5 Things You Should Know – Part 397

Here are 5 things you should know.

1. Negotiations work best if you focus on interests, concerns, desires, not positions.

Negotiation is a necessary part of life. You have to negotiate with your family, coworkers, and boss. But if you negotiate based on position, it is likely that you will face many difficulties, especially because people become more committed to their positions as the argument continues, and then egos really get involved. When that happens, there can only be winners and losers. And it doesn’t matter if you use hard bargaining or soft bargaining.

You will have less success if you use principled negotiation:

  1. Concentrate on interests, not positions: Positional bargaining is inefficient, contributes to each side becoming overly committed to their initial position, and often results in anger and resentment. The real issues are often related not to positions but to the conflicts “between each side’s needs, desires, concerns, and fears”. For instance, a complex conflict between you and a real estate developer next door might really be about your need for quiet and the developer’s need for money.
  2. Concentrate on the problem, not on people: When you focus on finding a solution to the problem, not defeating your opponent, egos are less likely to get in the way. But in situations where you do need to focus on people, do try to appreciate and value their input, see them as partners (not opponents), respect their autonomy and status, and be mindful of the roles they (and you) are playing in the negotiations.
  3. Explore a variety of options: Since making decisions in the presence of your opponent or searching for only one (perfect) solution hampers creativity, set aside some time to come up with a variety of mutually beneficial solutions before working on reaching an agreement.
  4. Use objective criteria: To prevent a negotiator from getting advantageous results by simply being very stubborn, make sure the final agreement reflects an objective standard that does not depend only on the will of the parties.


Of course, nothing is quite as satisfying as defeating someone in a conflict and if that’s your goal, then that’s fine. But if you are more concerned with getting what you want and less concerned with dominating or overpowering another person, then try this method.

2. Keep Holly away from small children.

Holly berries are very toxic and just a few can kill a small child. Small children especially are also usually exploratory with what they put in their mouths.

3. Most portable or “standalone” air conditioners do not actually cool and are a scam.

Anything that claims to cool a room by just plugging into an outlet is lying to you.

There is no such thing as “generating coldness” – this violates the laws of thermodynamics. All air conditioners operate on the principle of transferring heat, either through pumping a quantity of refrigerant between an indoor and outdoor unit or through evacuating heat through a discharge duct from a heat exchanger.

Most common household air conditioning units are comprised of a copper coil and a fan in the indoor machine, and a copper coil, fan, and pump on the outdoor machine, with a pair of copper pipes running between them. The fans point at the coils, and the conductivity of the copper and refrigerant combined with the movement of air by the fan reduce the temperature in a space. This is why an outdoor AC unit blows hot air when you stand next to it.

Portable AC units can only work if they have somewhere to send heat – some do this with a piece of insulated flexible duct going out of a window or into a roof space, others do it by drawing cool water from the mains, heating it with fans and either discharging somewhere or sending it somewhere else e.g. a boiler or greywater tank.

The only (partial) exception is evaporative cooling, which operates by adding water vapor to the air to bring the temperature down. These do not function when humidity exceeds a certain point in a space you’re trying to cool, and are of questionable effectiveness outside of fairly arid regions. You can pair them with a dehumidifier to work a little more effectively, but they still won’t compare to a proper AC. Other, non-portable evaporative coolers operate by being (for example) roof-mounted and cool the space by ‘sweating’ – however, again, once it’s humid enough outside, it simply won’t be effective. These are fairly common in places like rural Australia and the middle east.

Please don’t buy a gimmicky “cooling Dyson fan” – you’ll be disappointed; it does nothing more than a normal pedestal fan.

4. Crib mattresses make good dog beds.

Dog beds are hard to clean, and most are not liquid-proof, to clean them requires taking off the cover, tossing it in the wash, and then struggling to get the cover back on.

Crib mattresses come in different sizes, are liquid-proof, and the covers, AKA sheets, go off and on very easily. They come in full size for larger dogs and portable crib size for smaller dogs, although this size is really big enough for a large dog as well. All different prices and quality.

Easy to clean and wash, crib mattresses do make good dog beds.

5. If you’re uncomfortable for no apparent reason, try some of the fixes.

Most people can be comfortable if they figure out what causes their discomfort and deal with it and/or try these methods! I recently discovered that years of frequent discomfort was being caused by nipple chaffing, and bandaids basically cured it right away.

  1. Do yoga before and/or after bed. Even 10-20 minutes helps, but the more the better.
  2. Take a shower and put on moisturizer right after. Never too hot or too long.
  3. If your skin often feels irritated, try buying softer clothing like undershirts and underwear.
  4. If your nipples area often feels uncomfortable it could be due to chaffing. You can put on a bandaid with almond or olive oil.
  5. Correct your posture and do exercises that improve your posture. *Sleep in a good position with knee and neck support. If your mattress sucks, buy a mattress topper.
  6. Foam roll and do warmups before and after exercising. Always follow exercise routines to prevent muscle imbalances and to prevent overtraining.
  7. Take some deep breaths and relax. Sometimes tension is held unconsciously, but you can consciously release it. Relaxing on the exhale works very well for relaxing.
  8. Take care of your body’s basic needs which definitely includes exercise.

Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/13-benefits-of-yoga

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