Showing posts with label cleanliness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cleanliness. Show all posts

March 4, 2024

When Nature Calls, People's Worst

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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February 16, 2023

Bathroom Etiquette

Ladies and gentlemen.

Keep this bathroom clean!  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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June 26, 2022

This Seems Useful

 

Who can argue with the usefulness of a "Sh*t Kit"?

As it says:

Don't get caught with your pants down!

Wonder how Shark Tank missed this one???  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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December 22, 2020

Porsche Branded Excellence


I have never seen such a clean garage.

Whether on the ground or suspended on the lift, the cars are immaculately cared for. 

Porsche displays excellence in every aspect of their brand. 

The perception is tangible and real!  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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December 20, 2020

Spuds and Suds

                         

Potatoes and trash, not a tasty combination. 

At least if you're gonna do this, don't show your customers! 

Maybe there's a rational explanation (as in "Lucy, splain dat to me!"):

The potatoes fell on the floor, and the broom and pan where there to clean them up.

Hey, once you peel them, what difference does it make anyway! 

Yeah, sure that works. ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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May 16, 2019

Longest Hair

This woman had the longest hair I have ever seen. 

No, not to the shoulders, not to the mid-back, not even to the tush. 

This went almost all the way to the floor. 

It reminded me more of a maim on a horse than of the typical hairdo of a person. 

Anyway, this must be nasty to take care and keep clean. 

Also, can't imagine having that much hair pulling on my head all the time.  

In Judaism, we say that hair is the crown of a person and it is something that especially women keep modestly when married.

So while hair is nice and beautiful, you can definitely have too much of even a good thing.  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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November 23, 2017

Chocolate Turkey Delight

So this is the kind of dessert turkey that will sweeten your Thanksgiving dinner.

Gobs and gobs of white, milk, and dark chocolate.

And they actually shaped it all like a turkey.

Sort of cute, but also sort of sugary disgusting, no?

Generally, I'm not a huge fan of eating turkey either.

Maybe when they boil it in oil, and it's cooked through and through, it actually comes out juicy and not so bad.

But give me a nice piece of beef, and I'll be your pal forever!

A colleague who was a veterinarian and worked inspecting meat plants overseas told me some things about the cleanliness though that made my skin crawl.

"The cleanliness outside of the U.S. is WAY DIFFERENT than here!"--and not in a good way.

Even in places that do maintain clean facilities and healthy animals, the way that "they make the sausage" sounded so unappetizing.

It made me think of all those PETA and other commercials that show the chickens and other caged birds in those crowded and filthy (and diseased) conditions...even aside from the cruelty, it's enough to make you cringe.

He said they mash the meat until it's like just a pink paste that gets shot into the tubes for hot dogs and things like that.

"It looks disgusting!"

Also, they put parts of the animal in that are basically leftover meats from the head and other parts of the animal that did NOT sound desirable at all. 

I'm thinking to myself...FROM THE HEAD.

Uh, no more hot dogs for me, thank you.

I think that I'll stick with a nice steak or burger or something KOSHER and palatable.

You can have your turkey and your sausage and eat it, but not me! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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May 10, 2016

Creative Washing Sign

Ok, this is not your typical handwashing sign.

Usually these signs that are mandated by health regulations in food establishments remind employees to wash their hands before returning to work.

Of course, given all the Clostridium, E. coli, Hepatitis, Listeria, Norovirus, and Salmonella out there, we know that unfortunately many food workers are not following these instructions very well...yes, yuck!

Here, someone "sanitized" the sign, and rubbed out the "h" and the top part of the "d" in hands and left the crude word, "anus." 

Now employees must wash not their hands, but their anus (does that help in food preparation?)!

Perhaps, whoever did this are lobbyists for some sort of bidets in this country. 

Given all the political crap that goes on around this town, this may be a very good idea. ;-)

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)
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March 31, 2016

Say W.H.O.

So a colleague submitted this photo to me to share on my blog. 

So funny!

This was posted by Federal Occupational Health in the organization's gym.

Publisher is the World Health Organization.

I don't think this translates well from Switzerland. 

I'm not going to say another word.

(Source Photo: Colleague)
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August 29, 2015

Bathroom Etiquette 101

So I was out and about and needed to go to the bathroom.

I stopped at a local store where I was and asked if I could please use theirs.


They were nice (not all stores are) and said yes. 


Inside the bathroom on the tank was this hilarious sign with a jingle reminding patrons about bathroom etiquette, as follows:


"If you sprinkle [heart] when you tinkle [heart] please be a sweety [heart] and wipe the seaty."


Hey, a reasonable enough request--everyone needs to cooperate on these things. ;-)


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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October 26, 2013

I Like To Be Clean!

This was funny but in a gross type of way. 

Bathroom doorknobs are notorious for being germy. 

In this case, there was a little bit of tissue paper that someone left on the knob--I know ick!

Apparently someone got fed up with the grossness of this, so they put up a sign--it says:

"I have been here for two weeks. Can you clean me?  It like to be clean!"

But that's not all. 

A day later, the note was gone, but that little piece of grossness was still there. 

Howie Mandel, please help us! ;-)
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July 2, 2013

Dirty Little People

Popular Science had some scary germy statistics about how few people wash their hands well when coming out of the bathroom.

Take a guess?

Only 5%!

And that's based on almost 4,000 people they observed--but how many would've washed correctly if they thought no one was watching?

The dirty stats (while under observation):

- 23% didn't use soap.

- 15% of men and 7% of women didn't even use water.

- Average washed for just 6 seconds! (CDC says you need at least 20 seconds with soap and water to kill germs)

From what I've seen, unless their is a touchless water faucet and automatic towel dispenser, not too many people wash their hands--they don't want to get them dirty by touching the same bathroom devices that the other people just touched.

Another no-no for people is touching the bathroom door handle--more germs!

What do some people do--they use (wads of) toilet seat protectors to pull the door open--then guess what's missing for the next guy or gal?

Most public bathrooms are disgusting--if everyone could just have their own, they would keep it clean out of self-interest and maybe wash their hands a little more too. 

Next time we have a recession and need to invest in "shovel ready" infrastructure projects to keep America working--how about we build some (read lots!) clean bathrooms and throw in the automatic wash features, pretty please. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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April 29, 2013

Bathroom Kudos

Going to a restaurant the other night, I stepped into the men's room for a minute and noticed this sticker on the right of the mirror that said "Great Work" in big yellow letters on the red background. 

I wondered what a strange sign to put in such a private setting as if we need applause for going to the bathroom or washing our hands. 

Then again, if you've seen many men's bathrooms, it could certainly be a time for kudos when it is kept clean and people use good personal hygiene--hence, the other sticker on the left, "It's cool to care!"

The frog sticker in the middle, he's just keeping an eye on things and thanking everyone for the job well done. 

This is a funny commentary on our society these days where people seem to need a pat on the back for everything--even the highly mundane and personal. 

Presumably, going to the men's room will never be the same boring, uncaring event again--at least at this fine eating establishment. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)


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March 1, 2013

Now That's Robot Clean


How many of you heard the phrase as a child, "Cleanliness is next to G-dliness"?

Over the years, we've learned that germs and associated illnesses are frequently transmitted by touch and through the air.

And so we've become sensitized to the importance of things like regularly washing our hands, using antibacterial soap, and generally keeping our homes and offices as clean as they can be. (Okay, some people I know aren't so good about this--yes, you know who you are!)

The problem is that even with regular cleaning, corners, cracks, and surfaces are missed and harmful germs survive.

You can imagine that this can be especially true in places like hospitals and nursing facilities where unfortunately, there are already a lot of sick people.

Xenex Healthcare has invented an amazing robot that takes care of the problem--no, I am not taking about euthanasia (just kidding).

But really, this robot is wheeled into a room--generally after a manual cleaning that according to Bloomberg BusinessWeek (25 February 2013) often leaves 50% of the room still infected--and these germs can survive up to six months.

The Xenex robot generates a pulsing ultraviolet (UV) light from its extending head that zaps viruses and bacteria--destroying their DNA--and leaving a room 20 times cleaner!

There are 20 million hospital infection a years in America, killing about 100,000 people, and costing about $30,000 per infection, so the Xenex robot that kills up to 95% of many deadly infections and superbugs is significant. 

The robot costs around $125,000 or it can be rented for $3,700 per month--but it can disinfect dozens of rooms a day.

I'd like to see a Xenex robot for every home and office--that should do wonders for improved health care in this country. 

Oh and it makes a great gift for Howie Mandel. ;-)

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August 26, 2012

WATERgate



These were pictures of some water sculptures that I took at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. 

The waterfalls remind me more of the landscaping around Floridian high-rises or the water flumes at Walt Disney parks than of what you normally see around town, here. 

I liked these aesthetically and think we generally need more integration of nature and art into our urban (and often sterile) environment.

A little more green, a little more clean, and a lot little less crime and congestion--and don't forget a decent climate--those were some of the things that I look for in attractive places to live and to work. 

While no place is perfect, having grown up on the upper west side in Manhattan and then Riverdale (in the Bronx) and now in the D.C. area, let's just say that there are differences all around us. ;-)

Then again, as my father always taught me, you can live anywhere--if you have your health, family, and a good job. 

He's right, a place is just a place--and it's the people and love between them that makes it great. 

So water sculptures aside, give me a real home, and that's the best place in the world that I want to be.

(Source photos: Andy Blumenthal)

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October 12, 2011

High-Tech Pooper Scoopers

A few weeks ago (17 September 2011), I blogged about the Peepoo for human waste disposal, and now we have the AshPoopie for handling doggie waste.

Made by Pauli Clean Tech, this device turns dog poop into odorless, clean, 100% sterile ash.

With push-button ease, the AshPoopie picks up the poop and mixes it with a capsule at high speed to render it into simple ash for easy disposal.

AshPoopie is scheduled for release in first quarter 2012.

A welcome site and refreshing smell to our doggy doo streets.

While I personally am not obsessed with this fecal subject matter, I am a fan of cleanliness...

So cheers to these high-tech pooper scoopers. ;-)

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November 6, 2008

Mr. Clean and Enterprise Architecture

How many of you know people at work whose desk’s are BIG dumping grounds for papers, magazines, office supplies, coffee cups, knickknacks, and G-d knows what else?

One guy at work moved out of his office after about 4 years collecting mounds of stuff, and a new guy moved in last week and cleaned up the place, it looked like a completely different office. I had never noticed how spacious the office was, how bright it was with the big window, or how gorgeous the shinny mahogany furniture was. It was a true metamorphosis.

One of my colleagues, told a story about how one of the people she used to work with had so much paper on the desk, people used to think the guy was incredibly busy with work all the time. When he moved on and they finally got to check out the work at the top of the 3” pile, they found that the newest stuff, at the top of the pile, was THREE YEARS OLD!

Why do some people keep their offices looking like a dump yard?—Perhaps, some people are truly busy, overworked, and maybe even a little overwhelmed; others, like in the story above, may just want to SEEM very busy and hardworking so their bosses and peers leave them alone at work; then there are those who just like having a place to sprawl out their stuff without their significant others yelling at them to clean up after themselves; finally, some people just feel more comfortable and homey in their clutter—so different strokes for different folks.

While some workplaces, let each person handle their workspaces as they see fit, The Wall Street Journal, 27 October 2008, reports that others are enforcing a more structured and clean work environment, called 5S.

5S is a “key concept of lean manufacturing techniques that have made makers of everything from cars to candy bars more efficient. The S’s stand for sort, straighten, shine, standardize, and sustain.”

The 5S approach “has been moving from the plant floor to the cubicle at hundreds of offices around the country.”

Some companies, like Kyocera, are taking this even further and invoking “Perfect 5S,” which “not only calls for organization in the workplace, but aesthetic uniformity. Sweaters can’t hand on the back of chairs, personal items can’t be stowed beneath desks and the only decorations allowed on cabinets are official company plaques or certificates.”

When I started my career at IBM, we had a “clean desk policy” that was more like 5S than Perfect 5S, and it was generally speaking a good thing. Coming into this environment right out of college, brought discipline to the masses and promoted positive work habits.

In architecting a better enterprise, should 5S or clean desk policies become the norm?

In my opinion, if we implements 5S to create a rigorous authoritarian culture (emphasizing top-down) and to micromanage our employees, then no, we’re just acting the workplace police and making our people miserable because we can. However, if we do it in order to truly increase efficiency, promote a cleaner more livable environment for all, and we communicate this effectively to our employees, then it has the potential to be a good thing for the people and a good thing for the enterprise.


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