The Season for Sneezin’ and Wheezin’

Spring has sprung here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey, and the storage facility has been buzzing like a beehive. Our storage tenants are shuttling to and from their rental spaces like there’s no tomorrow! Time to open the office window and get some fresh….ah,ah,ah,CHOO – Allergies!  Yes, ’tis the Season for Pollen and Sneezin’ !

Just yesterday, one of our long-time customers, Lois, walked into our storage rental office to rent a moving van, wearing a surgical mask.

”You sick?” I asked.

“No – allergies” she replied.

I asked her what  type of medication she was taking for her allergies.

”No doctors for me – I’m all natural” .

Turns out Lois takes a combination of bee pollen and something called Nettle Leaf to relieve her symptoms. Lois completed her storage unit rental and drove off.

That got me wondering about what other natural treatments might be available to all of us allergy sufferers.

I did some research…

Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is an amazing natural allergy remedy, as it can help reduce mucus production and cleanse your lymphatic system. The quick and dirty approach is to swallow a tablespoon. For a more palatable option, try adding a tablespoon to a cup of hot water with a small bit of honey.

Local Honey

Allergy symptoms are your body’s reaction to a substance it deems hazardous to your health.

Unfortunately, you can’t simply tell your body that grass and pollen aren’t bad for it. But you can help your body learn that the local habitat isn’t deadly by giving your body small doses of the grass and pollen that are irritating it.

Local honey contains trace amounts of the very pollen that could be making you feel sick. It can help naturally reduce your allergy symptoms over time. Start administering it to immediately begin seeing results.

Bee Pollen

Like honey, bee pollen contains the natural substances of the bee hive locale. It offers an alternative way to introduce these substances into your immune system. It tastes great sprinkled on fruit or tossed in salad and offers a bit of a sweet crunch. Google your local farmer’s market or search for “local honey farmers” to find products close to your home.

Exercise

The last thing you probably want to do when you feel crummy is workout, but researchers have found that moderate to intense activity for just 30 minutes can result in substantial allergy relief. Relief occurs because exercise produces an anti-inflammatory effect in your nasal passages, helping to naturally reduce allergy symptoms.

Typically, an indoor workout will most likely be more beneficial as it will reduce re-exposure.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture treats a wide variety of health issues, including depression, digestive issues, general pain, muscle weakness, and immune deficiency. 

Nettle Leaf

Nettle leaf can help naturally block your body’s ability to produce histamine, which can provide allergy relief naturally. You can get it in capsules or buy the leaf whole, which is my preference. Steep it with peppermint leaves and a small amount of honey to create an herbal tea that will be tasty and beneficial.

Water

Hydrate like it’s your job. That sounds simple, right? You’d be surprised how many people are dehydrated! Being dehydrated can make you tired and make it difficult for you to get a full night’s rest. It can cause headaches, breakouts, and bloating. And, it can heighten any allergy symptoms you’re experiencing. The more water you can drink, the better you’re going to feel.

So, there you have it – some tips to help you manage your allergy symptoms this spring,  courtesy of The Storage Inn. As for me, it’s time to head home, and curl up on the couch, with a nice apple cider vinegar, honey, and Nettle Leaf cocktail – Cheers!

Women’s History Month | Innovators, Artists, Athletes and More!

Well, March came in like a lion here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey, but we know that spring will soon be here, along with Saint Patrick’s Day and daylight savings time.  What I didn’t know, is that March is also Women’s History Month. I found this out when one of our self-storage tenants, Jane, was in our office packing supply store, and saw me using White-Out.

“You know, White-Out was invented by a woman, right?” she said proudly.

I told her that I was not aware of this fact, and asked her how she knew this. Jane told me that she belongs to the local League of Women Voters and that they were celebrating Women’s History Month.

One of their activities included making a list of women’s achievements throughout history. I told Jane that I would be interested in seeing her list.

“I’ll email it to you this afternoon” she replied, as she headed out the door and walked toward her storage rental space.

Sure enough, I received an email from Jane that afternoon.
It included the likes of Cleopatra, Rosa Parks, Mother Theresa, and Amelia Earhart, but it also included some other very interesting tidbits as well…

By the Numbers
Today, 71% of moms with kids under 18 have to go to work. In 1975, fewer than 47% did.

In almost every country in the world, the life expectancy for women is higher than men.

Approximately 14% of active members in the U.S. armed forces today are women. In 1950, women comprised less than 2% of the U.S. military.

Over 60 percent of college degrees awarded in the U.S. every year are earned by women.

The two highest IQs ever recorded, through standardized testing, both belong to women.

More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than any other. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers.

The Sporting Life
No women or girls were allowed at the first Olympics, but the Games of Hera, featuring foot-races for women, were held every four years.

At the first Winter Olympic Games in 1924, the only event open to women was figure skating. Women were not allowed to compete in track and field events at the Olympics until 1928.

Roberta Gibb was the first woman to run and finish the Boston Marathon in 1966. Of course, she didn’t get official credit for it, as women were not allowed to enter the race until 1972!

Virne “Jackie” Mitchell, a pitcher, was the first woman in professional baseball. During an exhibition game, she struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Mary, Queen of Scots is reported to be the first woman ever to play golf.

Famous Firsts

The first country to grant women the right to vote in the modern era was New Zealand in 1893.

The first woman to rule a country as an elected leader in the modern era was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, who was elected as prime minister of the island nation in 1960.

In 1756 Lydia Chapin Taft became the first woman to legally vote with the consent of the electorate. Taft was allowed to vote because her husband had passed away right before a major town vote. She was allowed to vote in his place.

The first woman to run for U.S. president was Victoria Woodhull in 1872

The first female governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming governor Nellie Tayloe Ross, elected in 1924.

The first female member of a president’s cabinet was Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor under FDR.

The first woman elected to serve in Congress was Jeannette Rankin, a Republican from Montana. She was elected in both 1916 and 1940.

The first person to go over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel was Annie Edson Taylor, a forty-three-year-old schoolteacher from Michigan plunged over the falls and survived with only a small gash on her head.

The Arts
The world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, was published in Japan around A.D. 1000 by female author Murasaki Shikibu.

In 1921, American novelist Edith Wharton was the first woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, The Age of Innocence, a story set in upper-class New York during the 1870’s.

Women often wrote under pen names like Jane Austen, the Bronte Sisters, Mary Ann Evans (perhaps better known by her pen name George Eliot), and Louisa May Alcott.

In the early years of the blues, from 1910 to 1925, the vast majority of singers were women.

She Did What?
Marie Curie is the only woman to ever win two Nobel Prizes. Her first award was for physics for her work on spontaneous radiation with her husband, with her second being in Chemistry for her studies of radioactivity.

Hatshepsut was the one and only female pharaohs in recorded history. While accounts seem to paint her reign as a favorable one, her images have been defaced on temples and inscriptions as though they meant to wipe her existence from history.

The earliest recorded female physician was Merit Ptah, a doctor in ancient Egypt who lived around 2700 B.C.

Upon her husband’s death, Cherokee leader Nancy Ward took his place in a 1775 battle against the Creeks, and led the Cherokee to victory.

African-American performer Josephine Baker, while working in France during WWII as a singer, dancer and actress, smuggled messages to French soldiers by hiding them inside her dress, or concealed with invisible ink on her sheet music. She was also the first African American female to star in a major motion picture, perform in a concert hall and played a big role in the Civil Rights Movement.

40’s movie actress, Hedy Lamarr wasn’t just a pretty face, she also developed a radio-controlled torpedo device which used “frequency hopping” to prevent the signals from the torpedoes being jammed. While the technology wasn’t adopted for WWII, it was used in subsequent conflicts.

In 1903, Mary Anderson was granted a patent for the windshield wiper. She isn’t alone in her inventiveness. Women have also invented such things as industrial lathes, white out, bras, non-reflective glass, the dishwasher, disposable diapers, petroleum refining methods and much, much more.

Okay, so now we are fully prepared to discuss Women’s History Month, should the subject arise. Thank you, Jane, for your email, I learned a lot! Now it’s time to lock up the storage unit rental office for the night and head home to dazzle my wife with my new found expertise, but first I’ll need to stop at Staples – I am almost out of White-Out!

That New Year’s Song

Happy Holidays everyone! It’s that odd stretch of days between Christmas and New Year’s here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey, but that has not slowed down our storage rental customers one bit. Our storage tenants are shuttling in and out of the storage rental office preparing for 2019!

Yesterday, I was working at the front desk when into the rental office burst one of our wonderful, long-time customers, Mike. He was waving a champagne bottle and singing Auld Lang Syne. He stopped long enough to say “Happy New Year – this is for you!” I thanked him, and wished him a Happy New Year too! He strolled off towards his car singing that song, Auld Lang Syne, at the top of his lungs.

The champagne bottle sat in front of me as I listened to Mike’s singing trail off into the distance. “What the heck is Auld Lang Syne?”

Thinking back, I can remember hearing this song as a child and wondering who is “Lang” and why does he have a sign? This needed some investigation for clarification’s sake.

Origins

Auld Lang Syne was an ancient song that roughly translates as “for old times’ sake”. The song is all about preserving old friendships and looking back over the events of the year. Does anyone remember the 1937 Little Rascals Episode below where they sing this song?!

Blame it on The Scots

It has long been a much-loved Scottish tradition to sing the song just before midnight. Everyone stands in a circle holding hands, then at the beginning of the final verse (‘And there’s a hand my trusty friend’) they cross their arms across their bodies so that their left hand is holding the hand of the person on their right, and their right hand holds that of the person on their left. When the song ends, everyone rushes to the middle, still holding hands, and probably giggling.

Lyrics

Below is a video and a copy of the lyrics of the entire song with the original Gaelic version (in bold), followed by a more modern translation for each individual verse and chorus – enjoy!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

Translation
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
And long, long ago.

For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne,

Translation
And for long, long ago, my dear
For long, long ago,
We’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For long, long ago

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Translation
And surely you’ll buy your pint mug!
And surely I’ll buy mine!
And we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
For long, long ago.

We twa hae run about the braes
And pu’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.

Translation
We two have run about the hills
And pulled the daisies fine;
But we’ve wandered – many a weary foot
Since long, long ago.

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn,
Frae mornin’ sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

Translation
We two have paddled in the stream,
From morning sun till dusk;
But seas between us broad have roared
Since long, long ago.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right guid willy waught,
For auld lang syne.

Translation
And there’s a hand, my trusty friend!
And give us a hand of yours!
And we’ll take a deep draught of good-will
For long, long ago.

Now that we have a little history, and translation on Auld Lang Syne, we can sing it loud and proud as we raise a glass and remember the year that was, and the one that will be.

I am just happy that I no longer have to wonder “Who is Lang?”, and “What does his sign say?”

Happy New Year everyone!

National Cholesterol Awareness Month!

I was sitting in an our storage rental office here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey, eating a bacon cheeseburger, when in walked Dr. Ron, one of our long-time self-storage customers. He informed me (as he stared at my bacon cheeseburger) that October has been designated as National Cholesterol Awareness Month and that maybe I should stop by his office where they’re doing free cholesterol screenings as part of the cholesterol awareness program. I told him that I would “try to come by”, as he grabbed some packing tape and boxes, and headed for his car.

Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol? What exactly is cholesterol, and how much is too much? I swung by Dr. Ron’s office on my way home, and picked up a pamphlet on preventing high cholesterol.

Here are some interesting tidbits about cholesterol…

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in all your cells. It can tell you about your future heart health. High cholesterol doubles your risk for heart disease.

A blood test will tell you what your levels of total cholesterol, bad cholesterol, good cholesterol, and triglycerides are.

About 74 million U.S. adults have high cholesterol. Less than half of them are getting treatment.

You can’t live without cholesterol. We’re born with cholesterol in our bodies. Infants get added cholesterol from their mother’s milk. Cholesterol is even added to baby formula.

One out of every three adults has high cholesterol. Everyone over age 20 should get their cholesterol checked every five years. About about 75 percent of people actually do.

High cholesterol can be genetic. Current research says the main influencing factor for high cholesterol is your genes.

Children can have high cholesterol – Especially kids with obesity or a family history of heart attacks.

Sweating can raise your good cholesterol levels. You can raise your good cholesterol levels, which protect against heart disease, by working out. The key is to use interval training by exercising at a medium-intensity, sprinkling in periods of high-intensity.

Supplements may work to lower cholesterol. Supplements need to be taken daily and they don’t work overnight. Diet and exercise should always be your first options.

Cholesterol-lowering medications work quickly. You can take a cholesterol-lowering pill today, and your levels may be down by 3 to 4 percent tomorrow.

So there you have it – A combination of diet, exercise, and possibly medication, can keep your cholesterol in check. As for me, I am cutting back on the bacon cheeseburgers and trying to get more exercise. Maybe I’ll start walking around our storage facility instead of driving the golf cart!