For those of my generation who do not, and cannot, comprehend why Facebook exists, I am now trying to make friends outside of Facebook while still applying the same principles. Therefore, every day, I walk down the street and tell passers by what I have eaten, how I feel at the moment, what I have done the night before, and what I will do later and with whom.

I give them pictures of family, my dog, and of me gardening, taking things apart in the garage, watering the lawn, standing in front of landmarks, driving around town, having lunch and doing what anybody and everybody does every day.

I also listen to their conversations, give them the ‘thumbs up’ and tell them I like them.

And it works almost like Facebook. I already have four people following me: two police officers, a private investigator and a psychiatrist.

Neighborhood News, Mar. 2016

Submitted By: Toby Wolberg (Oxford Place)

Could the wake system in your brain be causing your insomnia? Understanding the 2 systems that affect your sleep —

You know you have insomnia, but what does that really mean? Our understanding of how our brains regulate sleep and wake has evolved. As a result, we’ve gained greater insight into insomnia and what causes it.

Scientific discoveries about insomnia have shown that your brain actually has 2 systems. One helps you sleep; the other helps keep you awake. The wake system sends out signals that put your brain into an alert, or more active state. This helps you wake up in the morning and stay awake during the day. The sleep system sends signals that help you fall and stay asleep at night.

When your 2 systems function as they should, they complement each other, taking turns being in charge and sending signals at the right times. But that’s not always the case. If your wake system stays active when it’s time to sleep, it’s considered to be in an overactive state and insomnia may be a result. The feeling of being trapped between wake and sleep has more science behind it than you may think. When you wake in the morning, your brain sends signals that move it into an alert, or active state. This helps you stay awake during the day. If these signals don’t slow down at night, and you stay in an alert state, your brain is believed to be in a position of over activity. If this happens, your sleep system may not be able to take over – this may be what’s causing your insomnia.

Talk to your health care professional about your wake and sleep systems and what may be causing your insomnia.

By: Vincent Marini (Moorings)

I was cleaning out files last week and came across “The Little Golden Book of Rules,” by Dale Carnegie. It was printed in 1959.

Times change, people certainly change, however, basic rules of decorum do not change nor should they. The foundation of the Dale Carnegie Institute was constructed with 2 agendas: “How To Win Friends And Influence People” and “How To Stop Worrying And Start Living.”

Mr. Carnegie suggested the following Fundamental Techniques in Handling People; Don’t criticize, condemn or complain. Give honest, sincere appreciation.

Arouse in the other person an eager want.

And 6 Ways To Make People Like You;

*Become genuinely interested in other people.

* Smile.

* Remember that a person’s name is to them the sweetest and most important sound.

*BE A GOOD LISTENER -Encourage others to talk about themselves.

*Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.

* Make the other person feel important – and do it sincerely. He also lists his 12 commandments for winning people to your way of thinking:

*The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

*Show respect for the other person’s opinion; never tell a person they are wrong.

* If you are wrong, admit it.

* Begin a conversation in a friendly way.

* Get the other person to say “yes, yes.”

* Let the other person do a great deal of talking.

* Let the other person feel the idea is his idea.

* Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.

* Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.

* Appeal to the nobler motives.

* Dramatize your ideas.

* Throw down a challenge.

Dale Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer and developer of famous courses in self improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills. Today, Dale Carnegie Training is represented in all 50 states and in 90 countries. More than 2700 teachers present Dale Carnegie courses in over 25 languages.

Three of Dale Carnegie’s most famous quotes are:

“Develop success from failure – discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.”

“It isn’t what you have, or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy – It’s what you are thinking about.”

“People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.”

Applying Dale Carnegie rules and or principles in our lives requires attention to detail and the latter mandates being A GOOD LISTENER.

Stay tuned, listen up; in next month’s issue of Aberdeen Times, we will discuss Dale Carnegie’s 7 Rules For Making Your Home Life Happier and his advice on How To Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Dr. Stuart Berger was diagnosed with a brain tumor in August of 2015 and as a result, had surgery to remove the tumor. The road to recover was nothing but lengthy, with its share of unexpected twists and turns. A three week stay in UF Health Jacksonville intensive care, a momentary inpatient rehab stay, and 2-3 months of outpatient rehab would be a true test of will and determination towards recovery.

After having the brain tumor removed, Dr. Berger developed memory loss, had difficulty paying attention, difficulty holding conversations with friends and family, decreased balance, strength, and endurance of his legs and arms. Dr. Berger participated in outpatient rehab services utilizing speech, occupational, and physical therapy. His personal goals were to return to the sport of golf and improve his short term memory. He was unwavering and diligent with his home program for each service and persevered to get to where he is today. Rehabilitation was not an easy task, but he rarely missed an appointment and would always come into the clinic with a smile, anticipating the next challenge.

Dr. Berger would never complain about challenging tasks and had the drive to continue even if he was frustrated. He exceeded all expectation for recovery and met all the therapy goals that were set for him.

Congratulation to Dr: Stuart Berger for graduating from Rehab Services!

Heather Barksdale, DPT, PT Sarah Mersch, MOT, OTR/L Christina Hampton, DPT, PT Stephanie Davis, MS, CCC-SLP

The New York Times started in 1851 and for 145 years it only had its print edition. When, in 1996, something called the “internet” starts to be used by the general public and the Times realized that it needed to be there as well. So it set up a website. Over the next 10 years, the paper would see a decrease in circulation as more people got their news online. In 2006 the Times reduced the size of the paper by 6” to save $12 million per year.

After 26 years of print-only publication, the Aberdeen Times has decided it is time to launch its own web site. This will allow you to read the Aberdeen Times wherever you are whether it is on your patio over a cup of coffee, up north during the summer or half way across the world while you are traveling.

With the gracious help of Philip Levine (South Florida Web Advisors), the Aberdeen Times is ready to enter the 21st century. On our new website you will be able to browse articles by community / column, view our advertisers’ directory, find out who writes the article for your community, and submit feedback / questions and perform a myriad of functions.

Philip worked with the staff of the Aberdeen Times to make sure we have a website that shines. Some of his local clients include the Aberdeen POA, Ashford Green HOA and COBWRA in addition to many other local organizations and businesses.

We look forward to this new era for the Aberdeen Times.

Please visit the new website today at http://aberdeentimes.org/.

Aberdeen Times Board of Directors

By: Dr. Patricia Williams (Muirhead)

I was shocked but not surprised when I received my auto insurance renewal notice. No accidents, no tickets and yet the premium was 25% higher. This is typical of most insurance companies. They reward good driving records with higher premiums. When you call and ask them why, their stock answer is, “our costs have risen.” If you believe this, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

Unless a premium is lower (and once this actu-ally did happen), anytime I receive an auto or home insurance renewal notice, I submit it to various agen-cies for the lowest bid. Currently, I work with 4 agen-cies. One of the agents who knows me well, will ac-tually shop the insurance policy before sending me the renewal notice advising me that such-and-such company will offer me a lower premium than the company I’m currently with.

This morning I contacted the 4 agencies to ask for an auto insurance quote. All 4 came in with quotes 25% to 27% lower than my current policy. Ironically, 2 of 4 quotes were from the same company I am with now.

Following are other lessons I learned that are part of the Insurance game.

1. Never leave your credit card on file with an insurance company. They will charge your card for the renewal premium and send you the receipt as a fait accompli.

2. Don’t sign up with a company that offers only 6-month policies. My experience is that for the second 6 months of the year, your auto insurance premium will be significantly higher. Go with a company that offers a 12-month insurance policy.

3. Check for duplicate coverage. For example, if your auto manufacturer or AAA covers towing charges, you can decline your insurer’s coverage for this service.

4. Check for unnecessary coverage. The agent for my new policy reviewed my old policy to make sure I would have equivalent coverage. She noticed I had been paying for coverage from work loss. Very interesting since my husband and I are both retired.

5. Ask your insurer if you can lower the premium by reducing coverage on certain items. For ex-ample, you might have “stacked” coverage on un-insured motorists. What does this mean? Let’s say you insure 2 vehicles and you have coverage if hit by an uninsured motorist of $250,000 each person and $500,000 each accident. If your insurance is “non-stacked” the coverage is as specified. If it is “stacked” and you’re insuring 2 cars, this increases the coverage to $500,000 each person (2 x $250,000) and $1,000,000 (2 x $500,000) each accident. You pay a higher premium for “stacked” insurance.

6. If you are a good driver and have not had any claims within the past few years, you might consider increasing your deductible (for example, from $500 to $1,000). This will lower your premium.

The take-away message: Treat insurance policies the same way you would if you purchase a car, a home or a pair of jeans. Shop around for the best deal.

On May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers piloted a U-2 spy plane on a mission planned by the Central Intelligence Agency to assess Soviet military strength before an east-west summit conference scheduled to be held in Paris. The 9-hour flight plan had Powers taking off from Peshawar, Pakistan, to Bodo, Norway, which included a 2,900 mile incursion into Soviet airspace. Russian ground radar system began tracking the U-2 15 miles before it even reached the Soviet border with Afghanistan. Thirteen MIG-19 Russian fighters were scrambled to intercept the U-2, but they were unable to come close in altitude because it was flying 70,500 feet above the Ural Mountains.

A salvo of 3 surface-to-air missiles fired from the ground battery produced a fiery display that prompted cheers from the ground crew. One missile had exploded just behind Power’s plane. The wings ripped off the plane causing it to spin out of control. Powers bailed out and was captured. He confessed and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In his prison journal, Powers wrote: “A tremendous orange flash lit the cockpit and the sky. I remember saying to myself, maybe aloud, I don’t know, Good Lord, I’ve had it now.”

What was the secret that enabled the Soviets to down a 13-mile high U-2 “spy-in-the-sky”? The secret was a device within the missile that contained a tiny radio transmitter and receiver that allowed the missile to explode in the proximity of the target rather than requiring the direct hit. The device is called proximity fuze. A fuze is a device used to detonate an explosive charge in an artillery shell, a missile, or projectile.  The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) invented the concept of the proximity fuze, designed  it, constructed prototypes, and field test them. The design proposal faced many technical challenges: one was that the fuze components had to be ultra-rugged enough to withstand the crushing acceleration force of being fired from a gun. The laboratory integrated the technical efforts of many contractors during its production and gave guidance to the Navy, Army, and England for its deployment.

The first successful use of the proximity fuze in combat occurred on January 5, 1943 just south of Guadalcanal, when two Japanese dive bombers attacked the light cruiser USS HELENA (CL-50). Both were shot do by 5-inch (diameter) projectiles armed with the proximity fuze. Notable achievement of the fuze included (1) defense from Japanese kamikaze attacks in the South Pacific (2) neutralizing the German V-1 buzz bomb attack on England, and (3) killing Germans on the ground during the Battle of the Bulge in Dec. 1944. General George Patton remarked: “The new shell with the funny fuze is devastating.

How did the secret of the proximity fuze get into the hands of the Russians? American spy Julius Rosenberg, better known for his theft of the atomic bomb secrets, cleverly smuggled it out of the Emerson Electronics plant where he worked as an inspector for the Army Signal Corps. Emerson was contracted by JHU/ APL for manufacturing the fuze. Rosenberg handed the proximity fuze in a package over to his Russian contact, Aleksandr Feklisov, as a Christmas present in 1944. Feklisov, in turn, handed Rosenberg a package containing an Omega stainless steel watch for him, a crocodile handbag for his wife, Ethel, and a teddy bear for their only son at the time, Michael.

The U-2 incident and capture of Powers was a propaganda coup for the Soviets. At first the U.S. government tried to cover up the plane’s mission. However, it was forced to admit its military nature when the Soviets revealed the U-2’s intact remains and the captured pilot as well as photos of military bases in Russia taken by the U-2. The result was that the summit meeting was canceled between Soviet Premier Krushchev and President Eisenhower.

In 1962, two years after the U-2 was downed, Powers was released in a prisoner exchange for Colonel Abel, a Soviet spy, on the Glenicke Bridge in Berlin. This episode was dramatized in Steven Spielberg’s movie “Bridge of Spies.”

Unlike radar and the atomic bomb, the proximity fuze was truly the number one secret weapon of World War II. The story of the proximity fuze is one of the great classic achievements of America. It was placed in combat in less than one year from the time APL was tasked to develop it. The fact that the fuze was perfected and available by the time it was needed was the crowning achievement of APL’s contribution. [I retired as Principal Staff from the Laboratory after 25 years of service, but the work on the proximity fuze predated my stay.]

Yet, after the information on the proximity fuze became declassified, few people ever heard of it. Generals, politicians, and historians have described World War II in profuse detail but hardly mentioning the proximity fuze.

The ironic backlash to the success of the American secret proximity fuze is that it led to the destruction of the U-2 spy plane by the Russians in 1960, an event that occurred 17 years after the first successful combat use of the fuze in 1943.

Note: Major source of information is an article, A “Bridge of Spies Back Story,” appearing in the New York Times, Nov. 26, 2015.

A well-rounded physical-activity program that combines strength and weight-resistance training with aerobic activity is good for your heart and your overall health. Strength training gets results fast–do it twice a week for a few weeks and you’ll start to see and feel your body change, compared with three times a week with aerobics. Working out with weights can also reduce blood pressure, improve insulin risk of falls. Your quality of life will improve and you will be able to live independently for longer.

“The idea that people with certain heart conditions should completely avoid weight training is false,” says Kerry Stewart, director of clinical and research exercise physiology at Johns Hopkins University. “Exercise is for everybody. If you can do aerobic activity, you should be able to do resistance (weight) training.”

Strength training strengthens the heart as well as other muscles. The biggest benefit of strength training is that it dramatically increases muscle mass, which aerobic activity does not do. More muscle mass makes you stronger and increases your basal metabolic rate. Muscle cells, even at rest, burn more calories than fat cells.

Muscle strengthening can help prevent and limit heart disease by reducing some risk factors. There is good evidence that resistance training reduces total body fat. Weight training increase lean muscle mass and maintains body strength, so you’re able to do more or perform higher levels of aerobic activity. Multiple studies show that strength training lowers blood pressure an average 3mm of mercury, which is enough to reduce your risk of a stroke or of dying of a heart attack. Blood pressure does increase slightly just as you lift a weight, but this fleeting stress on the heart is less than it would be with aerobic activity, Stewart says. A bigger metabolic engine allows you to process glucose better or, if you have diabetes, to control blood sugar levels.

Research shows that muscle strengthening will protect you against bone loss and reduce your risk of dying from all causes. “Muscle strengthening helps prevent frailty and falls,” says Stewart. “Most people think weak bones cause fractures, but actually, its falls.” Weight training can help prevent falls and improve bone mineral density so that your bones are less susceptible to osteoporosis.

Resistance training can help improve your quality of life and allow you to maintain your independence. Stronger muscles, for example, will make it easier to climb stairs or lift a bag of groceries.

To maintain your health, exercise guidelines suggest you do two days of strength training each week, in addition to moderate aerobic activity for 30 minutes, five days a week. A regular regimen of 8 to 10 resistance exercises using the major muscle groups, on two nonconsecutive days, allows time for your muscles to adapt, which reduces the potential for excessive muscle soreness and injury. Once you start lifting weights, you will gain self-confidence and be able – and want – to do even more, Stewart says.

Author: Mark Fuerst is a Brooklyn-based health and medical writer

The American Legion Magazine -Apr. 2011