Ray's Daily

Ray’s Daily

May 25, 2021

http://rays-daily.com

“Tough times never last, but tough people do!”

Robert Schuller

As we get older it pays to avoid stagnation. I have a number of friends who are more than ninety years old who as sharp as some folks in their fifties. What they have in common is they stay mentally active.

To some extent our mental ability is up to us. Here are ecerpts from a recent article that tells us how we can stay mentally capable.

7 Things to Do After 50 for a Healthier Brain

by Michele G. Sullivan, AARP

1. Keep your blood pressure under control – Heart and brain health are woven together not only by lifestyle factors but by genetics, cholesterol metabolism, and the health and integrity of the cardiovascular system — from major vessels to the tiniest capillaries — says Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., director of translational research at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.

Blood pressure management — can be achieved with steps including a well-balanced diet, exercise and medication.

2. Get regular exercise – Beyond increasing blood flow to the brain, exercise — particularly running — can be a boon for brain health because it generates the release of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which promotes the growth of the cells that send and receive signals from the brain, called neurons. BDNF also “increases the connections between neurons, and it sustains them in the face of environmental and other challenges.

3. Eat a heart-healthy diet – This is a diet that keeps cholesterol in check and promotes normal insulin activity — both of which reduce your dementia risk.

In early May a German team published the strongest-yet evidence on this. A Mediterranean diet, which is rich in vegetables, fish and heart-healthy fats, was associated with larger brain volume and less beta amyloid — the protein that forms the neuron-killing clumps that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

4. Manage your weight – Obesity is a well-established risk factor for dementia. In a 2020 study, subjects with obesity were 34 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who were normal weight; the risk for women was even higher (39 percent).

5. Learn new things – Just like bodies, brains are meant to be active. Crossword puzzles and sudoku, often suggested as brain exercises, may not offer the best trainingespecially if they are too easy and don’t require “mental sweat.” “The trick is to challenge yourself, but not with something so difficult that you give it up.

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“Increasing the strength of our minds is the only way to reduce the difficulty of life.”

Mokokoma Mokhonoana

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Don’t you just hate blond jokes, well in this case the hair coloring has been changed to protect the innocent.
A blonde out for a walk. She comes to a river and sees another blonde on the opposite bank. Yoo-hoo!” she shouts, “How can I get to the other side?” The second blonde looks up the river then down the river and shouts back, “You ARE on the other side.”

A blonde was playing Trivial Pursuit one night. It was her turn. She rolled the dice and she landed on Science & Nature. Her question was, “If you are in a vacuum and someone calls your name, can you hear it?” She thought for a time and then asked, “Is it on or off?”

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She said: Protons have mass?    I didn’t even know they were Catholic.
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Simulated office experience when working from home…
Get up every day at 6am, iron a shirt, put on your suit. Walk half a mile to the bus stop, stand in cold for 20 minutes. Get a bus to somewhere miles away. Get off, stand in cold for 20 minutes again and get bus back. Walk half mile back to house. It should now be about 9am.

Decorate your ‘office’ with a stained carpet (preferably one made of carpet tiles,) a strip light that flickers and a vending machine which serves not-even-close-to-being-coffee.

Place a proxy between yourself and the web, pointlessly block any sites that may have useful information relevant to your job. Only allow yourself to unblock them after a week-long argument with yourself via email.

If you smoke, don’t do it in the building. Stand outside (in the cold) and move at least 100 yards up the street, to avoid tarnishing your company’s corporate image.

Have daily meetings, where the main topic should always be how to cut down on meetings so that actual work can be done.
At lunchtime, take another cold 20 minute walk to the local newsagent, who will be happy to supply you with a disturbingly cold sandwich from their fridge. The only one left will be egg.

Walk back to work, eating your sandwich and smoking at the same time, for efficiency and to hide the taste of the sandwich.

Every 10 minutes, pick up the phone and say ‘Oh, you should have gone through to reception. Let me put you through… Oh, they’re not answering. Can I take a message?’ After this, scrawl something on a post-it note and wander around the ‘office’ for 10 minutes to simulate finding the message recipient’s desk.

At the end of the day, leave the office and perform the bus trips again.
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If America has FREE ELECTIONS, then why are they the most expensive ones in the world?
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Maxine on “Driver Safety” – “I can’t use the cell phone in the car. I have to keep my hands free for making gestures.”
Maxine on “Body Piercing” – “I’d get my tongue pierced, but I still have a little bit of brain left in my head.”
Maxine on “Work” – “My performance at work has really improved over the years. Now I can nail a co-worker with a paper-clip shot from a rubber band at 20 yards.”

Maxine on “the Technology Revolution” – “My idea of rebooting is kicking somebody in the butt twice.”
Maxine on “Aging” – “Take every birthday with a grain of salt. This works much better if the salt accompanies a large margarita.”

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I’ve learned…. That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
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A prominent surgeon, who was a member of operating teams at both St. Francis Hospital and Christ Hospital in the Chicago area, would operate in the morning, then field calls about his patients in the evening.

One night, a few dinner guests were quite shocked as the good doctor was on the phone talking to a resident at Christ Hospital, when the other phone rang.  His wife answered, then whispered to her husband, “It’s St. Francis calling.” He whispered back, “Tell St. Francis I’ll have to call back. I’m talking to Christ.”

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If I were here more often, I wouldn’t be gone so much.
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She said: Our neighbor loaned my husband his old chain saw to trim some tree branches.  Unfortunately, the engine burned out while my husband was using it.  Not wanting to return a broken piece of equipment, he bought a new saw to replace it.When I offered it to our neighbor, he thanked me but said, “Keep it. I’ll borrow it when I need it.”
I was turning away when his eyes lit up.  “Hey,” he asked, “want to borrow my car?”
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Disappointments should be cremated, not embalmed.
Henry S. Haskins
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Bill is sitting in his neighborhood bar one hot afternoon, drinking, and minding his own business, when all of a sudden this great big guy comes in and — WHACK!! — Knocks Bill clean off the bar stool and onto the floor. The big guy says, “That was a karate chop from Korea.”

Bill thinks “GEEZ!!” but he gets back up on the stool and starts drinking and trying to mind his own business again when all of a sudden — WHACK — the big guy knocks him down…..AGAIN and says, “That was a judo chop from Japan.”

Bill has had just about enough of this so … he gets up, brushes himself off and quietly leaves.  He is gone for an hour or so, and when he returns, without saying a word, he walks up behind the big idiot and –Bong!!!”–Bangs the big guy off his stool, knocking him out cold!! Bill then looks at the bartender and says, “When he comes to, tell him that was a crowbar from Sears.”

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It was rush hour, and when the bus finally arrived, it was packed.  I tried to force my way on, but no one would budge, although there was ample room in the back. Then the bus driver took over.

“Excuse me, Ladies and Gentlemen,” he shouted.  “Will all the beautiful, smart people please move to the back of the bus, and all the ugly stupid people stay up front?”

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“I would say what others have said: It gets better. One day, you’ll find your tribe. You just have to trust that people are out there waiting to love you and celebrate you for who you are. In the meantime, the reality is you might have to be your own tribe. You might have to be your own best friend. That’s not something they’re going to teach you in school. So start the work of loving yourself.

Wentworth Miller

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Ray Mitchell

Indianapolis, Indiana

Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.

Ray’s Daily has been sent for more than twenty years to people who want to start their day on an upbeat. If you have system overload because of our daily clutter, let me know and I will send you the information via mental telepathy. If you have not been getting our daily you can request to be added by e-mailing me at raykiwsp@comcast.net. Back issues are posted at http://rays-daily,com/ currently there are hundreds of  readers from around the world.