Feedback on Relax Magazine???

Hi Folks;

As I posted that OTHER post, I realized that I should have posted this one!

One of the reasons we started this blog was to accept feedback and start discussions about the printed version of Relax Magazine.

Please don't post any comments of a personal nature, (email those to info@relaxmagazine.ca but ... if you have any feedback about the printed magazine, please consider THIS post your forum to add comments, suggestions, or article ideas.

Thanks for reading the magazine. If you haven't received it, you can view two articles every month by visiting the main page of our web site at: www.relaxmagazine.ca.

Thanks again for helping shape future issues.

-Kory

Cheryl is VERY Busy

Hi - shhhh - don't wake Cheryl. I'm Kory, Webmaster of Relax Magazine.

This post may APPEAR to come from Cheryl - owner and editor of Relax Magazine, but it's actually from me, Kory Hopkins - owner of www.DecentExposure.com.

Cheryl doesn't actually know I'm doing this. So ... don't tell her.

To be honest - I don't know where Cheryl gets the time to run a magazine. Every month, I read her column and discover she's taken on another hundred-hour-a-month job.

In September, she spent 200-hours working on her hardwood floors.
In August she learned to drive a racecar.
May June and July, she played (and coached? managed? hindered?) the Relaxinators softball team right into the basement of their league, (although proudly - they DID win three games by default.)
In April, by all accounts, she spent the month picking up dog poop in the back yard.

Frankly Cher - you make us look bad. Slow down woman! Just once I wanna read a column where you did nothing for a day - spend a day in bed watching Oprah and eating bon bons.

Well, there - we NOW have a post in September.

-Kory

Try finding you own Luck

Fields are filling now with greenery, perhaps you might take on a four-leaf clover hunt.
The mystical ‘weed’ has long been revered in the Irish culture in particular, but four, five or more leaves are even more common that you may think.

A four leaf clover refers to an aberration of a three leaf clover plant, the Trifolium repens or "white clover." The white clover is a deep green flowering vine with white blossoms. It is the original shamrock plant of Ireland and the unofficial state symbol. The shamrock already has powerful associations, and its occasional production of an extra leaf makes the rare four leaf clover especially lucky.

The three leaves of the white clover have become associated with the Christian Trinity, or God the Father, His Son, and The Holy Spirit. The extra leaf of the four leaf clover is said by some to stand for God's grace. A less dogmatic interpretation is that one leaf stands for faith, another for hope, the third for love and the last for luck.

One breeder claims only about 1 in 10,000 plants will naturally mutate to produce a four leaf clover. They believe environmental stresses cause the mutation, and that a plant which mutates regularly is even rarer.

Many myths are associated with four leaf clovers. Finding one not only brings good luck, but in the Middle Ages, it was also thought to allow the bearer to see fairies and plant sprites. So it was that children often searched fields for a four leaf clover in order to see into the magical realm of the spirit world.

If you find a four leaf clover you can consider yourself very lucky indeed. When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden, legend has it that Eve was holding a four leaf clover. Curiously, the lore of the white clover plant is also associated with repelling snakes, though it didn't seem to work in the Garden of Eden!

Making a simple flower press and drying the clover that you find might make a fine gift for a friend who needs a little pick-me-up.

Whatever the reason, the next time you see a patch of clover on your lawn or in the park take a look and maybe you will find the luck of the Irish.

It might be a good deal but...

Now is the time for garage sales. There is nothing better than finding a bargain, but when is a bargain a problem in disguise.
Health Canada released this warning about the responsibilities of selling older, unapproved products, even if you sold it from your own driveway.
Everyone holding a garage sale is legally responsible for ensuring that products sold, whether new or used, are safe and meet current safety standards. It is important to only sell items that are in good condition. Damaged articles should be discarded.

Before selling a product at a garage sale, check with the manufacturer to see if it has been recalled and if the problem has been corrected. If it has been recalled and the problem has not been corrected, do not sell the product. Destroy it and throw it away.

The Hazardous Products Act is administered by Health Canada. It has safety requirements for certain consumer products, many of which are intended for use by children. Under the law you cannot import, sell, give away or distribute products that do not meet the requirements of the Hazardous Products Act.

The following is a partial list of products that must meet safety requirements under the Hazardous Products Act:

BABY GATES – Baby gates that have large diamond-shaped or large "V" openings at the top are not allowed to be sold in Canada. A child's head can get caught in these openings and the child could strangle. To meet the regulations, baby gates must come with information that identifies the manufacturer, model number, and the date of manufacture.

BABY WALKERS BANNED – Baby walkers have been illegal to sell since April 2004. Anyone with a baby walker is advised to destroy it..

CAR SEATS must meet the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. Before selling a used car seat, check with Transport Canada at 1-800-333-0371.

CHILDREN'S JEWELLERY – Lead is a soft, heavy, bluish-grey metal which is often used to make inexpensive jewellery. Lead is very toxic.. Jewellery containing lead which has a protective or decorative coating is not safe, since children can easily chew off the coating. If you are not sure if a children's jewellery product contains lead, it is wiser not to offer it for sale.

CHILDREN'S SLEEPWEAR – Loose-fitting sleepwear (including nightgowns, bathrobes, and loose pyjamas) burn more easily if made of cotton or cotton blends. To meet the flammability requirements, loose-fitting children's sleepwear should be made of polyester, nylon or polyester/ nylon blends. Cotton or cotton-blends may only be used for tight-fitting styles such as sleepers or polo pyjamas.

CRIBS – To meet the regulations, cribs must come with information that identifies the manufacturer, model number, date of manufacture and assembly instructions. Cribs made before September 1986 do not meet current safety standards and are not allowed to be sold under the law. It is also important that the mattress used in the crib fits snugly, with a gap of no more than 3 cm between the mattress and the crib. The spacing between the bars should be no more than 6 cm. Corner posts should be no more than 3 mm high. The mattress support must be firmly fixed to the end panels. Cribs that have a floating mattress support system with S or Z-shaped hooks are not safe. Cribs with visible signs of damage, missing parts, or missing warning information should be destroyed.

HOCKEY HELMETS AND FACE PROTECTORS sold in Canada must meet safety standards set by the Canadian Standards Association International (CSA). If the CSA sticker is not present throw the product away. .

LAWN DARTS BANNED – It is illegal to sell lawn darts with elongated tips in Canada.

PLAYPENS – Do not sell playpens that have protruding bolts, worn or faulty mechanisms, or torn vinyl or mesh. Playpen mesh must be small mosquito-type netting. When selling a folding playpen, ensure that all locking mechanisms work and set-up instructions are included..

STROLLERS – Carriages and strollers made before 1985 may not meet current safety standards and must not be sold. Strollers must come with a lap belt, or safety harness that is solidly attached to the seat or frame. Ensure the brakes, as well as locking mechanisms on folding models, are in working order.

BICYCLE AND ROLLERBLADING HELMETS are designed to protect the head against a single impact. It is not recommended to resell these products.

DRAWSTRINGS ON CHILDREN'S CLOTHING especially on snowsuits, jackets and sweatshirts, can become caught on playground equipment, fences or other objects. Drawstrings on children's clothing should be removed prior to sale.

WINDOW BLINDS – The cords and bead chains from blinds and curtains present two main strangulation hazards to children: pull-cords, inner cords, and bead chains forming a loop in which a child can get caught; and long cords being wrapped around a child's neck. Products with looped pull-cords, and those without inner cord stop devices and important safety labelling, should not be sold. Inner cord stops are small, plastic rings knotted to the top of the pull-cords, to stop the inner cords from being pulled through the slats. It is very important to keep blind and curtain pull-cords out of the reach of children, regardless of whether blinds are new or old.

INFANT BATH SEATS AND BATH RINGS – It is not recommended to resell these products because the suction cups or other means to attach them to a tub can be ineffective. Additionally, many people mistakenly believe that these products are safety devices and caregivers may think that the product will keep an unsupervised baby safe in the tub.
At this time of year, Health Canada reminds Canadians that along with the warmer weather comes garage sale season. This is not only a great time for bargains, but also a time to exercise caution both as a buyer and as a seller. Caution is required to protect the safety of consumers who may use second-hand products. In Canada, the safety laws that apply to the sale of new products also apply to the sale of used items. Under these laws, it is illegal to import, sell, or even give away products that do not meet the requirements of the Hazardous Products Act (HPA).

Vendors are responsible for ensuring that all items sold or distributed at garage sales, flea markets, and second-hand stores fulfill the applicable requirements of the Hazardous Products Act and the Radiation Emitting Devices Act (REDA). The REDA covers such items as microwave ovens, UV facial lamps and personal tanning equipment. Resold items must also meet current standards.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Consumer Product Safety,
Health Canada

Don't hold back the tears

From the ThirdAge website
Did you know that tears contain toxins? Sounds like crying may remove byproducts of stress from the body. What does this mean for mind-body health?
Humans are the only animals who shed tears of emotion. Why do we cry? Are there any physical or health benefits from crying?
Years of tears
"Until the Industrial Revolution, crying in public was pretty normal, even for men," says Tom Lutz, Ph.D., an associate professor of English at the University of Iowa and author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears. "Heroic epics from Greek times through the Middle Ages are soggy with weeping of all sorts," Dr. Lutz says. "Through most of history, tearlessness has not been the standard of manliness."
For instance, when Roland, the most famous warrior of medieval France died, 20,000 other knights wept so profusely they fainted and fell from their horses. Long before that, the Greek warrior Odysseus cries in almost every chapter of Homer's Iliad while St. Francis of Assisi was said to have been blinded by weeping. Later, in the 16th century, sobbing openly at a play, opera or symphony was considered appropriately sensitive for men and women alike.
Tearless generations
The industrial age needed diligent, not emotional, workers. Crying was then delegated to privacy, behind closed doors. Children learned that weeping itself was the problem and not the result of a problem. People everywhere became more uncomfortable with public tears.
The purpose of crying
Throughout history and in every culture, people cry. "Weeping often occurs at precisely those times when we are least able to fully verbalize complex, overwhelming emotions and least able to fully articulate our feelings," Lutz writes.
Crying can also be an escape; it allows us to turn away from the cause of our anguish, and inward toward our own bodily sensations. Scientists feel that weeping is probably necessary because no human behavior has ever continuously evolved unless it somehow contributed to survival.
"Science has proven that stress is terrible for the health of your brain, heart and other organs," says William Frey II, Ph.D., biochemist and tear expert of the Ramsey Medical Center in Minnesota. "It isn't proven yet, but weeping has most likely served humans throughout our evolutionary history by reducing stress."

Studying the waterworks
In one oft-quoted study, Frey studied five different groups of people. The people kept records of all emotional and irritant crying episodes for a period of 30 days. Information such as date, time, duration, reason for crying, thoughts, emotions and physical components, such as "lump in throat," watery eyes vs. flowing tears, etc.
Frey found that 94 percent of the females had an emotional crying episode in the 30-day recording period, as compared with only 55 percent of the males. Eighty-five percent of women and 73 percent of men reported feeling better and more relieved after a good cry. Dr. Frey's lab also chemically examined tears produced by onions and compared them with emotional tears. While chemical tears (caused by onions) were 98 percent water, emotional tears contained more toxins.
Why do people produce tears?
Tears are secreted through a duct, a process much like urination or exhalation. Frey believes that like these other processes, tearing may be involved in removing waste products or toxic substances from the body. .
"Crying is natural, healthy and curative," according to Barry M. Bernfeld, Ph.D., director of the Primal Institute in Los Angeles. "[But] crying which should be the most natural, accepted way of coping with pain, stress, and sorrow is hardly mentioned in psychiatric literature. Now we seem finally to recognize that crying is good for people."

Nerd bagel box

We saw this idea on the Lifehacker website under their MacGyver tips and thought it was pretty good. It involves using a CD spindle case as a plastic container to carry a sandwich made from a bage. Just be sure to wash out the case before you use it. A 10-CD spindle fits one bagel , a 50 CD-spindle can carry up to three!
Because the lid locks there is no fear of the bagel(s) falling out and they can't be crushed.

Picnic safely

The weather is getting warm and thoughts turn to leaving the house for the afternoon, why not have a picnic.
Picnics can take on many forms, such as the community picnic, friends and neighbors, tailgate parties, or ball games. There is also one sure thing at every picnic-lots of good food. The important point is to have safe and healthy food, not food that can cause food borne illness. Always prepare and store food properly. These tips are from the What's Cooking America website.

* As always, wash hands and work areas before preparing food.

* Plan your menu with an eye to safe food handling. Cook foods in plenty of time to thoroughly chill them in shallow containers in the refrigerator.

* Have enough coolers with ice or frozen gel packs in which to store the perishable foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs and salads. You want to keep the food at 40 degrees F. Pack foods right from the refrigerator into the coolers.

* Don't put the cooler in the car trunk; Carry it inside an air-conditioned car. At picnics, keep the cooler in the shade and keep the lid closed. Replenish the ice if it melts.

* Use a separate cooler for drinks so the one containing the food won't constantly be opened and closed.

* Find out if there's a source of safe drinking water at your destination. If not, bring water for preparation and cleaning; or pack clean, wet, disposable cloths or moist towelettes and paper towels for cleaning hands and surfaces. Cross-contamination during preparation, grilling, and serving food is a prime cause of food borne illness.

* Pack raw meats, poultry, or seafood on the bottom of the cooler. This will reduce the risk of them dripping on other foods. Pack coolers until they are full. A full cooler will stay cold longer than one that is partially full.

* If you plan on getting takeout foods such as fried chicken, Eat them within an hour of pick up.

* Do not partially grill extra meat or poultry to use later. Once you begin, cook until completely done to assure bacteria are destroyed. Grill raw poultry until the juices run clear and there is no pink. Hamburger should not be pink in the center.

* When taking food off the grill, Don't put the cooked items on the same platter which held the raw meat unless you have washed the platter in between uses.

* Two Hour Rule. Don't leave perishable food un-refrigerated for more than two hours. Put perishable foods back in the cooler or refrigerator as soon as you finish eating. Don't leave them out while you go for a swim or a hike, and don't leave them out all afternoon to nibble on.

* Chances are, picnic leftovers have been sitting out for more than an hour or two. Discard these leftovers. Cold food that were kept in a cooler that still has ice may be safe. If the ice has melted, the food should be discarded.

Finally scrub out the coolers afterward with a mild dilution of bleach to get rid of any bacteria left over from spills or drippings from the food, meat in particular.