A Natural Air Cleaner

If someone is looking for an air cleaner, be sure looking into the common snake plant.

Many a month ago, there was a picture of an elderly businessman in my newspaper. It seemed to me this robust octogenarian in the picture was engulfed by the familiar-looking green leaves in his corner office. Some snarling plants with sword-like leaves had certainly invaded his place of business. It was not hard to notice that in this ivory towner there were neither expensive artworks hanging on the wall nor shining crystal chandeliers dangling from the ceiling but snake plants!

And the sight of these unruly plants in a place where the most serious business was conducted made me wonder. Why on earth this most important person in the company would let his private office become an African jungle?

And here is why!

It is because snake plant is the best air cleaner among all indoor plants. - Ayee

Food for Thought - Dos and Don’ts on Food-Safety

These simple and inexpensive food-safe practices help a kidney specialist in Taiwan, keep toxic elements away from his diets.

Dr. Chi-Liang Lin, a survivor of a fatal infectious kidney disease himself, believes if we are not diligent on what we eat, foods like the air we breathe and the water we drink, can be harmful to us. So he is very careful about what him and his families eat. He ensures he and his family maintain a diet that is low in salt, sugar and oil. The family does not eat out. They brown-bag their meals when away from home.

He and his wife buy their green grocers when they are aplenty in the market. The fast-growing vegetables during the peak growing season cost less. They are also likely with the least pesticides. Of course, they wash all vegetables and fruits thoroughly before using them.

When eating pork sometimes, they buy quality ones with CAS rating*.

Fish is a constant item on the doc’s menu. He prefers palm-size fish to the large ones. The reason is that the bigger the fish the more toxins they may carry. And the wild saltwater fish is always the doc’s choice.

To retain the nutrients of their foods, boiling and steaming is the family’s preferred mode to prepare their meals.

The doc has no uses of preserved or pickled foods like cured meats or sausages either. He also avoids soy sauce. Some fermentation process in making of this tasty condiment may sometimes contaminate the final products. - Ayee

*No details on this rating system.

To Borrow or Not to Borrow . . .

Maybe it is the dire reflection of a prolonged bad economy. Today’s college graduates are not only out of jobs. They also burdened themselves with a hefty debt load. So far college students, past and present, have borrowed nearly a trillion dollars from Uncle Sam.

Like many others, I also think education is a most worthy investment. Despite all these “i” inventions, what we learned and experienced from and at the schools will never be out of style in our life time. And the government’s intention was at the right place when it decided to help students who were not as well financially endowed as their fortunate peers. Therefore, if we are determined to equip ourselves with additional schooling, borrowing from governments to finance such undertaking is the way to go.

However, there are also other alternatives that can help us besides borrowing from the governments.

The first one comes to mind are the scholarships and bursaries that universities offer to their students. So before plunging into the sea of red ink, the would-be students should check out their prospective school’s website, they will be surprised as to how many financial aids are available there.

Private foundations are also promising sources for financial assistances. Once I heard Brenda Gates, co-founder of the Gates’ family foundation, told a news reporter that among many other humanitarian works her foundation did around the world, it had also awarded thousands of scholarships.

The second alternatives to finance a college degree is having a part time job or attending night schools. This working/studying arrangement may take us longer to get our desired degree, but it does give us some autonomy. And it seems to me to be the most popular one among many mature college students.

And I leave my favorite one to the last.

The best source of financing higher education is the family’s bank account. We all know most of the parents would definitely loose their purse strings for their children's higher education. Many of them sacrificed their own comfort and well being, so they can help their young family members prepare for a better life ahead. - Ayee

A Learning Moment

I think we can learn a few things from the plight of a determined pooch. This Chihuahua lookalike dog’s unwavering faith in his heartless owner had touched the minds and souls of many who had met him by a basketball court or read of his story on line in the May Day edition of the World Journal*.

In May last year, someone in a grey passenger car left a yellowish dog by the basketball court behind a drive-in movie lot near a teacher’s college in Beijing. For a while, every time when there was a car similar to his former owner’s approaching, this forgiving doggie also known as Little Wang, would run to the car with wagging tail and welcoming barks. Today, Little Wang no longer runs after the passing cars, but remains firmly at the site to ensure that he is right there when his owner returns. Little Wang seems to have the insight for not venturing away far from where he was left behind. After an entire year, Little Wang, rain or shine, is still waiting at the site where he was dropped off.

In the past, I had read of a dog in Japan with the same dogged determination. He waited for his deceased human friend’s return at the subway station every evening until he himself died of old age. There is also a similar story of a terrier named Bobbie in Edinburgh, Scotland. Bobbie guarded his dear friend’s grave until his own demise fourteen years later. Stories of devoted pets make our stomach turn. And yet, there are people in this world would dispose of their “true friend” like what Little Wang’s owner had done to him. Sad! - Ayee

P.S.

For pet owners, when looking for their lost pets, make sure check out the places where you and your pets had visited in the past.

*From Worldjournal.com

Wayward Shots

During this year’s Masters tournament a few weeks ago in Augusta, Georgia, golf industry’s three titans, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, expressed their collective concerns over the agile golf balls. It seems now these days, golf balls can roll many, many extra yards after they land on the fairway. To accommodate the extremely long shots, many golf courses had to be lengthened at great expenses.

Since all these extra reconstruction costs will eventually trickle down to the consumers in the forms of higher green fees and exorbitant membership dues, golfing may become unreachable for the average players both financially and physically. As the three golfing greats had perceived, longer golf courses are definitely not good for their industry.

I realize that there are many more urgent situations in this imperfect world that needs our immediate attention. Who cares how far a golf ball flies! But in the States, golfing is a quite common past time for the average public. Fortunately, there are many well-maintained public links around with reasonable green fees. In the event, if the public courses are following what the private clubs did to accommodate the flying golf balls, pretty soon this enjoyable ancient sport may become a past for the many weekend duffers. - Ayee