Blogs

Hawaii is the happiest state in the union..according to a new survey...and Wisconsin needs to get its smile on if it wants to move up in the rankings.

The new findings come from something called the Gallup Healthways Well-being Index, in which 350-thousand people were interviewed, with averages given in categories including life evaluation, healthy behaviors (do they smoke or drink?),  work environment, physical health, and access to health care. Hawaii and Utah top the list, but Wisconsin's neighbors of Minnesota and Iowa make the top five. Wisconsin comes in at number 27, with a 66.0% average in all those categories.

It might be interesting to note that the average in the happiest state (Hawaii) is 70.2, and the lowest state, West Virginia, comes in at 60.5 percent. So what this really says..is we're really all somewhere in the middle, and that everybody could probably use a happiness booster shot!

It’s not easy to land your dream job, and you’ve got to start somewhere. We’ve all been in the same position — getting the coffee and bagel order in the morning, filing, copying, and answering more phone calls than you ever thought possible. But, as you begin your career with an internship or entry level position, you welcome these daily challenges in the hopes that it will lead to something bigger and better in the field that you love.

Would you do this?

There's a new website called Failin.gs, still in developement, that will allow you to solicit your friends' opinions of you, provided in an anonymous forum. The point of it is to generate true critical feedback, for those who really want it, in a personality-neutral environment.

That is, all of the comments will be anonymous, though a security system will ensure that only people who know you (by virtue of knowing some fact about yourself that you choose) can make comments about you. The premise is that if people can anonymously comment on your value as a person, they will do so with complete honesty for the sole purpose of helping you to be a better person. What could possibly go wrong?

Learning from the Late Night Wars

I'm probably not the only one that has gotten a little sick of the battle between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien. I usually don't even stay up late enough to watch any of their shows, but Friday I did stay up to see what Conan would have to say.

I was expecting more silliness like the day before, when Pee Wee Herman came on the show to tell the Conan vs. NBC story with stuffed animals. Conan was a giraffe, and NBC was a peacock, and they got into a heckuva fight. It was pretty funny.

But Conan got serious on his last show instead--something I wasn't really expecting, telling his audience: "All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."

Of all the things you do expect to find in a hotel room, an unexpected person warming up your bed probably isn't one of them.

Holiday Inn is offering a trial human bed-warming service at three hotels in Britain this month. If requested, a willing staff-member at two of the chain’s London hotels and one in the northern city of Manchester will dress in an all-in-one fleece sleeper suit before slipping between the sheets.

“The new Holiday Inn bed warmers service is a bit like having a giant hot water bottle in your bed,” Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall. The bed-warmer is equipped with a thermometer to measure the bed’s required temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Holiday Inn said the warmer would be fully dressed and leave the bed before the guest occupied it. They could not confirm if the warmer would shower first, but said hair would be covered.

For some reason, I've got the Who singing in my ear..."aint no cure for the summertime blues.." But for some reason, they're singing "wintertime blues" instead.

A lot of people get the blues in the winter, especially here in the Midwest where we just don't get a lot of sunlight. It's got an official name--seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Scientists believe it's brought about by a hormonal imbalance brought on by the shortening of daylight hours and a lack of sunlight in winter..and your mood is partly influenced by sunlight, melatonin, serotonin, and vitamin D.

So how can you combat it? It's probably not a bad idea to pop a Vitamin D pill..but you should also try to expose yourself to more sunlight.

Here are some suggestions:

White gloves, bleach and even a vat of antibacterial hand gel can't save you.

For all the germaphobes, please tune out now. I found an article that lists the six grossest and dirtiest places in your home.

Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona’s Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, and the co-author of The Germ Freak’s Guide to Outwitting Colds and Flu:, shares the 6 germiest places in the home (in no specific order):

Washing Machines - Ninety-five percent of Americans use cold-water washes at an average wash cycle of around 12 minutes when they do their laundry. Short washes in cold water might remove some germs from clothing, but many germs remain hidden in the machine to contaminate the next unwitting batch of clothes or linens. If you’re a cold-water washer, switch sides and wash most loads in hot water. For undergarments, use bleach to ensure cleanliness.

 Phew! Finally, one of the great debates of all time has been scientifically proven: it is less painful to rip off a band-aid quickly than it is to peel it off slowly.

Meantime, cancer's cure still waits.

But hey, rip away!

Fletcher Keyes hosts the Fletch & Heather morning show on 94.9 WOLX

 Phew! Finally, one of the great debates of all time has been scientifically proven: it is less painful to rip off a band-aid quickly than it is to peel it off slowly.

Meantime, cancer's cure still waits.

But hey, rip away!

Here's a demonstration of how to do it, sort of....

It's 2010 and you may have many plans to improve your life in the new year.  Perhaps you're planning on losing some weight or maybe getting a better job.  It's great to start the new year off with some big plans.  Just remember that you can't loose 25 pounds in a week and you're not getting a better job or a bigger house tomorrow.  All these things take time. 

In other words, pace yourself.  I remember when I first got back into exercises I tried to run 5 miles immediately.  I ran out of steam after the second mile.  I was pretty disappointed in myself and didn't even feel good that I had gone out for a run for the first time in about 8 months.  It almost made me want to just give up the whole thing.  It would have been much better if I would have just planned to run 2 miles to start.

Good luck and remember it's okay for a new year's resolution to take almost the whole new year to complete!