Today is National French Fries Day
In Japan's amusement parks, nobody can hear you scream -- thanks to COVID-19 rules
As Japan begins to re-open after battling back the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's amusement parks -- and yes, even it's most spine-tingling roller coasters -- have a new rule: no screaming.
The Wall Street Journalreports two of the highest-ranking executives at the massive Fuji-Q Highland amusement park, Daisuke IwataandKoichiro Horiuchi, recently shot a promotional video on which they rode the park’s number-one attraction, the Fujiyama roller coaster.
Despite the coaster's massive, more than 23-story drop, the mask-wearing men remained tight-lipped.
A caption for the video reads, "Please scream inside your heart."
The prohibition against screaming -- which is also in effect at Disneyland and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka -- was put in place to try to stop park goers from launching tiny water droplets as they yell, potentially spreading the coronavirus.
Some park-goers weren't convinced. "There's just no way not to scream," college studentRika Matsuuratold the paper on a visit to Tokyo Disneyland, which recently re-opened after a four-month shutdown. "It's kind of torture to be back at your favorite place in the world and to not be able to scream and enjoy everything 100%."
Disney Parks stateside are starting to re-open and also have enacted increased safety measures. But while fans will be required to wear masks, nobody is going to tell you not to scream.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News.
2020 adds "plague squirrels" to its apocalypse bingo card
Just when you thought 2020 couldn't top "murder hornets," it decided to whip out the "plague squirrels." Even better, they're popping up right here in the U-S-of-A.
KDVRreports that the plague squirrels, meaning they're carrying the bubonic plague, were discovered in Morrison, Colorado.
Basically, animal control nabbed a squirrel, stuck it with a few needles and learned it was carrying the Yersinia pestis bacteria -- or, more simply -- the Black Death.
Now, animal control is urging residents to keep their pets away from the wildlife, as their precious fur babies can die if they contract the virus and don't eek medical intervention from antibiotics.
The bacteria can spread from animals to humans through direct contact, like bites, but can also be spread by fleas that drank the blood of the infected creature.
Also, should a pet become infected, the possibility of it spreading the bacteria onto its owner is increased. Symptoms take between two to seven days to manifest, which include fever, chills, nausea, swelling of the lymph nodes and other unpleasant side effects.
So, if you don't want a plague squirrel wrecking your day, Jefferson County Public Health says you need to follow these simple rules:
- Eliminate all sources of food, shelter and access for wild animals around the home.
- Do not feed wild animals.
- Avoid contact with sick or dead wild animals.
- Use precaution when handling sick pets and have them examined by a veterinarian.
- Use flea and tick control items for your pets.
- Keep pets from roaming freely outside the home.
Following these guidelines dramatically decrease risk of infection.
Between 1347 and 1351, the bubonic plague killed roughly 25 million people, or a third of Europe's entire population.
Working remotely during the pandemic? Barbados wants you to work from there
Millions of people are working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and with that in mind, Barbados' tourism board is posing the question: why not works from paradise?
That's right -- the Caribbean country is looking to boost tourism by eliminating the usual work visa red tape, and offering what Prime MinisterMia Amor Mottley called a 12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp, allowing remote workers to do their thing with their toes in the sand for up to a year.
Metro.co.uk reportsthat as Barbados re-opens for tourism on July 12, Mottley hopes some new faces will be wooed by a long-term stay while they work from "home."
You gotta admit, the Barbadian views would beat your stuffy apartment, and your old office coffee break room before the pandemic.
How to Quit Your Doomscrolling Habit
We’re all getting a pretty significant dose of bad news these days but if you’re starting your morning, and ending your day, searching out the latest horrors on your newsfeed, you might just have a “doomscrolling” problem. It’s a major no-no as far as mental health goes so here’s some tips for breaking your habit.
- Replace doomscrolling with something else.Get your hands off your phone and keep them occupied by flipping the pages of a book or a puzzle. Some people say you’ve got to replace one addiction with a healthier one. So just imagine the abs you’d have if instead of flicking through CNN you did crunches instead.
- Set online boundaries for yourself. You’ve got to set some figurative parental locks on your devices and be your own daddy. One good boundary to put in place for yourself according to clinical psychologist Dr. Carla Marie Manly is to avoid news after dinner “as it increases evening stress and interferes with all-important sleep.” Dr. Manly says however you decide to limit your intake, just remember to listen to your body because if you’re “feeling agitated, anxious, or stressed, you know your body is signaling you to stop what you’re doing.”
- Be mindful of your triggers.By now you probably know the words, phrases, or people that send you spiraling when you see them come through your newsfeed. Since it’s impossible to filter them all out, Dr. Manly says to try not to beat yourself up and instead “simply realize that you need a bit of extra TLC around these issues.” But then again, if there’s one source that’s always triggering you, why don’t you go ahead and smash that block button for your own good.
Source:LifeHacker