Longest Hair

This woman had the longest hair I have ever seen. 

No, not to the shoulders, not to the mid-back, not even to the tush. 

This went almost all the way to the floor. 

It reminded me more of a maim on a horse than of the typical hairdo of a person. 

Anyway, this must be nasty to take care and keep clean. 

Also, can’t imagine having that much hair pulling on my head all the time.  

In Judaism, we say that hair is the crown of a person and it is something that especially women keep modestly when married.

So while hair is nice and beautiful, you can definitely have too much of even a good thing.  😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Take Off Those Shoes

So this was pretty funny. 

We have a sign in our house that people should take off their shoes when they come in. 

Heck, it’s part of being a neat freak and somewhat germaphobic.

But of course, the kids invariably don’t follow the house rules and we get the shoe dirt all over. 

And guess who has to always clean it up?  

Well the other day, my daughter was looking to purchase a condo, and when she found a place she liked, she was walking around the apartment and saying:

When I have my own place, everyone is going to take off their shoes.

Hmm, when the place is yours and you have to clean up the messes, all of a sudden the house rules are in effect and big time.  😉

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)

Chocolate Turkey Delight

So this is the kind of dessert turkey that will sweeten your Thanksgiving dinner.

Gobs and gobs of white, milk, and dark chocolate.

And they actually shaped it all like a turkey.

Sort of cute, but also sort of sugary disgusting, no?

Generally, I’m not a huge fan of eating turkey either.

Maybe when they boil it in oil, and it’s cooked through and through, it actually comes out juicy and not so bad.

But give me a nice piece of beef, and I’ll be your pal forever!

A colleague who was a veterinarian and worked inspecting meat plants overseas told me some things about the cleanliness though that made my skin crawl.

“The cleanliness outside of the U.S. is WAY DIFFERENT than here!”–and not in a good way.

Even in places that do maintain clean facilities and healthy animals, the way that “they make the sausage” sounded so unappetizing.

It made me think of all those PETA and other commercials that show the chickens and other caged birds in those crowded and filthy (and diseased) conditions…even aside from the cruelty, it’s enough to make you cringe.

He said they mash the meat until it’s like just a pink paste that gets shot into the tubes for hot dogs and things like that.

“It looks disgusting!”

Also, they put parts of the animal in that are basically leftover meats from the head and other parts of the animal that did NOT sound desirable at all. 

I’m thinking to myself…FROM THE HEAD.

Uh, no more hot dogs for me, thank you.

I think that I’ll stick with a nice steak or burger or something KOSHER and palatable.

You can have your turkey and your sausage and eat it, but not me! 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Creative Washing Sign

Ok, this is not your typical handwashing sign.

Usually these signs that are mandated by health regulations in food establishments remind employees to wash their hands before returning to work.

Of course, given all the Clostridium, E. coli, Hepatitis, Listeria, Norovirus, and Salmonella out there, we know that unfortunately many food workers are not following these instructions very well…yes, yuck!

Here, someone “sanitized” the sign, and rubbed out the “h” and the top part of the “d” in hands and left the crude word, “anus.” 

Now employees must wash not their hands, but their anus (does that help in food preparation?)!

Perhaps, whoever did this are lobbyists for some sort of bidets in this country. 

Given all the political crap that goes on around this town, this may be a very good idea. 😉

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)

Say W.H.O.

So a colleague submitted this photo to me to share on my blog. 

So funny!

This was posted by Federal Occupational Health in the organization’s gym.

Publisher is the World Health Organization.

I don’t think this translates well from Switzerland. 

I’m not going to say another word.

(Source Photo: Colleague)

I Like To Be Clean!

This was funny but in a gross type of way.

Bathroom doorknobs are notorious for being germy.

In this case, there was a little bit of tissue paper that someone left on the knob–I know ick!

Apparently someone got fed up with the grossness of this, so they put up a sign–it says:

“I have been here for two weeks. Can you clean me? It like to be clean!”

But that’s not all.

A day later, the note was gone, but that little piece of grossness was still there.

Howie Mandel, please help us! 😉

Dirty Little People

Popular Science had some scary germy statistics about how few people wash their hands well when coming out of the bathroom.

Take a guess?

Only 5%!

And that’s based on almost 4,000 people they observed–but how many would’ve washed correctly if they thought no one was watching?

The dirty stats (while under observation):

– 23% didn’t use soap.

– 15% of men and 7% of women didn’t even use water.

– Average washed for just 6 seconds! (CDC says you need at least 20 seconds with soap and water to kill germs)

From what I’ve seen, unless their is a touchless water faucet and automatic towel dispenser, not too many people wash their hands–they don’t want to get them dirty by touching the same bathroom devices that the other people just touched.

Another no-no for people is touching the bathroom door handle–more germs!

What do some people do–they use (wads of) toilet seat protectors to pull the door open–then guess what’s missing for the next guy or gal?

Most public bathrooms are disgusting–if everyone could just have their own, they would keep it clean out of self-interest and maybe wash their hands a little more too.

Next time we have a recession and need to invest in “shovel ready” infrastructure projects to keep America working–how about we build some (read lots!) clean bathrooms and throw in the automatic wash features, pretty please. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Bathroom Kudos

Going to a restaurant the other night, I stepped into the men’s room for a minute and noticed this sticker on the right of the mirror that said “Great Work” in big yellow letters on the red background.

I wondered what a strange sign to put in such a private setting as if we need applause for going to the bathroom or washing our hands.

Then again, if you’ve seen many men’s bathrooms, it could certainly be a time for kudos when it is kept clean and people use good personal hygiene–hence, the other sticker on the left, “It’s cool to care!”

The frog sticker in the middle, he’s just keeping an eye on things and thanking everyone for the job well done.

This is a funny commentary on our society these days where people seem to need a pat on the back for everything–even the highly mundane and personal.

Presumably, going to the men’s room will never be the same boring, uncaring event again–at least at this fine eating establishment. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Now That’s Robot Clean

How many of you heard the phrase as a child, “Cleanliness is next to G-dliness”?

Over the years, we’ve learned that germs and associated illnesses are frequently transmitted by touch and through the air.

And so we’ve become sensitized to the importance of things like regularly washing our hands, using antibacterial soap, and generally keeping our homes and offices as clean as they can be. (Okay, some people I know aren’t so good about this–yes, you know who you are!)

The problem is that even with regular cleaning, corners, cracks, and surfaces are missed and harmful germs survive.

You can imagine that this can be especially true in places like hospitals and nursing facilities where unfortunately, there are already a lot of sick people.

Xenex Healthcare has invented an amazing robot that takes care of the problem–no, I am not taking about euthanasia (just kidding).

But really, this robot is wheeled into a room–generally after a manual cleaning that according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek (25 February 2013) often leaves 50% of the room still infected–and these germs can survive up to six months.

The Xenex robot generates a pulsing ultraviolet (UV) light from its extending head that zaps viruses and bacteria–destroying their DNA–and leaving a room 20 times cleaner!

There are 20 million hospital infection a years in America, killing about 100,000 people, and costing about $30,000 per infection, so the Xenex robot that kills up to 95% of many deadly infections and superbugs is significant.

The robot costs around $125,000 or it can be rented for $3,700 per month–but it can disinfect dozens of rooms a day.

I’d like to see a Xenex robot for every home and office–that should do wonders for improved health care in this country.

Oh and it makes a great gift for Howie Mandel. 😉

WATERgate

These were pictures of some water sculptures that I took at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C.The waterfalls remind me more of the landscaping around Floridian high-rises or the water flumes at Walt Disney parks than of what you normally see around town, here.I liked these aesthetically and think we generally need more integration of nature and art into our urban (and often sterile) environment.

A little more green, a little more clean, and a lot little less crime and congestion–and don’t forget a decent climate–those were some of the things that I look for in attractive places to live and to work.

While no place is perfect, having grown up on the upper west side in Manhattan and then Riverdale (in the Bronx) and now in the D.C. area, let’s just say that there are differences all around us. 😉

Then again, as my father always taught me, you can live anywhere–if you have your health, family, and a good job.
He’s right, a place is just a place–and it’s the people and love between them that makes it great.

So water sculptures aside, give me a real home, and that’s the best place in the world that I want to be.

(Source photos: Andy Blumenthal)