with the olive curing), I’m going to be dividing the water and sodium blogs up, so that I don’t lose you – zzzzzz – halfway through and so that you can absorb (ha) the information.
Most of us are familiar with the warning that we should restrict salt (sodium) in our diet. Too much salt intake, we are told, can be bad for us.
While that is true, it is also true that sodium, in proper concentrations, is a mineral that is essential for helping your body to maintain good health. Located primarily in the blood and in the fluids inside and outside of the cells, sodium is vital for normal nerve and muscle function, and is required to maintain normal fluid balance within and around the cells.
It’s when sodium levels become too high or too low that imbalances can result, setting the stage for disease.
Your body’s supply of sodium is derived from foods and drinks you consume, while sodium is excreted primarily through perspiration and during urination. Your kidneys maintain a consistent level of sodium in the body by regulating the amount of sodium that is eliminated in the urine. But when sodium intake and excretion are not in balance, the total amount of sodium in the body is affected. Changes in your body’s sodium levels directly affect your body’s blood volume (how much water your blood contains).
Later blogs will detail what too much and too little salt does to us; good and bad salts and the top 10 foods high in sodium.
For this week, and especially keeping in mind the heat we’re experiencing; I think it’s important to remember to keep hydrated, especially as you are more likely to sweat (men); perspire (general people) and ‘glow’ (women with Victorian age sensibilities). This means that you are not only losing water vital to all your body functions, but you are also sweating salt, which needs to be replenished.
This does not necessarily mean that you now have license to eat bags and bags of salt ‘n vinegar crisps as you will find that most foodstuffs are already salted (contain sodium). Just stay cool, drink your water, keep calm and carry on.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 15, 2013 | Health and Hydration
Or as Martha sang, ‘Heat wave …. uh … Heat waaaaaaave …’
Or as a fellow FB’er posted … ‘Don’t we just call this summer?’
Anyhow, tamayto, tomado, whatever the weather *cue all-knowing sniggering* the fact remains, when the temperatures soar, do you know how to keep hydrated?
Here’s a refresher (thanks for this, AquAid compadré) about keeping yourself refreshed and hydrated through this blistering (and no, do not mean this in a sexy way) heat. To make it super easy, I’ve repeated keeping cool ideas for home, work and all around.
In the workplace:
- Stay hydrated! Set an alarm clock if necessary to make sure that you visit the water cooler as often as needs be to replenish your drinking water.
- Chill your wrists: Run cold water over your wrists for a minute every hour. Try not to do this using the cool water from the water cooler – it’s messy and I doubt the water cooler station is meant to be used as a private bathing area. Rather use the taps in the bathroom.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature. Yep, the water cooler station is perfect for this.
- Turn off electronics: If they’re not being used, unplug electronic devices to keep them from generating unnecessary heat.
At home:
- Chill your wrists: Run cold water over your wrists for a minute every hour:
- Stay hydrated! Kids may not feel thirsty, but it’s essential to stay hydrated, so make sure young ones are getting lots of water. If you’re planning to leave the house, freeze some water bottles and take them with you.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature.
- Try to keep water refrigerated prior to drinking, if possible.
- A little help from some fans: They may be little, but those battery-operated personal fans can make a big difference.
- Frozen flannel: Freeze a flannel and then plop it on the back of your and your family’s necks – instant refresher.
- Turn off electronics: If they’re not being used, unplug electronic devices to keep them from generating unnecessary heat.
- Stay downstairs: Downstairs areas tend to be cooler. Herd kids into an air-conditioned basement, if available. If not, stay on the ground floor.
- Don’t cook: Feed your family fresh foods such as salads and fruit. Not only will this cool the body’s core, it’ll also keep cooking-related heat from filling up the house.
- Postpone laundry: Plan to do heat-generating activities after the sun goes down. Do laundry at night, for example.
All around:
- Shut windows and pull down the shades when it is hotter outside. If it’s safe, open them for ventilation when it’s cooler.
- Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun and don’t go out between 11am and 3pm (the hottest part of the day) if you’re vulnerable to the effects of heat.
- Keep rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows. If this isn’t possible, use light-coloured curtains and keep them closed (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).
- Have cool baths or showers, and splash yourself with cool water.
- Drink cold drinks regularly, such as water and fruit juice. Avoid tea, coffee and alcohol.
- Stay tuned to the weather forecast on the radio or TV, or at the Met Office website.
- Plan ahead to make sure you have enough supplies, such as food, water and any medications you need.
- Identify the coolest room in the house so you know where to go to keep cool.
- Wear loose, cool clothing and a hat if you go outdoors.
- Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be less able to look after themselves.
- People who have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease; are on fluid-restricted diets; or have a problem with fluid retention should consult a doctor before increasing liquid intake.
- If you’re sweating a lot, be quick to replace lost salts and minerals as well as water. Fruit juice or sports drinks with electrolytes are good choices, but do not take salt tablets unless directed to by your doctor. Taking calcium supplements, however, is a good idea.
- Drink cool (but not icy cold) liquids to help lower your body temperature. Try to keep water refrigerated prior to drinking, if possible.
by Fern Shaw | Jun 28, 2013 | Health and Hydration
This week I thought I’d take my foot off the proverbial history; good-for-you, bad-for-you, beat you with the facts and dates accelerator and trip the light irreverent with some more trivia:
Channel Tunnel
To dig the Channel Tunnel, 11 tunnel boring machines were used to extract 8 million cubic meters of chalk, clay and soil. At the end of the drill one of the boring machines was buried in the side of the tunnel. (I wonder if our water coolers were installed down there during construction? I’ll have to ask!)
The tunnel has over 100 miles of railway lines, 1200 telephones and 20,000 lighting fixtures over its length. The building of the channel tunnel involved 15,000 workers.
Scaremongering
Thanatos is a term widely used in psychoanalytic theory to represent the encouraging to destruction, or an apparent pleasure in seeing the worst outcome. It seems that much of the UK press knows this term all too well with headlines like ‘House Market Throttled as Loans Fall 56%’ – the article then explained that mortgage issues were down by 56%.
What the press is failing to explain in the headlines or the articles (in many cases) is that measures such as this only use part of the total loans i.e. new loans and do not account for all the mortgage market – and especially remortgages.
Agatha Christie
The only statue in the world of the prolific crime writer Agatha Christie is a bronze bust on the seafront at Torquay (her birthplace) opposite the Grand Pavilion. It is believed that the Grand Pavilion is where her first husband proposed to her.
The Guinness Book of Records lists Agatha Christie as the best-selling fiction author of all time estimating 2-billion of her books have been sold in 103 languages worldwide. Her first novel, published in 1920, was “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” and she received £26 for it.
Champagne Bubbles
Britain pops the cork on champagne bottles to the tune of 40 million times a year, which is pretty impressive, and something to celebrate particularly when you consider that is twice as many as the next biggest market – the USA. In fact the only people to drink more champagne than the Brits are The French, but then, they do make it. (As delicious as bubbly is, remember to keep hydrated with water in between all that bubbles quaffing – your body will thank you).
And finally …
Steeple chasing
Steeple chasing began in 1750’s when two riders in Ireland decided to test their horses’ speed by racing across country between two churches – steeple to steeple. (No, no, AquAid did not provide the refreshments, the first water cooler was a hundred years or so away!)
by Fern Shaw | Jun 24, 2013 | water cooler, Water Coolers
So, there I was, lurking (and trust me, blogista’s lurk with style) at the water cooler, almost in a lion-gathering-around-the-watering-hole (but not as predatory) manner, waiting to pick up on tips regarding the general consensus of the effectiveness of said water cooler.
Sadly, even though I lurked for a number of days (perhaps my four day leg fuzz was a tad off putting?) I didn’t pick up anything worthwhile – apart from Tad’s recipe for lemony corn fritters – way to go Tad.
So, I broke my watch and haired *harf harf harf* off to my desk and my beloved pc. Now, there’s true inspiration, just waiting to be resourced.
Factual and informative stuff
- A water cooler on site can increases staff productivity.
- Saves on electricity costs. For a reference on this story, read about Winston.
- AquAid have more distribution centres than any other water cooler company.
- Water wastage is reduced as there are no dripping taps and no having a beady eyed staff member appointed to constantly check on potential water wastage.
- AquAid also include an illustrated urine chart for the bathrooms upon purchase of a water cooler. This chart indicates hydration vs. dehydration so you can see at-a-glance whether you should be upping your water intake.
- The water in AquAid’s bottle fed coolers means you are drinking water from source, with a consistent mineral content.
- By having an AquAid water cooler on site, you allow easy access for your schoolchildren at schools and staff at your company to keep hydrated, thereby indicating your care for their well-being.
Touchy-feely feel good stuff (also factual)
- By having an AquAid water cooler on site, you allow easy access for your schoolchildren at schools and staff at your company to keep hydrated, thereby indicating your care for their well-being.
- Every purchase of an AquAid water cooler means a donation to our chosen charities, Christian Aid and The Africa Trust.
- Donations to The Africa Trust mean that millions of people in rural communities throughout Africa have access to clean, fresh drinking water and continue to have access due to more Elephant Pumps being built every year.
- By keeping yourself hydrated and learning more about correct hydration, you become an ‘ambassador’ for drinking sufficient water and thereby create awareness while keeping yourself healthy, happy and productive.
We have oodles of information about sufficient water intake, hydration and all other matters water available for a squizz at our blog page. We also welcome your feedback and comments on the blogs as learning every day is just grand.
