Gardening ergonomics links

 

PT and Me - Gardening ergonomics  Tips on ergonomics and some stretches.

Green Thumbs and Healthy Ergonomics - Accessible Ergonomics 

Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife by N.G. Carlson

This past spring and summer, I took photographs of wildlife at Silverwood Park and Long Lake Regional Park north of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Other locations were outside the Bell Museum of Natural History, near my residence and at a woods north of the Twin Cities metro area. 

Spending time in nature during weekday mornings and on weekends made the spring, summer, and fall a wonderful experience. In the book you will meet Scruffy and Blue two Great Blue Herons who glided from one fishing spot to another stopping long enough for me to watch them groom themselves and patiently fish. 

A doe and the fawn on the cover of the book surprised me more than once on my morning walks. The wood duck and hooded merganser families spent time with each other raising their ducklings together. Turtles played tag under water and covered up the available logs on cool sunny days. 

I enjoyed listening to the sounds of songbirds and the hammering of the woodpeckers. I watched bluebirds diving on the grass to pick up insects and the osprey fishing for sunfish. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies enjoyed the flowers and time on the lake.   

Photographing the wildlife was a walking meditation and an opportunity to capture the beauty in nature. It was a chance to observe and enjoy the dance of life. The book, Photographs of Minnesota Wildlife is available from Amazon in a paperback and kindle version. 

I appreciate the support from the Silverwood Camera Club and my editors Betsy Salvatore and Tammy K. Smith. 

Red Bellied Woodpecker - 21 seconds

Chipmunk - 51 seconds

Addiction is an emotional response to pain

From the BBC News IDEAS Studio: Author Gabor Mate suggests that dealing with trauma is the key to dealing with addiction.  Do not ask what is wrong with you. Ask what happened to you? If we can address the underlying trauma we can get at the reason for the addiction.

Dealing with trauma is addressed by Dr. James Gordon in his book The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma.

Healing after trauma with Dr. James Gordon - 25 minutes

Laboratory Ergonomic Experiences Article

Long pipettes cause wrist poor wrist posture - N. Carlson

Mike May interviewed Sivonne Suraj and me for an article on laboratory Ergonomic Experiences that appeared in Labcompare.com on June 3, 2019. I appreciated the opportunity to work with Mr. May and I picked up some useful ideas from Seuraji. 

As noted in Mr. May's article, some relatively straightforward changes can reduce the potential for injury laboratory personnel.  Please view some additional tips from the Mayo Clinic below. 

Lab Ergonomic tip #1 from the Mayo clinic - 2 min. 

Lab Ergonomic tip #2 from the Mayo clinic - 2 min.

Lab Ergonomic tip #3 from the Mayo clinic - 1 min.

Get Britain standing web site

Get Britain Standing.org an excellent website packed with helpful information about the hazards of prolonged sitting and ways to get moving and reduce the sedentary lifestyle.

There is a summary of European regulations on a safe office environment

The website also highlighted a recent January, 2019 article in Occupational Health and Wellbeing notes that replacing sitting time with activity reduces the onset of early death by up to 35 %. 

Dancing at work - On your feet Britain - 4 min. 

How to be healthy sitting at your desk - 3 min. 

Stand up for health in your office - 21 minutes

Tips for Computer Mousing

Special thanks to David Wolff from Hennepin County Medical Center for making this video on computer mousing tips available.

Computer Mouse Tips - Approximately 6 minutes

Mostly organic turkey, wild rice and bean casserole

Initial ingredients

The Blue Zones diet has a heavy focus on beans and making foods that are simple without a lot of extra ingredients.  I have been playing around with this recipe for a while. The current version has a pleasant cooking aroma and excellent flavor. It is also loaded with fiber.

Ingredients:

1. Organic lentils dried (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
2. Organic split peas (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
3. Organic black beans (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
4. Organic peregion beans (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
5. Minnesota Wild rice (78.6 cc by volume or a little over 2.5 ounces)
6. One red pepper sliced
7. One organic purple onion sliced
8. One turkey leg
9. One organic turkey breast boneless
10. One can organic Health Valley vegetable soup (80 mg sodium per can)
11. One can no-salt green beans
12. Add enough water to cover
13. Heat covered in glass container at 365 until meat falls off of turkey leg ( 2 - 3 hours) May need to rotate meat 3/4ths the way through. 

Before cooking

Yams and casserole in the oven

Simultaneously cook yams with skin sliced in pan with parchment paper on bottom. Place yams in oven as it warms to temperature. Rotate yams when caramelized odor is noticed during cooking.

After cooking, immediately freeze portions of casserole in lunch sized microwaveable containers.

Serving suggestions:

Casserole:

Reheat lunch casserole container in microwave and cover with about 1/3rd cup of chopped walnuts. After heating, top with favorite berries - Black raspberries, blueberries or red raspberries. 

Yams:

Reheat refrigerated yams in the microwave.

Suggested serving options:

1. Eat with or without peel - Add cottage cheese and walnuts or pecans

2. Remove peel and add extra virgin olive oil - mix well. Add walnuts and choice of berries. 

Yams, olive oil, blueberries and walnuts

Blue light and tuneable LED light health effects

I recently attended a talk on the effect of light on “State of the Science: Effects of Light on Human Health with Focus on Blue Light” by William Mills III Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University. He spoke at our annual local industrial hygiene conference in Roseville, Minnesota.

Standard LED lights produce light with more intensity in the blue spectrum than florescent or incandescent light. Newer LED lights will be tunable and dimmable to start the morning in the blue spectrum and shift in the afternoon and evening into the red spectrum.  Small preliminary studies by the Department of Energy these tunable lights in senior care units have shown a positive benefit.

Some brands of orange tinted glasses are much more effective at filtering blue light than others with no relationship between price and effectiveness. I ordered the Uvex Skyper Blue Light Blocking Computer Glasses with SCT-Orange Lens (S1933X) for under $10 as he mentioned that these glasses performed very well.

Many workplace accidents occur due to sleep deprivation. Using intense lighting during the evening shift can improve alertness. Late or evening shift work is now listed by the IARC as a probable human carcinogen

 I talked with professor Mills during a break. He impressed me with his energy, intense curiosity, and willingness to experiment. He and his students build their own wireless wearable monitors using available sensors, chips, and a 3D printer at their BEEEAM Laboratory.

Phillips - All in one tuneable dimmable light - 2 min. 

HI LED tuneable LED project

desk top electric sit to stand unit

ApexDesk EDR-3612-BLACK ZT Series Height Adjustable Sit to Stand Electric Desk Converter

Recently we've been looking for an electric on top of the desk sit to stand unit. These work in situations where a full electric sit stand desk is not affordable and the person can type with elbows in a relaxed position at the the height of the keyboard.  It also works where the person does not have the hand strength to adjust a spring loaded desk top unit.

A footrest is often needed to make sure that the thighs are parallel to the floor when the person is seated. The higher monitor height may make this set up problematic for a person with bifocals if the lower lens is used to view the monitor.

The 18 inch range will accommodate most people but may not be long enough for taller individuals with short humorous bones.

Chicken, Wild Rice, and Veggie Casserole

Chicken wild rice and veggie hot dish - before cooking

Dish - cooked at 355F for 2 1/4 hours

Recipe (serves 6)

1 cup of wild rice
1 pound package of chicken strips
1 can of soup (chicken noodle, cream of celery, or chicken and rice)
1 can of green beans
1 can of peas, corn, or insert veggie here
1 red pepper sliced
1/2 to 1/3 purple onion sliced
2 cups of water

Place all ingredients into glass casserole dish, stir and cover

Pre-heat oven to 355F

Serve hot with pecans or walnuts sprinkled on top.
Add blueberries or raspberries for additional flavor

I refrigerate it in small containers for lunch or dinner.

Consider baking 4 - 6 sweet potatoes at the same time to mix in with the casserole later and to save electricity.