Small Things Count

It could be a loved one or a stranger. It doesn’t matter. A life is a life. You may find yourself in the presence of someone who has given up to the point that they’ve decided death is their only option. When that happens, be prepared. You probably have your cell phone with you, so use it. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). Or text 988. People at the other end are empathetic and trained to talk to people thinking about suicide. Keep these numbers handy, in your cell phone. You could save a life.

Take recycling seriously as a family, setting up easy-to-reach containers for items you’ll return for cash to a center and those to be picked up at your curb weekly, and be sure all family members use them.  In 2005 the U.S. saved resources and energy by recycling 32% of our solid waste.  This is 2002! We can do better, starting with your family and mine.

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

How often we hear a parent tell his child to “toughen up” or fight back. The parent’s heart is in the right place, wanting their child to grow up strong and secure and be a good person. But, as today’s Thursday Thought quote/picture suggests, might that not be the best path to take?

Most offices have “that person,” the one who gets on your nerves and makes your stomach churn when you see or (especially in these doing-business-via-Zoom days) hear them. In fact, a 5000-office worker study (The Global Human Capital Report) showed that 85% had to handle interpersonal conflict at work.

They make you irritable, unhappy, less productive — in essence, miserable. But you do NOT have to let them affect you in these ways. There are some things you can do. The article 6 Ways to Gracefully Handle the Most Difficult People in Your Life offers some concrete, effective ways. Do NOT let them get to you.

Here’s something I just learned. And am pleased about:

Last year, in 2021, the World Health Organization enhanced its history by appointing the first African-American and female leader. She’s Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

It’s that time of year.  IRS emails are hitting our IN boxes.  We have to be suspicious, because they’re really phishing/fishing for information to steal our money or identity.

The “From” address may or may not alert you.  I just got one, with IRS logos, from “IRS-team<[email protected]>”–a dead give-away.  Sometimes that non-IRS part won’t appear, but you may be able to make it appear by hovering over the address.  It doesn’t matter, though, because the IRS won’t ever send you such an email out of the blue, or send you a text or contact you via social media.  They like good old fashioned snail mail (of course!).

Protect yourself and help the IRS track down these scam artists.  Here’s what the IRS says to do:

1. Don’t reply.
2. Don’t open any attachments. They can contain malicious code that may infect your computer or mobile phone.
3. Don’t click on any links. Visit our identity protection page if you clicked on links in a suspicious email or website and entered confidential information.
4. Forward the email as-is to us at [email protected]. Don’t forward scanned images because this removes valuable information.
5. Delete the original email.

That same website gives instructions for when you receive a letter, fax, phone call, or text from (supposedly) the IRS or find yourself at a website claiming to be the IRS but you have your doubts.

Pass on this information to your friends and relatives.

20 pounds of food each month, thrown away, wasting 40% of America’s food supply each year. This waste affects us in more ways than most of us realize.  Consider what it costs to put that food in front of us: 10% of our energy budget, 50% of our land, 80% of the fresh water we use, and $165 billion each year in uneaten food. Polluting chemicals related to food production include fertilizers and insect-and-disease-control, but let’s not ignore the fact that all that food rotting in landfills produces 25% of the methane gas in our country.

It’s time to bring back the old “Clean Plate Club” many of the older generation grew up with.  If we aren’t going to eat the food we produce–or share it with the hungry in our country and all over the Earth–we should not be producing it.  It makes financial, ecological, and moral sense.

[The statistics were taken from the Natural Resources Defense Council.  Read their article on wasted food at http://www.nrdc.org/food/wasted-food.asp.]

It’s your decision, of course. If you aren’t COVID-vaccinated (even if you’ve had the virus, say the experts), I’m sure you’re protecting your families and friends and others by taking careful precautions when around them. And yourself, naturally.

Before you decide totally against it, though, here are some current numbers from the CA Dept. of Public Health: People who have not been fully vaccinated are

4x more likely to get infected

6x more likely to be hospitalized

18x more likely to die from the virus

I offer you today’s Thursday Thought quote/picture because, well, just because I like it.

This picture reminded me that I can choose to age in two different ways. My body may be crumbling, but my spirit still dances! I focus not on what I can no longer do but on what I can still do, including learning and experiencing new things.