This is my Accountability Dalek.

I'm doing this blog post as an extension of my review of this super-fun product on Amazon. 

I have this freaking adorable Dalek sitting on my computer desk, positioned so that I can see the Dalek's "head" over my laptop. 

My Accountability Dalek in action. Watching me work.

Every now and then, when I am bored (Gasp! Say it isn't true!) or needing to smile, I squish the Dalek to make it talk. The sticker on its midsection says "TRY ME!" On some stuffed animals, this is an invitation. With the Accountability Dalek, it's a direct challenge. 

"Exterminate! Exterminate!" I like to play that one when people are getting a little snippy on the phone. If you haven't watched Doctor Who, you're missing out. See a clip here. Summarizes the show quite nicely.

"You would make a good Dalek." I sometimes use that one when I am feeling particularly robot-like or like my hands are glued to my ergonomic keyboard. It reminds me to get up, move around, look around, and experience the world in person, not just through Google.

"You are an enemy of the Daleks! You must be destroyed!" I like to play that one when I break free of my computer and go do something that involves my brain and my body. Or when I am working on something creative.

Mostly, though, the Dalek watches over me and I can feel it silently judging me if I goof around on the Internet too much or get distracted from my report writing and data analysis. 

Everyone should have an Accountability Dalek. 

Lots of BLUE for the Accountability Dalek.

Plus, the Dalek is blue, which is apparently the color of honesty, trust, and dependability in business psychology. It makes you remember what business should be about and what kind of person you want to be. All this in a goofy Doctor Who stuffed robot. We all have to find meaning somewhere, yeah?

Buy yourself one, if you dare. 

Industrious Hygienist Holiday Safety Tip #1: Dogs do not mix well with fireworks.

This is Shadow, my 3.5-year old Alaskan Malamute. 

Shadow at 6 months.

Just kidding, this is Shadow. I just wanted to show a picture of him as a puppy. He's ginormous now. 

Shadow on a walk in Prescott Valley - controlled burn in the background.

Shadow is not a fan of New Year's Eve. He hates fireworks. New Year's Eve and Independence Day rank as his least favorite holidays. Some tips for a pet-friendly New Year's party here.  

My end of year cartoon (doubled as a holiday card for clients, colleagues, friends, and family):

The Industrious Hygienist and Shadow enjoy New Year's Eve together. 

We'll be spending New Year's Eve cuddled up in bed, with Shadow alternating between spastic races around the house and cowering next to us in the bedroom. Fun times in the Bliss household!

Wishing all my loyal readers a safe and fulfilling 2014. 

Ten Tips for Easy Ergonomics + Safety 2013 Conference!

I spent the week in Las Vegas, NV at Safety 2013, the professional development conference for the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) - I had a great time and will discuss all the exciting things I learned over the next month or so.

To wrap up National Safety Month, this last week's focus was on ergonomics.

National Safety Month - Week #4, Ergonomics Crossword Puzzle.

I completed my National Safety Council crossword puzzle on ergonomics and developed this list of "Ten Tips for Easy Ergonomics" from the puzzle and my own experience.

Ten Tips for Easy Ergonomics

1.) STRETCH! Stretching can relieve stress and help improve muscle fatigue.

2.) STRETCH MORE! Stretching reduces the risk of ergonomics issues such as carpal tunnel syndrome or tendonitis.

3.) STRETCH CORRECTLY. To stretch out your neck, keep your head straight and in line with your shoulder, turn completely to the left and hold, then turn back to the center. Repeat on the right side. Hold for 5 to 30 seconds on each side.

4.) BREATHE WHEN STRETCHING.  Breathe deeply and slowly when performing stretches.

5.) DON'T STRETCH UNTIL IT HURTS. Pain is not gain - you should only stretch until you feel a mild tension that relaxes as you hold a stretch.

6.) EVALUATE YOUR WORKSPACE. Use the Mayo Clinic office ergonomics site to determine areas for improvement.

7.) DON'T STARE AT A COMPUTER ALL DAY. Periodically take time to close your eyes for a minute at a time and then focus on an object at least 20 feet away. (Or, as I posted previously, work from home and get a dog, preferably a giant Alaskan Malamute who will pester you until you get up and chase him around.)

8.) USE A BACKPACK OR ROLLING BAG. Get rid of your messenger bag and heavy laptop case - find ways to carry as little as possible. Men's Health magazine had some helpful tips on reducing the amount of stuff you carry around all day.

9.) TRY YOGA. It's awesome, just make sure that you honor any feeling of restriction in your body and don't freak out that you're not Gumby or Pokey overnight. I just found a funny blog post called "Yoga Yoda Helps Me Find Ergonomic Zen" (complete with pictures!).

10.) DON'T GO OUT AND SPEND A BUNCH OF MONEY ON "ERGONOMIC" EQUIPMENT. Ergonomics doesn't have to be expensive, and many problems can be solved with fairly simple solutions. Washington State Department of Labor and Industries has "10 Tips for Effective Ergonomics" that is worth reading.

On a humorous note, the Safety 2013 bags we were given as part of the conference were messenger bags/laptop bags. After filling up my messenger bag each day with the various freebies and papers and other bags from the vendors, even though I switched shoulders every couple hours, my neck, shoulders, and thoracic vertebrae are not pleased with me. :)

See below for my complimentary bag and the ridiculousness that was my name badge.

My name badge *flair* and complimentary messenger bag from ASSE Safety 2013!

National Safety Month: Top 5 Tips for Employee Wellness

Since this week of National Safety Month was all about employee wellness, I completed the National Safety Council's crossword puzzle* on employee wellness.

So what did we learn about this week?

Top 5 Tips for Employee Wellness*: 

1.) Take frequent, short breaks to stretch and get your blood flowing throughout the day. (See my previous post about "How to Lose Weight? Get a dog!" and my experience with frequent breaks on his behalf.)

2.) Exercising 30 minutes a day, five days a week can significantly improve your metabolism and prevent weight gain. (e.g., Buy A Dog.)

3.) Making slight adjustments to your diet may give you more energy and prevent weight gain or illness. (See below re: being a vegetarian.)

4.) When shopping (for food), look for products that name a whole-grain ingredient first on the list. (See below re: ramen noodles.)

5) Plant-based proteins like beans and soy add variety to your meal.

* tips from the National Safety Council crossword puzzle referenced above.

And now? My tale of being vegetarian for 5 months.

Mighty Spouse and I decided (after watching one of those "where does your food REALLY come from?" documentaries to become vegetarian. It didn't last very long, about five months. The reason we stopped? We were both gaining weight again. When we first went veggie, we lost 15-20 pounds each over the first two months. It was awesome. Gaining it back was less awesome.

After we moved to Prescott and realized it would be dang tricky to be vegetarian in rural-ish Arizona, and evaluated how much extra money we spent on groceries every week buying the non-meat food, we decided a compromise was in order. Moderation in all things and all that. Now we eat LESS meat than before, we juice tasty greens and fruits, and we're back to the simple, cheap, fast and easy meals we used to eat. 

A couple juice recipes we like:

1.) 3 green/granny smith apples + 1 pineapple, diced + 1 bunch of kale
2.) 4 gala apples + 1 bunch of parsley + half bunch of spinach

Also, Mighty Spouse forbade me from ever eating ramen noodles again - we used to eat it frequently when we were in high school and college. I bought a few packages on a lark, read the back of them when I got home, and now am pretty sure I will have to feed them to Shadow. 

It looks so tasty even now. Mmmm. Oriental flavor ramen noodle soup. But then you flip it over and think "ZOMG I can't eat that!" 

I especially love that it says "0 grams Trans Fat" in the corner and the packaging has been the same for as long as I remember. Small print below the "0 grams Trans Fat" states: SEE NUTRITION FACTS FOR SODIUM INFO. Uh oh.

I'd like to point out that, prior to turning 25, I never looked at labels on food. In the nutrition facts, it notes that the serving size is 1/2 block of noodles with seasoning. I can't imagine who would be sated by a half package of ramen (yes, I know, it's supposed to be an appetizer or side or something). 

So a total prepared package of ramen noodles will give you:

380 calories (140 from fat)
22% of your daily value of fat (14 grams)
36% of your daily value of saturated fat (7 grams)
74% of your daily value of sodium (1.8 grams)
18% of your daily value of carbohydrates (52 grams)
8% of your daily value of  fiber (2 grams)
10 grams of protein

On the (sort of) plus side, the first ingredient in the noodles is enriched wheat flour. On the down side, the first ingredient in the soup mix is salt. At approximately 10 cents a package (or less) when on sale, this unassuming food item helped me not die of starvation during college.

I'll confess - I ate a package of prepared ramen last week. It was still pretty darn tasty. 

See you next week. DFTBA. 

How to Lose Weight? Get a Dog!

Howdy Loyal Readers - this week's focus for National Safety Month is "Employee Wellness."

Since moving to Prescott (and not commuting 45 minutes - 1 hour each way to the office), I've found I have much more free time. As promised to Mighty Spouse, I began exercising more frequently. We go to the gym (Snap Fitness 24-7) together at least twice a week and I have been using our StairMaster of Death at least twice a week. We have other, less-PC* terms for the StairMaster, but I won't share them in polite company. 

(* politically correct)

Meet my exercise partner:

Shadow the Arizona-Alaskan Malamute

This is Shadow. He's been featured before on the blog, but he is my constant workout partner.

Shadow's Rules for his Humans:

1.) We MUST got for at least one walk (40 minute minimum) per day.

2.) If we don't go on at least one walk, I will punish you.

3.) If you are doing yoga, I will push you off the mat and show you how it is supposed to be done. My downward-facing dog is excellent.

4.) If you have just come back from exercising at the gym, I will lick all the excess sweat off your face and arms, in efforts to assist you in being clean again.

5.) If you do not take me on my walk, I will make sure to bark/howl/cry/scratch the living daylights out of you at the most inopportune moment until you give me a cookie (or two).

6.) When you use the StairMaster of Death, please make sure I am asleep or in another room, it freaks me out to see you walking above the ground but not going anywhere.

7.) You never sleep enough. You should alternate periods of high activity (i.e. chasing tails and sprinting around the house) with long naps. 

So I guess, in a way, I am doing my part to stay active, thanks to my dog.

That's The Industrious Hygienist's secret to weight loss: get a dog. And be a good pet owner, don't just leave them in the backyard to go stark raving mad from boredom. I mean, if you were forced to be in the same place, every day, with nothing you really want to be doing, and forced to obey all the silly rules of whomever, you would start being destructive too. Wait, I think I just summarized the majority of my adult life as a "productive member of society." Dangit. 

So what is The Industrious Hygienist doing for week #2 of National Safety Month? I'll be sitting in a chair in a classroom most of the week, in OSHA 501 class at the Arizona Safety Education Center. BUT...after class? The place I am staying has a pool. :)

I'm tracking my physical activity for the next few weeks as part of National Safety Month. Apparently there's a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA+) that the National Safety Council is mentioning as a low-cost employee wellness emphasis program. The "+" is there because it's not just about getting active, it's about eating well too. 

For adults, the goals of PALA+ are:

1.) Physical Activity, 30 minutes a day, for 5 days a week, for 6 out of 8 weeks. 

2.) Achieving a healthy eating goal each week (i.e. more fruits and veggies, choose lean cuts of meat, choose low-fat or low sodium options, drink more water, etc.). 

If you finish the PALA+ challenge, you can get this lovely, fill-in-able certificate:

Why care about wellness? Well, it's your life, don't you want to feel good? Why care about employee wellness? Unhealthy and/or obese employees can be expensive on the indirect expenses side of a business. 

Examples of employee wellness programs that are currently in use include: tobacco cessation programs, obesity management and nutrition counseling, online health assessments and other maintenance-style programs that put the onus on the employee.

More on Wednesday and Friday of this week: eating more veggies (i.e. the tale of my 5 months of being vegetarian) and eating less sodium. 

The Industrious Hygienist Manga: Keeper of the Safety Box

Hi all! There have been lots of changes in the Industrious Hygienist's life lately (hence the sad lack of posting and mangas). Before I entertain you with tales of moving out of town, selling a house, finding a rental in the new town that would take my giant dog-beast, and convincing my employer that I can telecommute effectively, I bring you a long-awaited manga.

Special thanks to the people featured in this manga (you know who you are). I love coming to your facility, working my tail off, and hanging out with y'all. I numbered the way you are supposed to read this one - I haven't done a manga in a while and my formatting is wonky and not entirely logical. 

The Industrious Hygienist: Keeper of the Safety Box

Once I find my *new* and *shiny* software in my unlabeled :( moving boxes and convince my brother-in-law to part ways with the Bamboo tablet I allowed him to borrow, I plan to venture into the realm of digital art.

As always, thanks to the artists/creator of Fullmetal Alchemist for creating such wonderful, drawable characters. Eventually I will be able to draw some original characters, but until then, I will borrow/edit/copy/attribute/love your characters.

Banekus = Haikus by Bane

Disclaimer: this post is not IH-related. Spouse and I are nerds. We are especially fond of Christopher Nolan's Batman adaptations, the most recent of which is The Dark Knight Rises. While I was procrastinating the actual "sit down and write" part of being an aspiring novelist, I realized something weird:

Lots of Bane's lines in the movie fit very nicely in Haiku format.

Photo courtesy of Time Warner and Entertainment Weekly

Check it out...

They were mistaken
You fight like a younger man
With nothing held back

(That one is from the spouse.)


Haikus (American-style ones, anyways) follow the 5 syllable-7 syllable-5 syllable, three-line format.

Here's some more, while I was trying to "get in the head" of the character Bane.

It was a mistake
To make me your enemy
You will feel your death

They are my servants
I am the League of Shadows
Join me and serve me

Do you feel in charge?
You will watch your city burn
I have broken you

I always feel it
Pain lets you know you are alive
You can't hear me scream

I tried to save her
Innocence did not belong
Escape from the pit

They breed corruption
Someday they will understand
Death before rebirth

And just to round it out, here's one for Batman:

Rise and face your fear
Life is not just beating death
Climb without the rope

Hope you like them! I have some more unfinished ones, but I am keeping them to myself.

The Banekus also work if you mix and match, i.e.:

I have broken you
I am the League of Shadows
Death before rebirth

Let's see what you can come up with.

The Alaskan Malamute

If you refer to the "About Me" section on this blog, you'll probably find mention of my Alaskan Malamute.

His name is Shadow, and he is AWESOME. Yeah, most pet owners say their dog is awesome, but mine is. For seriously.

Here's five reasons why:
1.) He is taller than me when he stands up. We can dance if we want to...(we can leave our friends behind...) I am a safety professional by trade, and The Safety Dance song (linked above) is one of my fav goofy songs.

2.) He is an adept sponge, dish towel, hot pad, and food stealer. But when I give him my evil eye/glare, he runs outside and drops it in the mud for me to retrieve.

3.) He makes friends with everyone and everything that isn't a Rottweiler. All his lady friends at Camp Bow Wow and the staff there say he is quite a charmer.

4.) He has forced me to go out and met my neighbors and be all social on our daily walkabouts.

5.) He lets us sit on his couch from time to time.

This is what my husband brought home. SUPER CUTE.

Now that he has entered his teenage years, he's depressed and hates his job so much that he lays on his couch and cries.

I'm just kidding - he doesn't have a job. :) He's completely spoiled. We dressed him up as a pharmacy technician to see how well he fit into husband's clothes. Sometimes we're weird people. Our dog has his own Ikea couch. Enough said.