A new tool to predict sickness – and it seems accurate…

I’m always on the lookout for tools or websites that can give me an advantage in life. Here is a new one that appeared in my inbox today.

www.sickweather.com is a self-reported site of illness and infections yuck that appears like a weather map. Using it, you can see what diseases are floating around your home town, and prepare yourself for a business trip to, say, New York or wherever. A good reminder to wash your hands in airports.

I noted that it had some interesting categories beyond the usual cold and flu. Whooping cough? Chicken Pox? Fine. But Stess? Depression? Interesting. To test the accuracy, I selected Stress. The only city in the Midwest that popped up was Chicago. Fair enough. Then, I selected Depression. The results are below:

Looks accurate to me…

So, Cleveland and Detroit came back positive for Depression.

Seems accurate. I’ll keep an eye on this one.

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Notice how globalization has changed our level of crankiness?

Hmm.

Used to be that we were really touchy about nationalism, especially here in the Midwest.  I think it was mostly driven by the auto industry, but it was pretty pervasive.  I recall sign demanding that any foreign car not be parked in a particular plant parking lot.  My favorite was at the Connersville  Ford plant, specifying that all “Non-Ford” cars be parked across the street.  I happily parked my Volvo fight by the front door, only to be directed to the punishment corner…they did not care that Ford owned Volvo, at that moment.  (Now the Chinese own the Swedes…)

Kokomo, Indiana was a hot spot of this thinking, at least until Chrysler went through two European owners…

What percentage of American made is permitted?

So, it was a twinge of nostalgia that I felt when I drove past this sign at a company that recently went out of business.

 

How about cars from Canadian or Mexican assembly plants – all are in the Americas…

 

Face it.  We’ve all become global – and while there are good and bad effects, it’s the way the economy is.  Capitalism rewards and punishes all…

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