Today we celebrate the start of “Scoop The Poop Week”, which is exactly what it sounds like. With the snow cover going, or gone, all of the deposits from Fido that have been accumulating throughout the winter are emerging. That means it is time to break out the pooper scooper and patrol your yard for those stinky, messy land mines. Why should you clean up the offending matter? Well, consider this … Pet waste can carry harmful bacteria, parasites, or viruses. It can make people, especially children, very sick. It can also be dangerous to wildlife and other dogs. Rodents are very attracted to pet waste left in your yard. I am reminded back when I lived in Denver, Colorado in the 80’s, a small business started up that specialized in picking up the poop. They were (and still are) called Poop Van Scoop, and the best advertising tag line: “We pick up where your dog left off. We’re #1 in the #2 business”. I still get a chuckle thinking of that. With that being said, time to get the plastic shopping bags out, hit the yard and begin the annual Tootsie Roll Patrol. Good luck, and happy hunting.
WHY WE FORGET PEOPLE’S NAMES WHEN WE MEET THEM _ You can be forgiven for forgetting the name of that new acquaintance just minutes after you’ve been introduced. Memory experts at the University of Sussex say these memory lapses are a necessary part of the brain’s process to avoid overloading with information. But it’s not uncommon these memories can be recalled several hours after learning them.
EASIEST WAY TO MAKE 9 NEW FRIENDS: HAVE A BABY _ The easiest way to make nine new friends? Have a baby. A study found a woman’s circle of friends shoots from 13 to 22 after having children. Why? It’s easier to bond with other women once you have a baby. What do new moms talk about? Giving birth seems to be the most popular topic, but after that it gets a little deeper. In fact, four in ten said they felt comfortable sharing personal information with fellow moms. Personal topics like:
• concerns about being a good mom
• guilt over whether to back to work after maternity leave
• their post-baby sex life
SURPRISING THING THAT AFFECTS MANY RESTAURANT REVIEWS _ Restaurant reviews are all over the web, but a study found one surprising theme alters many of them: the weather. In a study paper titled “Demographics, Weather and Online Reviews,” 1.1 million online reviews of 840,000 restaurants were analyzed, looking for external factors in the data. In other words, they wanted to figure out what makes us like or dislike a restaurant, beside the restaurant itself. Reviewers consistently gave worse ratings when it was raining or snowing outside than when it was clear. And reviewers usually liked restaurants better on warm and cool days rather than very hot or very cold ones.
