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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – One of the highest anticipated regular season matchups for the UVA Men’s Lacrosse team is quickly approaching.

The top ranked Hoos will play the second ranked Maryland Terrapins in the Capitol Classic Tournament in Washington D.C.

This is a rematch of last year’s national championship game.

“It’s something that, obviously, we’ve been looking forward to, and it’s been a very exciting time preparing for them already this past few days,” Grayson Sallade said.

This is the inaugural Capitol Classic. There will be three games played on Saturday, March 1, at Audi Field.

Copyright 2022 WVIR. All rights reserved.

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A few years ago my best friend (who is also a physician) and I were discussing our concerns about fasting long June days while seeing patients in the clinic all day. It wasn’t the refraining from food that we were worried about, or even the busy schedule of Ramadan. Our thoughts were on having enough energy to make it through the day without our caffeinated beverages of choice. What would prepping for Ramadan look like if we tried balancing our total well-being: mind, body, and soul?

As Ramadan approaches, there is a buzz of excitement in the air about getting ourselves spiritually prepared for the blessed month, so that we can maximally benefit from the Mercy pouring down upon us. The second wing of this preparation is that of the body. Although the fasts are getting progressively shorter, who doesn’t want an abundance of energy stores to be able to enjoy tarawih prayers, work, and even suhur with the family!

Energy is a mind, body, and soul affair affected by energy drainers and energy creators. I strongly believe in ‘mind over matter’ as that is where it all starts.

In a demonstration of divine choreography, as I prepared for my course on energy, I happened to be listening to an audiobook in which the author proposed that our bodies can actually be full of energy, but it are being blocked. Blocked by overthinking, worry, and not being present in our bodies. This struck a chord with me as I recalled how, on a drive to work, I could see a billboard for ‘Dave’s Hot Chicken,’ which led me to think about how my grandfather had chickens at his house in Pakistan, to then think about how one of my cousins scared me with a chicken…..How did I end up there?!! Before I know it, I’m at my destination, and I missed the beauty of soaking in the colorful fall leaves dancing in the sunlight.

Prepping the Mind for Ramadan

How can we break the cycle of overthinking, worry, and stress? Staying in the present, so to speak.  Hasan al-Basri’s famous quote –“O son of Adam! You are nothing but a number of days. Whenever each day passes, then a part of you has gone.”– is a good reminder to cherish each moment, because it will never come again.

Here are a few ways we can bring ourselves back to the present moment, and out of our constantly distracted states:

1. Deep breathing. One method is the 4-7-8 breathing pattern, which involves breathing in to a count of four and filling one’s abdomen with air, holding it for a count of seven, and then breathing out at a count of eight. This activates the vagus nerve which sends out the ‘rest and digest’ signal to the body. When we focus on our breath, it gets us out of our heads. We can take it a step further by putting our hands on our hearts as ‘energy flows where intention goes.’ Our hearts are where our love for Allah , joy, and many other beautiful things live.
2. Movement. Any kind of movement can help stagnated energy flow through our bodies and release stress. Even gentle stretching can be supportive. Physical activity can deliver oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and helps the cardiovascular system work more efficiently. Our heart and lungs can be considered energy powerhouses in our bodies.
3. Awareness. Just becoming aware of when we are not present in the moment is enough to bring us back to the present moment.
4. Presencing joy. Even if it’s a few minutes out of the day. Becoming familiar with the small things in life that bring us joy supports us in practicing them throughout the day. Activities that activate the vagus nerve (examples are singing/humming, reciting Quran, doodling, drawing/painting, deep breathing) puts our bodies into a relaxed state and are keys to accessing joy and presence.

Prepping the Body for Ramadan

When it comes to our physical bodies, fasting by itself is healing, leading to lower blood sugar levels, rest for the digestive system, and the balancing out of hormones. Fasting is also supportive of our mitochondria which are the energy powerhouses in our bodies. Leading up to Ramadan, we can focus on foods that support the mitochondria as well as the thyroid. Some of these foods include: green tea, foods rich in ALA (beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts, organ meats), foods rich in B vitamins (meats, nuts, seeds organ meat), foods rich in carnitine (asparagus, beef, chicken), foods rich in CoQ10 (broccoli, cauliflower, fish, lentils, meat), foods rich in selenium (brazil nuts, chicken, eggs), and foods rich in zinc (pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, oyster seeds, turkey). Of course ‘eating the rainbow’ of colorful fruits and vegetables is also supportive, providing important antioxidants and phytonutrients (apricots, asparagus, avocado, bananas, beets, carrots, grapefruit, grapes, guava, kale, oranges, pecans, pumpkins, rutabaga, spinach, strawberries, and watermelon).

Many people these days suffer from ‘food anxiety’ with so much information -some of it conflicting- floating around the internet, and often with an angle of deprivation. Focusing on adding healing foods and those that will support our bodies, rather than what we shouldn’t eat (excess sugar and simple carbs) can help to alleviate that anxiety. Everyone should consult with their own doctor regarding their own personal health plan, but a general rule of thumb I share with many of my patients is to eat a lot of veggies, some healthy fats, and lean protein. Although our nutrition can come mainly from our diets, it is useful to look at levels of certain vitamins that can affect energy such as vitamin D and B12.

Although food is important, it is highly unlikely that people will not eat enough food in Ramadan. However, many people struggle with drinking enough water. Dehydration is one of the most important causes of fatigue. and he time between iftar and suhur is not very much. There are various recommendations and formulas about how much to drink, however, a good rule of thumb is one-half to one ounce of water per pound of body weight.

Conclusion

Ramadan is the month for our souls. Ultimately it is what will be presented to Allah in the hereafter. Paying attention to our bodies and minds is with the aim of allowing our souls to flourish. By Allah’s s beautiful design, fasting supports us to attain some of the higher vibrational frequency states such as gratitude and love.

May we all be granted a Ramadan that fills our hearts with the joy of knowing Allah .

Related reading:

 – Mindful or Mind-full? Going From AutoPilot to Aware

Mindful or Mind-full? Going From AutoPilot to Aware

– Ready, Set, Go! Food & Nutrition for a Healthy Ramadan

Ready, Set, Go! Food & Nutrition for a Healthy Ramadan

March 14, 2022 Alex Woodie

As the provider of the warehouse management software used by many of the top brands in the country, Manhattan Associates has a better view into the current supply chain crunch than most. That shouldn’t surprise you. But what may surprise you are the actions the company has been taking for years to prepare itself and its customers for shocks not unlike the current one.

“We’ve been really busy the last five or six years cooking up some pretty cool new things,” says Adam Kline, senior director of product management at Manhattan Associates. Kline is the product manager for WMi, the company’s flagship IBM i-based warehouse management system, as well as the newer cloud-based Manhattan Active Warehouse Manager.

Some of those things – like the shift to omnichannel delivery and adoption of robotic process automation – are what you would expect a company at the cutting edge of supply chain execution to do.

But the Atlanta, Georgia, company has taken additional steps – particularly around simplifying the navigation of its application and gamifying the software for users – that have paid dividends for itself and for its customers during the current COVID-induced supply-chain and labor crunch that the country currently finds itself in.

Unprecedented Growth

It’s hard to believe it, but the U.S. economy in late 2021 was actually bigger than it was in early 2020.

Despite the COVID pandemic – or perhaps due to the trillions of dollars in economic stimulus pumped into the economy by the Federal Government – the volume of transactions occurring in this country is higher than it’s ever been. While this has contributed to a 40-year high in inflation (currently at 7.8 percent a year), it has also been a boon for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers in certain sectors.

For example, one of ManH’s WMS customers, Indiana-based Pet Supplies Plus (not a WMi customer) saw a massive increase in demand for its products. “The number of pets that were brought into homes over the course of that pandemic – it was a huge increase,” Kline says. “So Pet Supplies Plus saw a massive increase in in volumes–more dog food, more everything.”

Kline is seeing those types of increases across the board, from building supplies to food and grocery and more.

“I can go industry by industry by industry and show increased consumption and increased demand,” he says. “Now at the very beginning of the pandemic, I think we saw a little bit of downtrend in terms of apparel and footwear. But for some of our customers, they were seeing record volumes – and some of them still are to this day, just driving quantities that they haven’t seen before.”

OmniChannel Delivery

One important capability that customers on all of ManH’s supported platforms are adopting is omnichannel delivery, which refers to the ability to ship product not only from distribution centers and warehouses, but directly from stores to consumers.

During the early days of COVID, when in-store shopping plummeted and e-commerce shopping skyrocketed, having an omnichannel presence was particularly important for retailers, Kline says. “We’ve seen a massive shift in terms of the line of thinking and how to go address omnichannel requirements,” he says.

Typically, customers without an omnichannel presence would start a little science experiment in the corner of their existing DC. As it grew, they would normally outsource that to a 3PL. But then as the volumes grow, it’s often more cost effective to bring that back in-house, Kline says.

“Being able to leverage a single distribution center with common real-estate, electricity, labor pool – you name it, there’s a lot of benefits to having a single distribution center managing many of those delivery channels,” he says. “Now there are times where it makes sense to split them and we have examples of that as well. But I think it’s more in vogue these days to go under a single roof.”

Enabling Automation

Automation is a hot area of investment for ManH and its customers. While the company focuses on software, it has a hardware sales division and works with hardware providers that can implement robotics in the warehouse and distribution center.

“A lot of our customers are looking at ARs, robotics, collaborative picking bots. Those allow you to augment your current workforce and make them more efficient,” Kline says. “But I’d say, if I paint with a broader brush there, it’s all about automation in general, and seeing what areas of the distribution center I can either make existing people more effective, or maybe there some processes that I can automate completely.”

As the WMS provider, ManH doesn’t actively control the robots. But it would provide the high-level management and monitoring to do that work, as well as help coordinate the share of work handled by humans and machines.

Some of its WMi customers have gone down the automation route, according to Kline. “We do have some WMi customers – not a ton – that have said, you know what, this this new cloud-based WMS – that makes sense for us moving forward. And they started down the path of moving to that applications and getting all the benefits of robotic automation,” he says. “And we have other WMi customers that have said, hey I’m happy where I’m at.”

Enabling automation through robots isn’t quick, and takes a bit of investment and lead time. Nevertheless, if Amazon’s warehouses are any indication, robotics is viewed as the future of warehousing.

“This is absolutely the new norm, and it’s where most of our customers are heading is more automation,” Kline says. “Not everybody. There’s plenty of customers that that are surviving and even thriving without automation. But I think that the vast majority see the writing on the wall that that’s going to allow them to take the next step to grow at the level and the speed that they want to.”

Software Enhancements

ManH has also been making enhancements to its core WMi, which like many IBM i applications is a green-screen application. But instead of a 5250 interface, many WMi users interact with the software via a text-based interface on an radio frequency (RF) barcode scanning gun.

The big news is that ManH now allows end users in the warehouse to use camera-enabled smartphones as they go about picking, packing, and putting away items. The company has also enabled touch-screens to be used at fixed devices, such as weight stations and pack stations, according to Kline.

The work is paying off in lowered training costs for WMi users, Kline says. “We’ve got customers that have said that software-related training has gone for weeks to hours,” he tells IT Jungle. “So the amount of investment you’re putting into a new associate has been dramatically reduced, on the order of 60 percent to 75 percent reduction in training costs.”

That cost savings is big for two reasons, he says. For starters, it helps profitability, particularly when ramping up the workforce for seasonal fluctuations. Many of ManH’s customers in the retail and apparel industries hire thousands of seasonal associates to help through peak season, and getting those customers up to speed on text-based interfaces isn’t easy.

But the lowered training cost also helps keep companies agile amid a constantly fluctuating workforce. That helps during the current labor crunch, with job openings at 10.8 million, near a record level, as millions of people have not yet rejoined the workforce following the historic shutdowns in March 2020. But enabling this level of user agility was something that ManH had been working long before that.

“There was a labor crunch before COVID,” Kline says. “Attracting good warehouse talent is not an easy thing to do. So we started to build a brand new, let’s call it a new component.”

The new component in ManH’s labor management offering essentially works to gamify employment by giving workers rewards for hitting certain numbers in their day-to-day work. If a worker picks or packs a certain number of units during a day or an hour, their supervisor can give them rewards.

Gamifying the work not only motivates employees to work harder by offering them rewards, such as a better parking spot, some extra vacation days, or just more money. But it also works by encouraging them to compete with their co-workers, Kline says.

“It’s getting visibility to the end users, so how am I doing against those challenges?” he says. “When I meet the challenges, I can get, badges, I can collect badges. I can collect points. I can see how I’m doing versus my peers in the DC. Where do I sit on that continuum?”

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By Mr. Pink

Ink by the barrel has been spilled by preppers on blogs and in magazines on how to prepare for the end of the world. We’re not doing that.  

Buuutt … seeing what is going in the Ukraine right now—a potential looming cyber-attack on US banking and energy sectors, a possible nuclear meltdown or maybe just a good old (quaint) cold war-style ICBM attack (I hope I can still duck and cover) we felt a realistic Field Ethos Prepper Guide was in order.  Even though basement ninjas try, nobody can prepare for every eventuality, but you can be well prepared with some basic items. To wit: here is the official FE preppers list:

Booze

There is no better prepper item to stockpile than hard alcohol.  One, you need it to live. And two, if you are one of those rare folks (like our own Allen Bolen) who doesn’t need it to live, you can always trade it for less life-giving-support items like food or shelter. 

Our stockpile favors quantity over quality. We buy as cheap-as-possible vodka, gin and whisky. Think McCormick, Dickels and Canadian Reserve—bend over and look on the bottom shelf. Buy in plastic ½-gallon Jug O’ Fun sizes. Pick up cases when passing through Wyoming, Colorado or Florida–it’s some of the cheapest in the country. Contrary to popular belief, booze does have a shelf life so be sure to consume and rotate stocks on a regular basis. 

(Pro-tip: Also buy a bottle of the most expensive shit imaginable. When things really get bleak, nothing says resignation like cracking open a bottle of Pappy’s you’ve been holding onto for years. It’s our version of Jed Eckert pulling the pin on a hand grenade and letting Toni wait for the Russians to come.)

Tobacco

Whether you currently use tobacco or not, tobacco is a wise investment as a barter stock. Our guess is when the first mushroom cloud appears on the horizon, just like game laws, your moral high ground and thoughts of consequences will go out the window as you pull a bare butt Camel from the foil top. Cartons of smokes and a few rolls of chew keep well in the chest freezer, and your only regret will be not buying more when you could. 

(Pro-Tip: Nothing says freedom like a Jesse Ventura-sized chaw in the cheek when getting ready to kill aliens or commies.)

Guns and Ammo 

Of course, firearms are a key Field Ethos stockpile. Admittedly we may own too many for practical use and may have even made ourselves a target for looters. As Jason Vincent once said to a prepper neighbor, “I only stock enough ammo to come and take yours.” It’s a worthwhile point. So stock enough to take care of you and yours and keep quiet about it.  No one should know you have 10,000 rounds of 7.62 x 39 stashed in the crawlspace. While of course you want plenty of ammo for a primary long gun and pistol, don’t overlook 22LR hollow points.  The little rimfire kills more game (and people) than bubonic plague, and 1,000 rounds can be tucked in a day pack.

And that’s it. You’re welcome.

It’s March. Does that mean spring skiing?

The answer is: sometimes. Which means once the sun gets this high, surface conditions will come and go with the weather.

If you want to know the best weather for spring skiing, check with those who produce our maple syrup. They know that warm days and freezing nights cause the sap to run. It’s the same thing with spring skiing.

This time of year, we have a full winter’s accumulation of snow, whether natural or manmade. And with today’s grooming, we can expect smooth surfaces each morning.

With the high sun, those surfaces will quickly turn wet, into what we call spring skiing. If it gets too warm, then instead of nice, forgiving surfaces over a firm base, we’ll have a heavy, wet snow.

What we need to be most aware of are changing conditions. When the temperature moves above freezing, we might start a run from the top and part way down hit a place where the sun has really softened the snow.

The first truly warm day, this can result in very grabby surfaces. To get the soft, wet snow we call “corn,” the snow needs to soften, refreeze and soften again.

This makes wax especially important.

WAX FACTS

My skis are always waxed with a universal wax with a wide temperature range. If you’re not sure about what wax to use, check with the ski shop. Most shops on the mountain are set up to apply the most-appropriate wax for the day’s temperatures. They also have rub-ons that can be applied during the day, and some of those packets of paste wax work well. Whatever wax you use should be applied to a clean base.

I hand-tune my skis every two or three days of use. I always start by cleaning the base with a citrus-based cleaner. These won’t harm the base like a petroleum-based cleaner will. I use a diamond stone on the base edges and do the side edges with a diamond stone in a multi-tuner set at a one-degree bevel.

Then, I polish the edges with a gummi stone. I apply my universal wax, which is good for temperatures from 20 to 50 degrees, the same wax I use for all skiing. That range works for mid-winter or spring. The folks in ski shop will know what you need as the temperatures climb.

BEWARE VARIABLES

The next consideration is how we ski when conditions are changing.

So far, we haven’t had to be concerned with any extreme melting, which can produce bare spots, but as temperatures climb, we need to be aware that these can appear as the day progresses.

A run with full cover can develop bare spots in the time it takes us to ride the lift back to the top. Mostly, all this means is keep our speed at a level where we can avoid such newly formed hazards. Most of this applies to April more than early March.

The usual rules apply. Always be aware that blind spots can hide hazards, so approach them with caution.

All this adds up to one recognition. One word can be used for all ski reports in spring. That word is “variable.” And it means be prepared for anything. Conditions will vary depending on where you are on the mountain and the time of day, and the later the season goes into spring, the more the conditions will vary.

BRING YOUR BEST

Another question is choice of skis. Often I hear skiers talk about getting out their rock skis and it makes me cringe. I picture a pair of old skis with old bindings, sometimes bindings that still have retention straps instead of ski brakes.

With changing conditions, you need all the ski you can get. They need to be skis you can maneuver quickly and need to be perfectly tuned. I have some old skis, but they will never see the snow under my feet again because I want my high-performance race skis with the best modern bindings.

If you have rock skis, they are probably not fit to be skied in any conditions. Go with your best.

Don’t forget the sunscreen and we’ll see you on the slopes.

Dave Irons is a freelance writer and columnist who hails from Westbrook. He has been contributing to the Sun Journal for many years and is among the most respected ski writers in the Northeast. He also is a member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame. Write to him at [email protected] 

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Everyone I know is thinking about spring – despite the fact that we could still see snow and sub-zero temperatures before we see tulips. This might be a good time to take an inventory of your tools to see if you have everything you need, and buy the ones you need. This is also a good time to clean up, sharpen and oil the tools you have.

First, a list of the basic tools all gardeners need:

— Garden fork. This is a straight-handled tool with four flat tines that can be used to loosen the soil for planting, or to dig out things like a clump of daylilies. These come with either fiberglass or wood handles, and I always choose wood. Both handles can splinter over time, but an oiled and well-maintained wood handle will out-last fiberglass. I have some wood-handled tools still in great shape after over 50 years of regular use.

— Pointed shovel. I like the short D-handle shovel better than those with a long straight handle, but that is for you to decide. The short handle model is lighter weight, and has a nice grip. A pointed shovel digs into the soil more easily than a straight-blade spade.

— Garden rake. This is the rake that has short tines space an inch or so apart. It is good for smoothing the soil or forming raised beds.

— Lawn rake. There are a dozen different styles, and all will do the job. The old fashioned bamboo rake is nice, but the tines do break after a while. Plastic rakes are light-weight, but also break after a few years. I prefer those with metal tines.

— Drain spade. This is a shovel that has a blade that is long and narrow (16 inches long, 5 inches wide). Great for transplanting, it can get all the way under a plant to help you pop it out of the ground.

— Hand tool for weeding. There are plenty, but I like the CobraHead Weeder best. It is a hand tool shaped like a curved finger, and can loosen roots from below while you give a gentle tug from above. I use it to loosen the soil for planting, too. Available at garden centers or CobraHead.com.

Tools require some maintenance, and this is the time to sharpen, clean and oil them if you didn’t do it last fall. Fiberglass handles generally require no maintenance, though I suppose you could take off any rough spots with steel wool or sandpaper.

Wood-handled tools should never be left outdoors, but most of us forget occasionally; strong sun or rain will damage them and give them a rough surface. If the handle is very rough, use a piece of sandpaper and lightly sand the handle, tip to stern. Wipe it well with a rag before applying oil. For less damaged handles, rub with fine steel wool. Don’t sand a handle that has a urethane finish unless you intend to take it all off – but you can use steel wool on it.

Next apply a coat of boiled linseed oil. I like to heat the oil until hot before applying, as this is a fairly thick oil, and heating it will help it to penetrate the wood. I use a paint brush or a rag to apply the oil.

Let the oil sink into the wood, which might take overnight or just a few minutes, depending on the grain and how dry the wood is. Never try to oil a wet handle. Apply a second coat and let dry. Then rub it down with a fine steel wool, labeled 000 or 0000. This will take off any bits that are raised up by oiling and burnish the wood.

Next look at the steel of your tool. If it has crusted soil on it, clean it first with a stiff brush – either a wire brush or even a stiff bristle brush. If it is rusty, clean off the rust with your steel wool.

If you have a well-used shovel, it is probably dull. It is easy to sharpen it, but you will need a good 8- to12-inch file, either a rough or medium file, often called a mill bastard. Be sure to get one with a handle, as some only come with a short pointy part and require you to add a handle.

Shovels should only be sharpened on one side, the side that faces into the hole as you dig. The back side will stay flat. Push your file across the shovel blade in only one direction, away from you. You may wish to clamp the shovel to a saw horse or bench so it stays in place as you work, or push it down on the bench and file with one hand.

Go from the edge of the curve to the middle in one long stroke of your file, and repeat, keeping count of your strokes. Turn the shovel around and do the opposing edge, using the same number of strokes. Keep your file at the angle set by the manufacturer if that is evident. If not, an angle of about 45 degrees is good. That will make a sharp cutting edge, but not be so thin that it will get dull quickly. You don’t need to sharpen the sides. And don’t worry: You can’t ruin your shovel even if you have never done this before. Just keep at it, and stay consistent.

When you have the shovel sharp, turn it over and you probably will be able to feel burrs on the back side – little bits of sharp metal. Clean those off with a few flat strokes of your file.

Finally I take a rag with linseed oil and wipe the shovel blade. Some people use machine oil to oil their tools, but I don’t want petroleum products in my soil, even a little bit.

Every gardener has her own favorite tools. If you’re a rookie, visit a good gardener and ask for a tour of tools. Then go buy what you need. And remember: sharp tools work better than dull ones.

Henry Homeyer is author of four gardening books, an UNH Master Gardener, and lives in Cornish Flat. His website is Gardening-Guy.com. Reach him by email at henry.homeyer@comcaset.net or by mail with SASE at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – In March of 2020, many of us ​remember it well for the beginning of a global pandemic, and here in Utah, a massive earthquake that rocked portions of the Salt Lake valley.

In the event, the “big one” happens again, or any other natural disaster occurs, the veteran affairs health care system of Salt Lake City is prepared to step in? It’s all a part of the national disaster medical system operation.

Salt Lake’s VA health care system spent Thursday morning holding a disaster drill. They want to know how well they can respond to emergencies like a major earthquake. The exercise consisted of a patient offload from a simulated C-17, reception, tracking, and simulated transportation of patients (actors) to local hospitals

This wasn’t just an exercise meant to help veterans.

“We’re the lead agency for running this operation and partnering with the community to care for patients and making sure they have a hospital bed,” says Gregory McQuaide, of the Utah Office of Emergency management.

The exercise is designed to replicate a real-life scenario after an earthquake hits Alaska due to an overwhelmed healthcare system there. Triaged patients are transported to Utah.

Dr. Angela Williams, Interim Medical Center Director at the Salt Lake VA tells ABC4 “well usually when we take patients from somewhere else that means we’re pretty calm one of our missions is to be robust in emergency partners and that’s one way we do that.”

Willams says Emergency professionals train yearly for a real-life event.

If this were the case the patients are then sorted by their condition, stable, serious, or critical…then taken to a local hospital.

“We’re building relationships, so we know who to reach out to, and that makes us better prepared for when real-life events occur,” Dr. Williams tells ABC4.