Grab Bag Bottoms Up:
As if we NEEDED another reason not to drink soft drinks???
(By the way… doesn’t this little girl look like a soda fountain monitor from Village of the Damned?)
Ewwwww. Microbiologists from Hollins University in Virginia tested 90 soft drinks from 30 soft drink dispensing machines in fast food restaurants and convenience stores in the Roanoke area. Equally found from behind-the-counter or self-serve drink machines, nearly half of the drinks contained coliform bacteria, which is most often associated with fecal matter.
They also found e. coli and staph in some drinks. Perhaps of even greater concern was the fact that most of the bacteria found was resistant to one or more of the 11 antibiotics used in the study. Further research is needed to pinpoint the source, but the most common theory is that bacteria can set up shop inside the plastic tubing of the dispensing machines.
This is just another way God is telling us to drink water. Out of our own reusable bottle. Filled from our own filtered tap.
Grab Bag Rehab Resource:
If Lindsay Lohan could lift her pretty head out of her own mire, she would observe a vast sea of non-celebrity, everyday people who struggle daily with drug and alcohol issues. For the millions of friends and family who watch these slow-motion train-wrecks-in-progress, the hand-wringing is palpable. Few know what to offer, or how to go about it. And most assume rehab is extremely costly. It doesn’t have to be.
My guess is we ALL know someone who is touched by this problem. If you know someone who needs direction in such issues, here is a link that offers advice on how to find low-cost programs.
Grab Bag DeStress Resource:
A lovely rest stop on the internet highway is
Chock full of fun and useful tips and links, this is a must for bookmarking, as you’ll want/need to return to it again and again. Go green, $ave money, travel smarter, cook better, read, watch and do more interesting things than ever before.
Grab Bag Guiding Thought:
According to Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and author of multiple books on the health of the food industry, we need to spend more of our money on quality food. We pay less for food than any country on earth. And here’s a telling inversion:
Since the 1960’s, the percentage of our income that is spent on food has fallen from 18% to under 10%.
In that same time, the percentage of our income we spend on health care has risen from 5% to 16%.
Below are independent charts I found to support these numbers:
HERE’S THE PUNCHLINE: While not every extra health care dollar can be attributed to lousy food, there is no arguing that most of it can be tied to the abysmal evolution of our diets. So next time we think buying “organic”, “locally grown” or “grass-fed” is too expensive, shame on us… let’s think again.
Grab Bag Check This Out Check-Out:
We ARE the Jetsons and we have ARRIVED in Orbit City.
I was in an Apple store today, and although they have been using handheld devices for checkout for a few years now, the one my salesguy used today was new.
More importantly, it’s for sale! You (or your favorite retailer) can check people out in the middle of the store. Too cool. Get the hardware, get the App and you’re good to go. Amazing. Click on the photo for details.
Grab Bag Brain Game:
Wow. This one is really different. Gets your brain thinking in slices of the whole. The tutorial will explain.
Grab Bag Funny Stuff:
Who thinks of things like this?
Thanks to Roxie S. for sending this to me.
LK's Grab Bag 
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