bookofjoe

BehindTheMedspeak: Hey, I'm not a slacker — I've got 'Sick Worker' Syndrome

I'd never heard of Sick Worker Syndrome (SWS) until I read an item in yesterday's Financial Times explaining what it is and what might be the cause.

Alan Cane reported that when performance at work seems to be sliding, the worker may be suffering from a hitherto unrecognized complication of repetitive strain injury (RSI).

Ann Barr and Mary Barbe of Temple University's College of Health Professionals believe that cytokines — a family of proteins which jumpstart inflammation in injured tissues — are a direct cause of the fatigue and depression characterizing SWS.

The scientists created a model of RSI in rats and observed the rats slacking off about three weeks after the onset of stressful activity mimicking RSI.

Wrote Cane, "The researchers reason that in both rats and humans the cytokines provide a form of self–protection, producing a feeling of malaise that tells the body to take time off to recover before more serious damage is done."

Tell that to your boss or teacher the next time he beats on you for being useless.

If you get any flak just say you read it here.

Cordless Electric Kettle

Say what?

Have they brought it back from the fuel–cell powered future?

Not quite.

But it'll do quite nicely.

When I trek to Richmond to give anesthesia

for a week every now and then the one thing I miss most — at least in the morning — is my exquisite coffee.

It's just too much trouble to put water in a tea kettle, turn on the hot plate I've dragged along, and wait forever for the water to boil, besides which I'm so groggy at 5:45 a.m. I may well leave the hot plate on after I leave for the hospital and end up burning up the Sheraton Richmond, not a good thing.

And then I've got to grind the beans.

All this stuff takes up space and it's just too big a pain in the butt.

So I drink my default coffee, brewed in a Senseo machine (below)

using coffee pods.

Better than 7–11, but not by much.

But when I saw the electric kettle pictured up top, I realized there was a better way.

From the website:

The advanced design of this brushed stainless steel kettle boils 1.75 quarts of water in just minutes.

The concealed heating element with 1500 watts of power is never in direct contact with the water, so mineral deposits don't build up.

There is an easy-read water level gauge and the kettle lifts easily from its corded base for filling and pouring.

Automatically shuts off when water boils and has a boil-dry shutoff protection.

$39.99 here.

Who wants to get really, really rich?

Because it's that time again here, for yet another world premiere of an idea that you can take to the bank — after you do a little work.

As always it starts with a problem, progresses to an (in retrospect) obvious solution and ends in tears.

Of laughter — as you choke and splutter thinking about yet another half–baked idea emerged from my dysfunctional kitchen of a brain.

But I digress.

Long story short: Friday afternoon after I got back home from getting my car inspected I couldn't find my credit card.

I knew I'd just used it to pay for the inspection, which included an oil change, replacement of a dead light bulb and repair of the driver's door lever.

$72.86, in case you're interested in how much the automobile–related expenses were.

So I turned the car and the house upside down looking for the credit card but couldn't find it.

Oh, well, I figured: maybe tomorrow my brain will recalculate the world and this time include the credit card.

Which it did this morning.

The card was under a chair in a room I occasionally walk through but rarely use.

How'd it get there?

Doesn't matter: it was in credit card hyperspace overnight and then it came back.

But when I went out to my car to drive down to the 7–11 a mile and a half away, down Barracks Road, I saw that I'd left the ignition key in the switch — in the "On" position" — yesterday afternoon after moving the motorized seats around looking for the credit card.

And what with the temperature at 7:22 a.m. being 38°F I knew not a lot would happen when I tried to start the car.

Got that one right.

No big deal, I've got plenty other stuff to do (but different from the day before).

Then, while I was on the treadmill reading the morning papers

it suddenly occurred to me: I'm not the first person to have accidentally/inadvertently drained their car battery in their own driveway.

Why, I'll bet there's even a joehead out there — maybe three! — who've done the very same thing.

And maybe, like me, you don't have a second car to jumpstart the dead one with so you either have to call AAA or a friend to get going.

But then the penny dropped.

Why isn't there a transformer/charger device that you can plug into any electrical outlet and then into your car's cigarette lighter socket to charge your battery enough to start the car?

I mean, power is power regardless of the form it takes — it's all energy in the end.

Here's a tip to help you get started: make sure to offer the device with optional cord lengths, all the way up to 100 feet, because there are many people who don't have an electrical outlet anywhere near their car.

There is a fortune at the end of this rainbow for the joehead who brings this to market: "ka–ching" is the sound I'm hearing in the background.

So there it is: money for nothing.

Shows there's no truth in common adages like, "You get what you pay for."

Doesn't it?

Handy Key Light

The tiny light snaps onto the base of your key and has its own loop to attach to your key ring.

You push the button to illuminate the keyhole.

A replaceable bulb plus battery are included in the 1.38"–square black plastic case.

But why would you bother replacing the bulb when you could simply buy another key light for probably less than the cost of the bulb, not to mention the fact you'll never be able to find a replacement bulb?

The key light costs $1.99 here.

Here's what's odd: if you buy two or more the price drops to 99¢ apiece.

So my question is: why would they bother offering to sell you one for $1.99 as opposed to simply pricing them at 99¢ each?

Who would buy just one when it actually costs more — OK, only a penny, but still — than two?

Truly a mystery of American commerce.

Blast from the past: January 24, 1984 — Watch Steve Jobs introduce the Macintosh

"Never before seen video footage of the introduction of the Macintosh in January 1984" was recently placed on the web.

Mac aficionado Scott Knaster kept his Betamax videotape

of the legendary event for 21 years.

German media agency TextLab unearthed it and enabled us to watch it.

Magnifico.

[via industrial–technology–and–witchcraft.de and trunkmonkey]

Morphing Mittens

Life is a trade–off between comfort and control.

It's so simple, really.

And yet finding the right balance takes most of us a lifetime – if we're lucky.

Now comes an invention that offers both.

I'll take it.

What is it, by the way?

Oh, I never thought you'd ask — not.

From the website:

These Mittens Give You Warmth And Finger Control!

Our Multi-Mitts flip back to reveal half-gloves underneath to give you fingertip control.

Thinsulate™ lining keeps your hands warm while reducing bulk.

Leather palms to ensure long life.

That's not your life they're talking about.

But I digress.

In Men's and Women's versions in grey wool/acrylic (above).

$9.85 here.

But perhaps you prefer something without wool?

I know I do.

I told the crack research team to find an alternative.

They did.

You can have these morphing mittens in 100% black acrylic (below).

$19.95 here.

This site also offers a beige wool/acrylic blend, giving you yet a third choice.

Nice job, team.

I may keep this bunch, and even offer them a long–term (30 days) contract if they keep up the good work.

MorphWorld: Ray Davies into Ray Kurzweil

Two great Rays.

The well–respected man of rock and roll (above) could stand in for the legendary inventor/thinker/author (below)

at book signings; I doubt the reverse would be true at concerts.

But you never know — what with his synthesizer and all, Ray K. might surprise you.

Pentagram 'Feedback'

Pentagram, a design firm, in 1976 began publishing a slim travel guide given to clients and acquaintances.

Word got out, so much so that Deborah Baldwin wrote about it in the October 20 New York Times.

Designers, photographers and others describe their favorite museums, restaurants and other until–now closely–held secrets around the world.

Currently in its 6th edition, "Feedback" employs the fine paper used for Bibles and a slender typeface called Trade Gothic to cram in as much information as possible.

$20 from info@pentagram.com.