Good with Coffee...  January 16, 2010 ~ Next update February

Happy New Year Coffee Break-ers! Glad you're here.  Everyone deserves a break in their day.  Our goal at Coffee Break is to make it an interesting and entertaining few minutes in your day.  If you have anything you would like to contribute, please send it to me on the Contact Joanne form.  Missed some Coffee Breaks?  We've archived some of the prior issues.  Scroll down the left column. I look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions.  Take care and stay in touch, Joanne Your San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Broker... and coffee lover. California Department of Real Estate Brokers License Number: 00822285

You heard it here...

"MOVE OVER, SLOW DOWN" law expanded and became permanent January 1, 2010 Sacramento – California has had a "Move Over, Slow Down" law for several years.  The law that took effect January 1, 2010 made it permanent and added Caltrans trucks to the list of vehicles you must make way for, which includes police cars, fire engines, ambulances and tow trucks.  If you see an emergency vehicle on the side of a highway with lights flashing, you must slow down and move into an adjacent lane if it is safe to do so.  The fine for violating this law is around $146, with one point on your driving record. View video clip: Move Over America

Where coffee comes from Coffee plants are fussy! : ) They grow only near the equator - between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. They need fertile soil, no frost and most of the best coffees are grown in mountainous regions between 4,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level. The gourmet coffee growing regions of the world are the Americas, Africa, Arabia and Indonesia.

Bayer Aspirin Crystals ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen Bayer is making crystal aspirin to dissolve under the tongue. They work much faster than the tablets. Why keep aspirin by your bedside? About Heart Attacks   There are other symptoms of an heart attack besides the pain on the left arm. One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well as nausea and lots of  sweating, however these symptoms may also occur less frequently. Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack..  The majority of people (about 60%) who  had a heart attack during their sleep, did not wake up.  However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep.   If that happens, immediately dissolve two aspirins in your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water. Afterwards: - phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by - say "heart attack!" - say that you have taken 2 aspirins.. - take a seat on a chair or sofa near the front door, and wait for their arrival and... ~ do NOT lie down ~

Zicam ~ Thanks to Mr. Richard DeBiaso If you missed this warning this past June, please read it today. FDA Advises Consumers Not To Use Certain Zicam Cold Remedies Intranasal Zinc Product Linked to Loss of Sense of Smell The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers to stop using three products marketed over-the-counter as cold remedies because they are associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia). Anosmia may be long-lasting or permanent. The products are:     --Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel     --Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs     --Zicam Cold Remedy Swabs, Kids Size (a discontinued product) Details on FDA warning about Zicam

Friendship Among Women ~ Thanks to Ms. Uzma Fatima Husaini UCLA STUDY ON FRIENDSHIP AMONG WOMEN By Gale Berkowitz A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis. A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research~most of it on men~upside down. "Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible. It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers." Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just "fight or flight." "In fact it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the "fight or flight" response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. "This calming response does not occur in men," says Dr. Klein, "because testosterone~which men produce in high levels when they're under stress ~seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen", she adds,"seems to enhance it."  "There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded," says Dr. Klein." When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own.  Drs. Klein and Taylor discovered that by not including women in stress research,scientists had made a huge mistake: The fact that women respond to stress differently than men has significant implications for our health. The "tend and befriend" notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men. Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. "There's no doubt," says Dr. Klein, "that friends are helping us live." In one study, for example, researchers found that people who had no friends increased their risk of death over a 6-month period. In another study, those who had the most friends over a 9-year period cut their risk of death by more than 60%. Friends are also helping us live better. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life. In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friends or confidantes was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight! And that's not all! When the researchers looked at how well the women functioned after the death of their spouse, they found that even in the face of this biggest stressor of all, those women who had a close friend confidante were more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairments or permanent loss of vitality. Those without friends  were not always so fortunate. Yet if friends counter the stress, if they keep us healthy and even add years to our life, why is it so hard to find time to be with them? (Three Rivers Press, 1998). "Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women," explains Dr. Josselson. "We push them right to the back burner. That's really a mistake because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience."

Food for Thought ~ Thanks to Ms. Monique De Conge A carrot, an egg, and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?" Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Green Tips...

Recycled paint What happens to all the latex paint that is dropped off at hazard waste centers? It’s recycled and is being resold at your local paint distributors, Dunn-Edwards and Kelly-Moore, for instance. Recycled paint sells for less, but the quality and viscosity is augmented by blending it with virgin materials. For more information and a complete list of distributors, visit http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/ConDemo/Paint/.

A chuckle or two or even a gasp...

Pigeon Impossible ~ Thanks to Mr. Ben Johnson  The animation is fantastic!  Enjoy!  http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=jEjUAnPc2VA

Travel Tip ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen New Airport Check-in Attire: This eliminates getting to the airport 2 hours early, but you still have to take off your shoes.

Birth of the Blues ~ Thanks to Ms. Esther Snyder For people over age 50... http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=VPH0-g25Vl8

Only in Texas ~ Thanks to Mr. John Lopez New York Lawyer VS Texas Deputy... A lawyer runs a stop sign and gets pulled over by a sheriff's deputy. He thinks that he is smarter than the deputy because he is a lawyer from New York and is certain that he has a better education then any cop from Texas . He decides to prove this to himself and have some fun at the Texas deputy's expense. The deputy says, "License and registration, please." "What for?" says the lawyer. The deputy says, "You didn't come to a complete stop at the stop sign." Then the lawyer says, "I slowed down, and no one was coming." "You still didn't come to a complete stop, Says the deputy. License and registration, please." The lawyer says, "What's the difference?" "The difference is you have to come to complete stop, that's the law. License and registration, please!" the Deputy repeats. Lawyer says, "If you can show me the legal difference between slow down and stop, I'll give you my license and registration; and you give me the ticket. If not, you let me go and don't give me the ticket." "That sounds fair. Please exit your vehicle, sir," the deputy says. At this point, the deputy takes out his nightstick and starts beating the living daylights out of the lawyer and says, "Do you want me to stop, or just slow down?"

Dom's Amazing Egg Trick ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Ward   http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/138148/detail/

Rednecks ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Ward Three rednecks were working up on a cell phone tower: Cooter, Ronnie and Donnie.  As they start their descent, Cooter slips, falls off the tower and is killed instantly. As the ambulance takes the body away, Ronnie says, 'Well, shucks, someone should go and tell his wife. Donnie says, 'OK, I'm pretty good at that sensitive stuff, I'll do it.' Two hours later, he comes back carrying a case of Budweiser. Ronnie says, 'Where did you get that beer, Donnie?' 'Cooter's wife gave it to me,' Ronnie replies. 'That's unbelievable, you told the lady her husband was dead and she gave you beer?' 'Well, not exactly,' Donnie says. 'When she answered the door, I said to her, "you must be Cooter's widow." She said, 'You must be mistaken.  I'm not a widow.' Then I said, 'I'll bet you a case of Budweiser you are.' Rednecks are good at sensitive stuff.

At the Car Wash ~ Thanks to Mr. Richard DeBiaso http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/carwash.asp

The Universe ~ Thanks to Ms. Linda Jo Bruton   The Known Universe takes viewers from the Himalayas through our atmosphere and the inky black of space to the afterglow of the Big Bang. Every star, planet, and quasar seen in the film is possible...   This really puts things into perspective!  We are here.

Worth a thousand words...

Amazing Houses

Before we say so long...

Before you go, remember your comments, suggestions, and contributions are welcome. When you come across something funny or informative and in good taste, please send it along.  I would love to include it with your name and our thanks.  Be sure to tell your friends about Coffee Break. And if you have time, explore the other sections of our web site.  I leave you to ponder these words a good friend shared with me:  "The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along their way." Carry that thought with you as you tackle the rest of your week.  For information on buying or selling in the bay area, please call me at 510-429-4800 or send me a note on the  form. ~ Joanne Joanne L. Gardiner, Broker, e-PRO Realtor Advantage Realty 3205 Whipple Road - Union City, California 94587 (510) 429-4800 San Francisco Bay Area  San Francisco East Bay Real Estate