Grandparents Answer a Call

As a third generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never pleased move away,. Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help their children, she politely refused . Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms Gaf finally say yes. That was four years ago. Today all three generations regard the move to a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.

No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to the children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing. Even President Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study grandparents com. 83 percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson ‘s decision will influence the grandparents in the American family. Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama's family.

“in the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn't get away from home far enough fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,” says Christine Crosby, publisher of grate magazine for grandparents .We now realize how important family is and how important”” to be near them, especially when you're raining children.”

Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead. Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.

    Jayson McCarthy, 12, was born without fingers on his left hand. That didn't stop him from being able to do many tasks. But Jayson could not grasp more than one object at a time. So Jayson 's father, Paul, created a Prosthesis(假肢), using a 3D printer. Now Jayson has fingers that open and close. “It was a do－it－yourself, father－and－son adventure，” says Paul.

    When Jayson was a baby, his doctor advised his parents not to give him a prosthetic hand until he was in his early teens. “The doctor said Jayson should first learn to get full use out of the hand he was born with，” says Paul. As Jayson got older, his father looked into purchasing a prosthetic hand, which can cost as much as $30，000. Paul found a more affordable solution.

    One day, Paul discovered a video on the Internet about Robohand, a prosthesis created with a 3D printer. He downloaded the free instructions and called Robohand's creators for advice. They told him all he needed was a 3D printer—which costs around $2，000—and some materials.

    Luckily, Jayson 's school had recently purchased a 3D printer and it offered to help Paul build the hand for Jayson n. “We used a soccer shinguard(护胫), cardboard(硬纸板), and tape. They cost about $10，” says paul.

    With his new hand, Jayson can do things better. “I can help my mom more, because now I can carry two grocery bags，” he says.

    Jayson 's father has already built several hands for Jayson. Jayson helps design each one. He says there's one thing in particular that he wants to do with a future prosthesis. “The goal，” he says, “is to be able to tie my shoelaces(鞋带)．”

                                                                                      The Lifecycle of a T-shirt

    We all probably have a lot of T-shirts, but do you ever stop and think about the influence of a T-shirt on the planet? You'd probably be surprised to learn what's involved in the lifecycle of just one T-shirt.

    There are 5 major stages: material, production, shipping, use and disposal. The material stage involves farming, irrigating, fertilizing, harvesting and ginning. While cotton is a natural fiber (纤维) and not as harmful to the environment as manmade fibers, it still takes a toll in the material and production stages. Commercial cotton farming uses a large amount of water, and the use of pesticides (杀虫剂) is widespread across the globe, especially in cotton farming. Studies have shown that farmers spend around $4.1 billion on pesticides annually, of which 25% was spent on cotton crops in the US.

    Once the cotton is grown and harvested, so begins the production stage: spinning, knitting, bleaching, dyeing, cutting, sewing, etc.——these processes also use a great deal of water and energy. Commercial dyes and bleaches are harmful pollutants and can eventually pollute groundwater.

    After the T-shirt is produced, it enters the transportation stage. This often involves overseas shipping. Take a look in your closet. Chances are that most of your cotton garments (衣服) are made in China or India. Garments can be shipped via plane, ship or truck…, all of which spill CO₂ into the atmosphere. Calculations show that CO₂ emissions from light trucks alone amount to 1.15 pounds per mile.

    Once the T-shirt reaches the retail market, it is purchased. This stage may seem like the leastenvironmentally damaging part. But consider the number of times you've washed and dried your favorite T-shirt. Washing machines are certainly becoming more efficient. However, the average American household does 400 loads of laundry per year, using about 40 gallons of water per load. Such excessive water use is combined with the large amount of energy used by dryers.

    The final stage of life is disposal. This releases harmful emissions, or involves a landfill where cotton takes years to break down. Current US records show that an estimated 15% of clothes and shoes are recycled, which means that consumers send a shocking 85% of these materials to landfills.

    We all need new clothes every once in a while, but let's all try to keep in mind what goes into the production of clothing... It has a real impact on the planet.

    There are a lot of things you can do to help reduce your impact. Reuse and recycle clothes. If they're too worn out to wear, cut them up and use them as cleaning rags. Donate them to charity or another organization that recycles textiles. When possible, make an effort to buy organic cotton. Turn down the thermostat on your washer, and line dry your clothes when the weather will allow it.

    Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or apiece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.

    Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda eats only one particular type of bamboo. Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A land of white butterfly will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet. The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.

    Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life.

    Being seen in a fancy sports car or enjoying a beach holiday in a five-star hotel were once signs of having ''made it”.

    But a new study suggested that having people think of you as constantly busy and overworked is now a far better way to show social status(地位).

    According to Harvard University in the US, people are increasingly leaning toward the phenomenon of “humble-bragging (谦虚自夸)”. This is when people make a seemingly modest statement that actually draws attention to something they want to brag (吹嘘) about.

    Phrases such as “I have no life” and “I desperately need a holiday” are now used to imply social standing, while ordering food and shopping online is the perfect way to prove to neighbors that you are simply too busy and important to go to the supermarket.

    “Movies, magazines, and popular TV shows often highlight the abundance (富足) of money and leisure time among the wealthy,” said Neeru Paharia, an assistant professor at Harvard University.

    “In recent years, featuring wealthy people relaxing by the pool or on a yacht (游艇), playing tennis or skiing and hunting are being replaced with advertisements featuring busy individuals who work long hours and have very limited leisure time,” he said. “Displaying (how busy you are at work) and a lack of leisure time operates as a visible signal of status in the eyes of others.”

    The researchers pointed out that the Wall Street Journal's 2016 advert campaign featured celebrities complaining about their busy lives, with the slogan (标语). “People who don't have time, make time to read the Wall Street Journal.”

    The report, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also found that brands that marketed themselves as timesaving were becoming increasingly high-status, because of the people who used them.

    According to the authors, this trend of humble-bragging is due to people's shit of focus-they now value “the preciousness and scarcity (稀缺) of individuals" more than “the preciousness and scarcity of goods”.

    “Busy individuals possess desirable characteristics, leading them to be viewed as scarce and in demand,” the authors concluded.

    When Randy Heiss went hiking behind his Patagonia, Ariz. farm, the last thing he expected to find was a Christmas list from a little girl across the US-Mexico border. "I found this balloon on my morning walk near Patagonia on Sunday. Attached to it was a piece of paper with the Christmas wishes from a little girl," Heiss wrote on his Facebook page.

    When he brought the list home to his wife, who speaks fluent Spanish, they determined that the little girl had asked for Enchantimals toys, clothes, art supplies and various other gifts. That's when Heiss set out to make the little girl's Christmas dreams come true. Heiss said he had attempted to send Christmas letters to Santa Claus via balloon when he was a kid but never received a response.

    Heiss sent a Facebook message on Wednesday to XENY, a radio station in Nogales, to see if it could help him track down the girl or her family. He later received a response from the station, which had determined the author of the letter was an 8-year-old girl named Dayami, and the station wanted to set up a meeting between the two on Thursday. "It just changed my entire day," Heiss told the Washington Post. "Instead of going back to my office in Bisbee, I went with my wife to Walmart."

    The couple bought almost everything on Dayami's list. They also brought a few gifts for Dayami's little sister, Ximena. They told the children they were " ayudantes de Santa," or Santa's helpers.

    Heiss, 60, said the experience was very healing for him and his wife. Nine years ago, the couple's only son died. "Being around children at Christmas time has been absent in our lives," Heiss said. We now have friends for life. For a day, that border fence with its concertina wire melted away.