by Fern Shaw | Sep 2, 2014 | Water, water cooler
Seeing as I’ve done more intensive online research for blogging this week than a mole trying to tunnel through concrete, I’m taking my foot off the proverbial accelerator pedal and doing a gentle segue into a few fun water facts:
- Human blood is 83% water. Now I better understand Dracul and his ilk – the oke’s just dehydrated, man!
- Over 90% of the world’s supply of fresh water is located in Antarctica. Ernest Shackleton and those that followed were definitely onto something.
- Since life began, we have had the same amount of water on the planet. To the best of human understanding, life can only exist with water. Now you know.
- The water from your tap could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank. Ew.
- More than half (63%) our daily water consumption at home originates from the bathroom and the toilet. Grey water rules!
- Water regulates the Earth’s temperature. Mine too! I overheat badly, so I can really relate.
- Water is the only mineral that is found naturally on Earth in three forms; liquid, gas, solid. Gas – *snigger*
- If the entire adult population of England and Wales remembered to turn off the tap when they were brushing their teeth, we could save 180 mega litres a day – enough to supply nearly 500,000 homes and fill 180 Olympic swimming pools! (One Olympic sized pool is 1 million litres / 1Ml). More brushing, less tap on and more tap off, people!
- Each Briton uses about 150 litres of tap water a day, but if you include the amount of water embedded within products, our water consumption increases to about 3400 litres a day.
At the rate this consumption is going on, I think I’m going to be bringing my blankie to work and draping myself around the water cooler for the foreseeable future.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 19, 2014 | Health and Hydration
It’s summer. It’s holiday time. But for those of us that are left to sweat it out in the office; cramps, headaches, sore muscles and wish-I-was-on-holiday blues are at an all-time high.
Here are a few tips to keep you moving and grooving at work:
The Lumberjack: Stand and clasp the hands together, resting them on the right shoulder as if holding an axe. Gently swing the imaginary “axe” by straightening the elbows and moving the hands toward the left thigh. Next, bring the clasped hands to the left shoulder followed by a swing to right thigh. Repeat 15 times on each side, or until all office plants have been hacked down.
The Cubicle Wanderer: Take a stroll down the corridor or to the water cooler to catch up with colleagues or welcome a new employee. Or, instead of dialling extensions and sending lazy emails to the manager two doors down, put in some face time. No sneak visits to Mr. Marmaduke’s biscuit tin en route though.
The Stapler Curl: Seated or standing, take the stapler in one hand with the palm facing upwards. Starting at the thighs, bend the elbow and curl the arm up towards the chest, just like a regular dumbbell biceps curl. Pause momentarily and then lower the stapler back down. Continue for 12-15 reps, then switch. Don’t have a weighty stapler? Try using a filled water bottle or a heavy change purse (the vending machine can wait!).
The Namaste: Whether you’re praying for a project extension or for more defined arms, this move has you covered. Seated upright with feet flat on the floor, bring the palms together in front of the chest and push both hands together powerfully until you feel the arm muscles contract. Hold the prayer hands pushed together for 20 seconds. Release and repeat the sequence until you feel a little more Zen.
Righty-oh, that should be enough to get you started. More of these later.
Remember though, whether your office / workplace is icier than the Northern Sea because of the aircon. that’s on at full tilt or its au naturel baking hot, both mean you can dehydrate pretty quickly, so make sure that you increase your water intake to stave off dehydration and match the physical exercise that you’re doing.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 4, 2014 | Health and Hydration, Water
Humans and animals have always had a rather tempestuous relationship. Everyone has their own belief system about this relationship, mine is pretty simple. I believe that we humanoids are by our mere presence obligated to look after animals. They are pretty magnificent creatures and have every right to enjoy their existence on this Earth. But, then, that’s just me.
Animals have fascinated me since I was the sprog of sprogs. Wild animals especially. Their capabilities have always astounded me, whether it’s an ant that can carry 100x its body weight or how about a hummingbird’s wings that can beat at an astonishing 200 times per second!
So, this led me to wonder – which animals are the heavyweights – hyuk hyuk – when it comes to water storage or the ability to last the longest without water?
As one would imagine, the camel is usually the animal that comes to mind. What is a little surprising though, is that the beautiful giraffe – or ‘jarfie’ as my family calls it – and the teensy kangaroo rat can go as long as the camel, if not longer, without slaking their thirst.
Camels
Camels have humps on their back filled with fatty tissue, not water. But one gram of fat is equivalent to one gram of water when metabolised. Storing fat in their humps, instead of having the fat distributed evenly throughout their entire body, allows the camel to keep cool. Otherwise, the overall body fat would act as insulation and cause extreme heat within the camel’s body. The fatty tissue in the hump is a source of energy and water that the camel uses when needed.
They rehydrate faster than any other mammal, able to gulp down 113 litres of water in just 13 minutes.
Giraffes
Giraffes can go longer periods of time without drinking water than a camel. Giraffes get most of their water intake from plant sources. Acacia leaves are the main plant food source for giraffes. They only drink water once every few days. Their bodies do not have resources to store water. However, their plant diet is plentiful and provides a large portion of their water intake
Growing up to 18 feet in height and weighing up to two tons, these gentle vegetarians need to eat around 34 kilograms of leaves and fruit per day.
Due to the high water content in the food they eat, giraffes have the ability to go weeks without drinking water – though when they do, they do it in a big way, guzzling up to 45 litres at a time.
Kangaroo Rats
In terms of endurance, kangaroo rats blow everybody else out of the water. Not that they need to be in the water either. Kangaroo rats drink water rarely. They live in arid environments and are able to metabolise water from their food, which consists primarily of seeds.
‘Roo-rats can go without water for so long because their bodies have evolved to conserve it. For example, most species of kangaroo rats have no sweat glands. Kangaroo rats may take their eschewing of water a little bit far, however, when you consider their bathing habits. In what may be the least refreshing bath known to the animal kingdom, kangaroo rats clean themselves by rolling in the dust.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 1, 2014 | Health and Hydration
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Where will you travel to on your summer hols?
I’ve always thought that I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to general knowledge. Especially travel knowledge. I already have what I call my water cooler list (‘bucket list’ is so 7 years ago).
I do have a ferpectly good reason for calling it my water cooler list. Here’s why – when I’m hanging about said water cooler, I always get to hear snippets about who’s been where; what it was like – you know, the usual gathering of the masses type confab. So, we got to talking about the destination.
HOD Mrs Furthingstoke’s dream (achieved) was the coast of Cornwall.
Bike messenger Mr Oogle stated that anywhere along the Tour de France route would be his idyll.
Mrs Tibbins said spelunking in Lechuguilla Cave in New Mexico, in the States, whereupon I choked on my hot drink and Mr Oogle almost swallowed his tongue.
Meeker than the proverbial mouse IT person, Tad, just glared at us, so I’d imagine his water cooler to travel to list is more in line with the worlds of something like the Child of Light PS3 game.
So inspired was I about all this info, I went and tripped the Google fantastic, seeking those – perhaps lesser known? – but still magical destinations and immediately decided that my knowledge is sorely lacking.
Meteora Rock (pictured above) – These massive sandstone fingers seem to emerge as much from a dream as from the plains of Thessaly. Towering as high as 2,044 feet above the lush landscape below, the steep peaks of Meteora are a perfect setting for a secluded monastery.
Monks and nuns have called Meteora’s peaks and caverns home for centuries. Hermits scaled the daunting peaks as early as the 10th century and, according to legend, St. Athanasios Meteorites rode an eagle to the top in the 1300’s to found Great Meteoron, the largest of the region’s six secluded monasteries.
This on my list.
The Crack of Silfra – Travel to Iceland and you’ll find a most curious occurrence on the boundaries of the North American and European plates.
Adjacent to Lake Thingvalla, you’ll find Silfra Crack. Filled with crystal-clear, glacial meltwater, this narrow slit plunges 66 feet into the Earth. It makes for a rather chilly descent, but sight-seeking divers make the pilgrimage each year to dive between the continents. Experienced cave divers can explore depths of more than 148 feet by swimming into the Silfra cave system.
Visitors frequently describe the Silfra diving experience as one of floating weightlessly through space. The glacial waters filter through miles of volcanic rock before emptying into the crack.
This not on my list. All very beautiful and amazing and stuff – but a tad claustrophobic for me.
The Reflecting Desert (pictured above right) – Just consider the Bolivian Uyuni Salt Flats, or Salar de Uyuni, a 4,000-square-mile plane of what appear to be hexagonal tiles. This extraordinary high-altitude landscape stretches among the snow-peaked Andean mountains, and if you happen to visit during the rainy season, you’re in for quite a sight.
When the rains sweep down onto the Uyuni Salt Flats, the entire expanse becomes an immense reflecting pool. The water on the salt flats never reaches a depth of more than 15 centimetres, so it offers visitors the unique sensation of walking on the surface of a mirror — all amid a desolate silence.
The unique landmark is actually the remnant of a prehistoric lake and currently ranks as the largest salt flat in the world.
This on my list.
When I returned to the water cooler to share my finds, It seemed like I’d fallen into an episode of Dr. Who: –
… ‘We’ve no water in the water coolers’, says Tad, ‘so everybody’s most likely dehydrated’.
‘What?’ splutters HOD Mrs Furthingstoke, ‘what does that have to do with everyone not performing at their peak? Pure poppycock, I’m sure!’…
*sigh* Guess my water cooler list is my water cooler list.
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!
