IT IS COLD OUTSIDE

All I can say it it is cold outside this morning. I went out to get the paper and i couldn't get back in the house fast enough. My outdoor temp is showing that is 10.8 degrees outside and I believe that it is. Well we got allot of snow yesterday here in Colonial Heights but we didn't get quite as much as they though we were going to get here in CH, we got around 8.5 inches here at the house. They way is looks the snow is going to be around for a while, today it isn't even going to make it above freezing and tomorrow its only going to be in the mid 30's. I don't like cold weather and I really could do without all this snow. The VCU Rams won there homecoming game last night 82-67 over Georgia State sending all the Rams fans home happy on homecoming. The Virginia basketball team will face North Carolina tonight in Chapel Hill. It doesn't look like there will be any school here in the area for the next few days, I think CH may be having a teacher workday tomorrow anyway. Well I hope everybody stays warm. MICKEY

It’s safe to follow the 5-second rule for dropped food
It's probably not even safe to follow a 1-second rule: The transfer of bacteria from a contaminated surface to food is almost instantaneous—or, at the very least, quicker than your reflexes. In one study, Clemson University food scientist Paul Dawson, PhD, and students contaminated several surfaces (ceramic tile, wood flooring, and carpet) with salmonella. They then dropped pieces of bologna and slices of bread on the surfaces for as little as 5 seconds and as long as 60 seconds. After just 5 seconds, both food types had already picked up as many as 1,800 bacteria (more bad bugs adhered to the moisture-rich bologna than the bread); after a full minute, it was up to 10 times that amount.

Choose friendly fats. What do walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, olive oil, and avocados have in common? They're all healthy fats. And they help you absorb vitamins A and D. Plus, they decrease inflammation, meaning you'll suffer less with the flu if you've stoked your system with them.

Smiling is infectious; you can catch it like the flu. Some smiled at me today, and I started smiling too. -Anonymous

Today's Birthdays: Former Interior Secretary Stewart Udall is 90. Actress Carol Channing is 89. Former NAACP Executive Director Benjamin L. Hooks is 85. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks is 79. Composer Philip Glass is 73. Former Interior Secretary James Watt is 72. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is 72. Actor Stuart Margolin is 70. Actress Jessica Walter is 69. Former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., is 69. Blues singer-musician Charlie Musselwhite is 66. Actor Glynn Turman is 64. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan is 63. Singer-musician KC (KC and the Sunshine Band) is 59. Rock singer Johnny Rotten is 54. Actress Kelly Lynch is 51. Actor Anthony LaPaglia is 51. Singer-musician Lloyd Cole is 49. Actor John Dye is 47. Rock musician Jeff Hanneman (Slayer) is 46. Actress Minnie Driver is 40. Actress Portia de Rossi is 37. Actor-comedian Bobby Moynihan is 33. Actress Kerry Washington is 33. Singer Justin Timberlake is 29.