My cold is in the healing stages now. I guess I never said here that I finally inherited Nora's cold last Tuesday. It got to the kind of bad stages (not real bad—about as bad as the common cold ever gets) on Thursday/Friday, and still sort of sucked yesterday. Now it is back in my throat and my sniffles are much less there. I hate sniffles, which is why I didn't like the last few days. Sore throats however, I have no problem with them.
Sore throats! This is a message to you! Bring it on!
Also, did you know that you should never flush tissue paper down the toilet? Or any paper that is not toilet paper, for that matter. Toilet paper is specially designed to dissolve in water, and other papers are not. If too much non-toilet paper goes down the toilet (like at my house), it could make a clog (like at my house) and you have to hire this expensive plumber guy to send this snake down your pipe all the way to the road (like at my house) to remove the clog.
Because there was a clog, the drain in the garage was overflowing. Now our garage is pretty shitty. My dad has a bunch of shit to clean up everywhere. Seriously, crap is everywhere in my garage. If my dad and I walked in, he would say, "Shit, son!" and I would say, "That's right pa!"
Showing posts with label DID YOU KNOW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DID YOU KNOW. Show all posts
26 November, 2006
27 June, 2006
DID YOU KNOW! (part 4)
I talked to a man I know (named Fong) who is a sleep expert. By expert I mean that he used to work for Pfizer on sleep medication and has also worked with Henry Ford Sleep Research. So he knows what he's talking about. Today is an educational post about sleep.
Sleep Cycles. It seems like most everyone I talk to knows how these work, but I didn't, and I don't know how much people are faking so they don't seem dumb. I'll explain it, and you can pretend you knew already (or if you knew, congratulations smarty-pants). When you sleep you sleep in several cycles. The first cycle consists of a lot of Deep Sleep, followed by a little REM Sleep. The next cycle has less Deep Sleep, and more REM Sleep. This continues, and the last cycle has a little Deep Sleep, followed by a lot of REM sleep. By the way, Deep Sleep is dreamless sleep that makes you feel rested and refreshed. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep is where your eyes are moving and you are dreaming. REM Sleep does not make you feel rested. REM Sleep, however, is very important for your ability to learn or remember things.
Anyway, you might be wondering, "How does my body know which cycle is my last cycle to do a little deep sleep and a lot of REM!" The answer is that it doesn't. There is some number of sleep cycles you are supposed to go through, and you will naturally wake up after the last one. If you wake up because of an alarm, or some other exterior happening, chances are you will be losing REM Sleep (think about it mathematically, that makes sense). In other words, you might feel perfectly rested, but you won't be performing your best as your memory and learning abilities will be hampered. Therefore, if you want to be at your best, it's important to get enough sleep.
You might be asking, "How much is enough sleep!" Well, it is different for everyone. But it is mostly known to the public that when you are little, you need a lot of sleep (infants can need 18 hours a day), and as you develop it gradually goes down. When you are an adult, it is 8 hours and 16 minutes, on average (it can be as little as 4 hours, can be as much as 10). Many people think that "adult" means when you stop growing, around 20 years old. However, "adult" actually means when your brain is no longer developing, at more like 35 years old. 20-year-olds typically need 9-10 hours of sleep per night. Now if you are 20 and you are thinking "bullshit I only get 7 and I'm great," then keep a couple things in mind. First off, everybody is different. You don't necessarily fall into the average. Secondly, if you lose REM Sleep, you don't feel more tired. So you might only be losing an insignificant amount of Deep Sleep, but a quite significant amount of REM Sleep.
Anyway to answer the question, "I don't know." I mean, you have to figure it out. What you should do is set a bed time that you will rigourously follow, and see when you wake up each morning. The ideal thing to be doing is going to bed at a time that you know will allow enough sleep, and not setting an alarm. By the way, this means that most college students don't get nearly enough sleep. Not that they don't feel rested, just that their learning abilities are severely hampered. … Yeah.
You might be wondering, "What if I sleep in on the weekends!" Well, this actually is healthy, and makes up for lost sleep during the week. That's right, it actually is. However, it's only healthy compared to not getting enough sleep ever. The healthiest thing is to always get enough sleep. But if you do sleep in on weekends, that does make up for it. Problem is, you're not getting enough REM Sleep during the week. Chances are that during the week is when you actually need it.
Ju prolly wonner, "What if ju take a nap!" Naps do not help. If you need to take a nap, you are not getting enough sleep. Full stop. I was really surprised to learn this. Basically, a typical 20-minute power nap will only be deep sleep, because it's just the beginning of the first cycle. So it feels very restful, but does you no good. I mean, naps aren't bad for you. They are a very nice way to rest or take a break. But they are not at all a substitute for actual sleep. I know, I heard this and I was like, "daaaaang."
I think that covers everything. You can ask a question, and if I know the answer, I will answer it.
Sleep Cycles. It seems like most everyone I talk to knows how these work, but I didn't, and I don't know how much people are faking so they don't seem dumb. I'll explain it, and you can pretend you knew already (or if you knew, congratulations smarty-pants). When you sleep you sleep in several cycles. The first cycle consists of a lot of Deep Sleep, followed by a little REM Sleep. The next cycle has less Deep Sleep, and more REM Sleep. This continues, and the last cycle has a little Deep Sleep, followed by a lot of REM sleep. By the way, Deep Sleep is dreamless sleep that makes you feel rested and refreshed. REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep is where your eyes are moving and you are dreaming. REM Sleep does not make you feel rested. REM Sleep, however, is very important for your ability to learn or remember things.
Anyway, you might be wondering, "How does my body know which cycle is my last cycle to do a little deep sleep and a lot of REM!" The answer is that it doesn't. There is some number of sleep cycles you are supposed to go through, and you will naturally wake up after the last one. If you wake up because of an alarm, or some other exterior happening, chances are you will be losing REM Sleep (think about it mathematically, that makes sense). In other words, you might feel perfectly rested, but you won't be performing your best as your memory and learning abilities will be hampered. Therefore, if you want to be at your best, it's important to get enough sleep.
You might be asking, "How much is enough sleep!" Well, it is different for everyone. But it is mostly known to the public that when you are little, you need a lot of sleep (infants can need 18 hours a day), and as you develop it gradually goes down. When you are an adult, it is 8 hours and 16 minutes, on average (it can be as little as 4 hours, can be as much as 10). Many people think that "adult" means when you stop growing, around 20 years old. However, "adult" actually means when your brain is no longer developing, at more like 35 years old. 20-year-olds typically need 9-10 hours of sleep per night. Now if you are 20 and you are thinking "bullshit I only get 7 and I'm great," then keep a couple things in mind. First off, everybody is different. You don't necessarily fall into the average. Secondly, if you lose REM Sleep, you don't feel more tired. So you might only be losing an insignificant amount of Deep Sleep, but a quite significant amount of REM Sleep.
Anyway to answer the question, "I don't know." I mean, you have to figure it out. What you should do is set a bed time that you will rigourously follow, and see when you wake up each morning. The ideal thing to be doing is going to bed at a time that you know will allow enough sleep, and not setting an alarm. By the way, this means that most college students don't get nearly enough sleep. Not that they don't feel rested, just that their learning abilities are severely hampered. … Yeah.
You might be wondering, "What if I sleep in on the weekends!" Well, this actually is healthy, and makes up for lost sleep during the week. That's right, it actually is. However, it's only healthy compared to not getting enough sleep ever. The healthiest thing is to always get enough sleep. But if you do sleep in on weekends, that does make up for it. Problem is, you're not getting enough REM Sleep during the week. Chances are that during the week is when you actually need it.
Ju prolly wonner, "What if ju take a nap!" Naps do not help. If you need to take a nap, you are not getting enough sleep. Full stop. I was really surprised to learn this. Basically, a typical 20-minute power nap will only be deep sleep, because it's just the beginning of the first cycle. So it feels very restful, but does you no good. I mean, naps aren't bad for you. They are a very nice way to rest or take a break. But they are not at all a substitute for actual sleep. I know, I heard this and I was like, "daaaaang."
I think that covers everything. You can ask a question, and if I know the answer, I will answer it.
21 June, 2006
15 June, 2006
DID YOU KNOW! (part 2)
It isn't really surprising to anybody that women are quicker at picking up emotions than men are. This meaning such as facial expressions (for joy, anger, SO-SAD, etc). What is more interesting is the one very-specific exception. Apparently, men and women are equal at how quickly they pick up anger. Unless the angry person is male, in which men are actually quicker. So men are quicker than women at picking out an angry man. This makes sense, if you think about it. When angry, men are more likely to become violent than an angry woman. Also, men are more likely to kill men than to kill women. So if you are a man, and you are near an angry man, you are probably in more danger than any women nearby.
It's interesting how the male psychology seems to cater more to anger and violence. It makes sense, as men were the hunters and women were the mothers, but it's still fun to read about it when science proves it true. Also, apparently, men have a brain-reaction leading to joy whenever they see a bad guy get his comeuppance. Women do not have this brain-reaction. Heh. We men are just so much more violent than women !
22 May, 2006
Q&A with MATT (part 1)
Q: Matt is it really true that when you are tired your body weighs a lot more and is heavy to carry upstairs?
A: Yes.
A: Yes.
11 May, 2006
DID YOU KNOW! (part 1)
That when using kitchen knives you should (in order to keep them sharp):
- Clean, dry, and put them away immediately after use so they do not get caked food on them (even at the microscopic level).
- (if you keep them in a block) slide them in sharp-side-up so as not to dull the blade.
- When using a knife to scoot food off a cutting board, do so sharp-side-up, once again so you don't dull the blade.
With these simple solutions, you will never have knife troubles again
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