Minnesota's Commissioner of Health spent the day in Rochester on Tuesday.
Discussing several health issues in the community.
After touring a few health facilities in town he set up a rather laid back and unique public meeting.
Many a business meetings have settled over a beer, a board room, or even on the golf course.
At East Park in Rochester, health officials are hearing pitches. As they pitch.
"Why not talk public health on a horse shoe pitch?" Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger says as he tosses a horse shoe.
Members of the public were invited to talk public health with the man in Minnesota who probably knows it best.
With titles like “Dr.” and “Commissioner of Health,” Ed Ehlinger may seem a little intimidating.
"You're number one in health factors, but you're number 24 in health outcomes," Ehlinger explains to a group of people.
But that’s only until you get a good look at his brown knickers and matching bowtie.
And play a game of horse shoes with him.
“Not too far left or too far to the right. Just like public health. It’s not to the left or the right. It’s non-partisan,” Ehlinger chuckles.
Even though some people are better at horse shoes than others, everyone feels comfortable to share their ideas.
Playing a laid back game, on a sunny afternoon.
"Not only to come and tell us what they think but maybe to learn a little bit about what is going on," DFL-Representative Tina Liebling explains.
The biggest topics discussed during Tuesday’s horseshoe match were creating healthier school lunches as well as monitoring emergency rooms and surgeries to cut down accidents and improve care.
2012年7月10日星期二
2012年7月1日星期日
Take Back Control of Your Time – and Your Life
Travel sellers must manage competing priorities continually. Tasks hit all the time, from all directions, frequently at the same time. Most react impulsively, bouncing unconsciously from one task to another.
There’s a better way. Pre-establishing a limited number of priorities and knowing when each priority should dominate will allow agents to manage their time more effectively, according to Jeff Davidson, a.k.a. “the Work-Life Balance Expert.”
A conscious approach to your priorities also creates a sense of control – and a more comfortable work-life balance, said Davidson, executive director of the Breathing Space Institute and author of Breathing Space and Simpler Living, among others.
“Travel agents always have more to do. New travel plans, new government regulations to learn, keeping up with the competition – theoretically your day never ends. You could sit there until the next morning doing productive stuff,” Davidson said.
But it’s unhealthy to live your life constantly “on” – balance is required. And the way to find balance is to manage your priorities.
Travel Market Report asked Davidson to elaborate.
Identify your priorities
The first step in managing priorities is to verbalize them. Make a list.
If your list is longer than nine or 10, you’re probably listing subdivisions of the main priorities. In a given day, a typical professional is going to have somewhere between five and nine major priorities, Davidson said.
Priorities should be identified as broad categories – like career, health, family, etc. By ordering these priorities consciously, it is easier to determine whether something requiring your attention belongs at the top, middle or bottom of your daily or weekly “to do” list.
“Priority means it’s of the greatest importance,” Davidson said.
Let one priority dominate – sometimes
On any given day, most people do at least one or two tasks associated with all their priorities, but one or two priorities will dominate.
So though it might be a work day dedicated to your career, you may still go for a jog (health) and take the kids to school (family).
One priority should not dominate all the time, Davidson said. Nor should one priority be dominant all day long. In other words, your career priority should not spill over into your weekends or evenings.
Some separation required
But the days of strict separation between your work and personal life are over. Thanks largely to mobile devices, you can be handling personal business during the work day and career-related business during the evening.
You might order a new pair of shoes while sitting at your desk during the workday, and you might write thank you notes to customers during commercial breaks while watching your favorite TV show in the evening.
Yet some separation is necessary, Davidson advised.
Time with your kids, for instance, should be separate from time working for clients. Trying to do both at the same time will leave your kids feeling like they need to compete for your attention, and your clients feeling like they’re not important to you.
There’s a better way. Pre-establishing a limited number of priorities and knowing when each priority should dominate will allow agents to manage their time more effectively, according to Jeff Davidson, a.k.a. “the Work-Life Balance Expert.”
A conscious approach to your priorities also creates a sense of control – and a more comfortable work-life balance, said Davidson, executive director of the Breathing Space Institute and author of Breathing Space and Simpler Living, among others.
“Travel agents always have more to do. New travel plans, new government regulations to learn, keeping up with the competition – theoretically your day never ends. You could sit there until the next morning doing productive stuff,” Davidson said.
But it’s unhealthy to live your life constantly “on” – balance is required. And the way to find balance is to manage your priorities.
Travel Market Report asked Davidson to elaborate.
Identify your priorities
The first step in managing priorities is to verbalize them. Make a list.
If your list is longer than nine or 10, you’re probably listing subdivisions of the main priorities. In a given day, a typical professional is going to have somewhere between five and nine major priorities, Davidson said.
Priorities should be identified as broad categories – like career, health, family, etc. By ordering these priorities consciously, it is easier to determine whether something requiring your attention belongs at the top, middle or bottom of your daily or weekly “to do” list.
“Priority means it’s of the greatest importance,” Davidson said.
Let one priority dominate – sometimes
On any given day, most people do at least one or two tasks associated with all their priorities, but one or two priorities will dominate.
So though it might be a work day dedicated to your career, you may still go for a jog (health) and take the kids to school (family).
One priority should not dominate all the time, Davidson said. Nor should one priority be dominant all day long. In other words, your career priority should not spill over into your weekends or evenings.
Some separation required
But the days of strict separation between your work and personal life are over. Thanks largely to mobile devices, you can be handling personal business during the work day and career-related business during the evening.
You might order a new pair of shoes while sitting at your desk during the workday, and you might write thank you notes to customers during commercial breaks while watching your favorite TV show in the evening.
Yet some separation is necessary, Davidson advised.
Time with your kids, for instance, should be separate from time working for clients. Trying to do both at the same time will leave your kids feeling like they need to compete for your attention, and your clients feeling like they’re not important to you.
2012年6月27日星期三
Adidas and their 'shackle' sneakers
I was browsing the Internet, and an ad came up about some new shoes.
Usually, at the site of new shoes, I get excited, and I sometimes tend to overspend on really cute shoes, but this was an exception that made me very angry.
Adidas sneakers have been accused of promoting racism with their new purple and yellow “shackle” sneakers that were expected to hit stores in August. The tennis shoes that have bright-yellow shackles on the ankles were set to run $350.
These shoes caused uproar when Adidas started promoting the sneakers on their official Facebook page last week.
"Tighten up your style with the JS Roundhouse Mids, dropping in August. Got a sneaker game so hot, you lock your kicks to your ankles,” is what the quote read.
As I sat and read the quote at least 30 times, I still could not understand why someone would let this “new” sneaker style hit the streets.
I began to do some research and saw that the photo of the shoe had over 36,000 likes. However, more than half of the comments were people saying angry and disparaging things about the shoes.
I later found out that Jeremy Scott is the designer of the shoe, and he has been known for his unusual designs in fashion.
Now, I am never one to play the racism card, because I was not taught to judge anyone based on color, religion or race. However, I am not OK with this shoe being sold.
A few days went by, and the photo went viral, and more and more people began commenting on the design of the shoes.
It wasn’t until late Monday evening that Adidas stated, “Since the shoe debuted on our Facebook page ahead of its market release in August, Adidas has received both favorable and critical feedback. We apologize if people are offended by the design, and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace."
Usually, at the site of new shoes, I get excited, and I sometimes tend to overspend on really cute shoes, but this was an exception that made me very angry.
Adidas sneakers have been accused of promoting racism with their new purple and yellow “shackle” sneakers that were expected to hit stores in August. The tennis shoes that have bright-yellow shackles on the ankles were set to run $350.
These shoes caused uproar when Adidas started promoting the sneakers on their official Facebook page last week.
"Tighten up your style with the JS Roundhouse Mids, dropping in August. Got a sneaker game so hot, you lock your kicks to your ankles,” is what the quote read.
As I sat and read the quote at least 30 times, I still could not understand why someone would let this “new” sneaker style hit the streets.
I began to do some research and saw that the photo of the shoe had over 36,000 likes. However, more than half of the comments were people saying angry and disparaging things about the shoes.
I later found out that Jeremy Scott is the designer of the shoe, and he has been known for his unusual designs in fashion.
Now, I am never one to play the racism card, because I was not taught to judge anyone based on color, religion or race. However, I am not OK with this shoe being sold.
A few days went by, and the photo went viral, and more and more people began commenting on the design of the shoes.
It wasn’t until late Monday evening that Adidas stated, “Since the shoe debuted on our Facebook page ahead of its market release in August, Adidas has received both favorable and critical feedback. We apologize if people are offended by the design, and we are withdrawing our plans to make them available in the marketplace."
2012年1月5日星期四
Shoe-in for a world record? Woman owns 733 pairs of Converse sneakers
For about the last eight years of a 20-year teaching career that ended with her retirement in June, Penny Gold would play a game with her students that started on the first day of school.
She would wear a brand new pair of her favorite sneakers, Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, and then wear a different pair of them every single day for the rest of the school year while her students would try to catch her wearing the same sneakers twice.
"The kids would have laptops or iPads and they would write a journal to try to catch me wearing the same ones,"she said. "They would joke that they got me, but they couldn’t fool me because I know I always had a different pair on."
Her former students may have another story to tell about their old teacher as that collection of Chucks, which is now up to 733 pairs, has the 63-year-old Florida woman in line to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest collection of Converse sneakers. On Thursday, she had help from family, friends and former students as she went through a crucial part of the process by publicly documenting her collection to be recognized as a Guinness record.
Her shoes were removed from their usual spot in her walk-in closet in her home, photographed in pairs of 24 and then loaded in plastic crates of 24 into a U-Haul rented by her husband. He and a friend then unloaded them in the multi-purpose room at the Jewish Academy of Orlando in Maitland, Fla., where she taught for 20 years. Part of the Guinness verification process is having a public showing where community members are enlisted as witnesses to a record. The only other alternative is if the person going for a record wants staff from Guinness to personally come to verify it, which Gold said can cost between $8,000 and $10,000.
Seven people helped officially count the sneakers, marking up tally sheets that are required to be sent to Guinness. The seven counters also have to submit handwritten notes to Guinness that they counted the sneakers and all came up with 733. The current record is 403 held by Joshua Mueller of Lakewood, Wash.
Behold, $19K for shoelaces... made of real gold
A spokesperson for Guinness said they have received the claim and are waiting on the evidence of the witness statements, photos and log books to verify each pair is different and a Converse shoe. It can take up to 12 weeks to verify after the documentation is received.
"It was crazy and so much fun,"said Gold, who jokingly autographed pictures of the sneakers for the students. "My family all thinks I'm crazy, but they love it, and they support it because I won't spend regular price on the sneakers. If you’re going to have to have a habit, this is at least a clean, healthy habit."
Gold’s infatuation with Converse Chuck Taylors started when she was a teenager growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s, when Chucks were the signature shoe of members of the New York Knicks. The shoe fit, so she decided to wear it 700 different ways, with it officially becoming an obsession about 15 years ago after three Converse outlet stores opened in the Orlando area about 25 minutes from her home. Now she is on a first-name basis with employees at the three stores, who set aside several pairs of unusual new ones for her when they come in. Employees from two of the stores were there in person during the public showing on Thursday.
Every pair she has purchased has been done in person, as she has not bought any off eBay. She usually gets sneakers that are normally $60 for about $25 a pair, and the longest she can remember going without snatching up a new pair was a month hiatus this past summer.
Gold has pairs ranging from music-themed sneakers featuring Metallica and the Doors to comic-style Chucks with Batman and Robin on them to ones with a red-and-white tablecloth design and a 3-D fried egg on them. Her prized pair is designed with a map of the New York City subway system on them that shows the stops where she used to get on and off while attending Baruch College.
She would wear a brand new pair of her favorite sneakers, Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, and then wear a different pair of them every single day for the rest of the school year while her students would try to catch her wearing the same sneakers twice.
"The kids would have laptops or iPads and they would write a journal to try to catch me wearing the same ones,"she said. "They would joke that they got me, but they couldn’t fool me because I know I always had a different pair on."
Her former students may have another story to tell about their old teacher as that collection of Chucks, which is now up to 733 pairs, has the 63-year-old Florida woman in line to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest collection of Converse sneakers. On Thursday, she had help from family, friends and former students as she went through a crucial part of the process by publicly documenting her collection to be recognized as a Guinness record.
Her shoes were removed from their usual spot in her walk-in closet in her home, photographed in pairs of 24 and then loaded in plastic crates of 24 into a U-Haul rented by her husband. He and a friend then unloaded them in the multi-purpose room at the Jewish Academy of Orlando in Maitland, Fla., where she taught for 20 years. Part of the Guinness verification process is having a public showing where community members are enlisted as witnesses to a record. The only other alternative is if the person going for a record wants staff from Guinness to personally come to verify it, which Gold said can cost between $8,000 and $10,000.
Seven people helped officially count the sneakers, marking up tally sheets that are required to be sent to Guinness. The seven counters also have to submit handwritten notes to Guinness that they counted the sneakers and all came up with 733. The current record is 403 held by Joshua Mueller of Lakewood, Wash.
Behold, $19K for shoelaces... made of real gold
A spokesperson for Guinness said they have received the claim and are waiting on the evidence of the witness statements, photos and log books to verify each pair is different and a Converse shoe. It can take up to 12 weeks to verify after the documentation is received.
"It was crazy and so much fun,"said Gold, who jokingly autographed pictures of the sneakers for the students. "My family all thinks I'm crazy, but they love it, and they support it because I won't spend regular price on the sneakers. If you’re going to have to have a habit, this is at least a clean, healthy habit."
Gold’s infatuation with Converse Chuck Taylors started when she was a teenager growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s, when Chucks were the signature shoe of members of the New York Knicks. The shoe fit, so she decided to wear it 700 different ways, with it officially becoming an obsession about 15 years ago after three Converse outlet stores opened in the Orlando area about 25 minutes from her home. Now she is on a first-name basis with employees at the three stores, who set aside several pairs of unusual new ones for her when they come in. Employees from two of the stores were there in person during the public showing on Thursday.
Every pair she has purchased has been done in person, as she has not bought any off eBay. She usually gets sneakers that are normally $60 for about $25 a pair, and the longest she can remember going without snatching up a new pair was a month hiatus this past summer.
Gold has pairs ranging from music-themed sneakers featuring Metallica and the Doors to comic-style Chucks with Batman and Robin on them to ones with a red-and-white tablecloth design and a 3-D fried egg on them. Her prized pair is designed with a map of the New York City subway system on them that shows the stops where she used to get on and off while attending Baruch College.
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