Jay's Interest: May 2017

In honor of the upcoming Mother’ Day celebration, I thought I would pass on something I stumbled upon in my Nebraska Wesleyan magazine. Granted, I usually just make a beeline for the obituary section, because let’s face it, once you hit age 50 you’re just hoping you’re not in it. Anyway, I came across an article about a former student who is part of the female duo behind the “IMomSoHard” web videos. As some of you may know, I’m not on Facebook but apparently that is where they post their videos. After reading the article about the two women, I recommend that everyone, whether you’re a parent or not, check it out. Their take on parenting from the female perspective is hysterically funny and as near as I can tell from an outsider looking in (a man), right on the money.

Speaking of Facebook, a recent study in the Journal of Epidemiology (yes, you just read the word ‘epidemiology’ in my newsletter) found that spending too much time on Facebook might actually be making you sad. After collecting data from over 5000 participants, researchers looked at the correlation between respondents' Facebook use (specifically how often they like posts, click links, and update their own statuses) and their self-reported mental health, physical condition, and overall life satisfaction. Researchers found consistently that liking others people’s content and clicking links resulted in a significant decline in all 3 categories. Maybe the Journal of Banking needs to do a similar study because I too have suffered from a significant decrease in my mental health, physical condition, and overall life satisfaction and I haven’t been on Facebook in years. I believe THE REAL WORLD is the culprit in my particular case.

I was watching TV last week and I saw this commercial about a belt that has notches instead of holes. I have to admit, for a guy who can’t find belts that fit, this is a game changer. You have no idea how many times I’ve had to drill a new hole into my belts, which isn’t the safest thing to do, especially when you’re wearing the belt while you’re drilling. It’s a mistake you only make once. Again, you’re welcome.

And finally, 3 sons were sitting around the fire bragging about how much money they’ve made and what they were going to buy their mom as a thank you. The first son bragged that he was going to get her a brand-new car with a chauffeur. The second son bragged that he was going to buy her a huge mansion. The third son confidently told his brothers “I’ve got you both beat – for $1 million I can get her a specially-trained parrot that can recite every chapter and verse of the bible”. Years later, the boys were sorting through their mom’s belongings after she passed away and they stumbled upon the thank you notes that she had forgotten to send them. “Milton” she wrote, “I love the house, but it’s just too big. I only live in one room but I have to clean the whole thing”. “Gerald”, she wrote, “the car is nice, but I’m too old to go out, and be-sides, the driver is very rude”. Finally, they found the 3rd note. “Dearest Donald, at least you had the good sense to know exactly what your mother loves. The chicken was delicious.”

Until Next Time…..

Jay