There is a lot of information out there on the internet. It is so easy to get distracted. Here are just a couple of examples from Real Simple on “How to recycle anything.”

1) Post-it as a keyboard cleaner.

Wow. I have to try this (But maybe not in the management meeting).

2) Wine rack used to file magazines (Only if you intend to use the magazines to swat flies afterwards).

And what is one to do with the Chardonnay?

3) Finally my absolute favorite recycling tip: One liter bleach bottles as dumbbells.

(That would be full bleach bottles which weigh about 2.2 pounds each.)

Just imagine what happens if your palms get a little slippery or in your enthusiasm to whittle those batwings and boost your biceps the bottles go flying at full speed.

Do you think anybody is actually going to try this? …

I was told more than once that there is a flying proa from Guam in the British Museum and since my husband Ken and I went there during our London vacation to view an exhibition I checked with the staff. No proa on the inventory; no need to start a recovery process from Guam despite all rumors to the contrary.

However if you are from the Solomon Islands and happen to be passing the museum – it’s a different story. A canoe and artifacts aplenty abound. …

There are a couple of things Andy Murray and I have in common. For a start we have both played notable tennis (though I didn’t get past representing my school).

And secondly both of us got stuck in London traffic jams. Fortunately Murray’s was after his July 7 Men’s Singles triumph at Wimbledon and not before it; he was on the way to a TV interview. I was on the way to see my parents. We were both running woefully late.

Murray may also have pined for the rural lanes of Dunblane in Scotland where he was born; for once I definitely appreciated Guam’s roads as we crawled along…

Long time readers may remember the Guam-based Z Enterprises which had plans to fish and can tuna for the region’s benefit as well as the Zuanich family. A London executive formerly with the Commonwealth Development Corp. now the UK Department for International Development’s Development Finance Institution told me he had the pleasure of visiting Guam and the Pacific in the 90s to share expertise with Z Enterprises. He said Lawrence Zuanich has apparently revolved through a brewery venture in Peru. The latest reports concern an ill-fated Zuanich business of short lets in Hawaii. (It’s hard to keep a good man down.)…

Maureen (in the supermarket on a record-breaking hot day in London): “Excuse me; I’m looking for ice cube trays.”

Young sales associate: “We are heading for our break and we don’t get too long so perhaps you could find somebody else to help you.”

Older sales associate: “We don’t tell the customer we are heading for our break; we are here to help. Madam, the ice cube trays are either here with the barbecue products or in aisle 3. (Uses his cell phone) “Somebody is bringing ice cube trays from aisle 3 for you.”

Younger sales associate (keen to earn redemption): “My parents just buy the bags of ice in the freezer section.”

Maureen: “You sell bags of ice? I never knew that. I’ll take the ice trays and the bags of ice.”…

I have to compliment the U.S. Coast Guard for one thing. (Well, there are lots of things to compliment the Coast Guard for but this praise is from a media perspective.) Coast Guard releases arrive with the magic words, “Click the thumbnail above for a high resolution image.” Yes instead of heaping huge images onto PR advisories or press releases that is what the Coast Guard considerately does.

So a mere click delivered a beautiful image of the Coast Guard Cutter Assateague at sunset against Pagan in the northernmost part of the Northern Mariana Islands where the cutter was delivering supplies. Compliments go to the Coast Guard for the photo too.

(Of course you can also see if the alternative endears you to media:

Send eight large attachments in one email and then follow up with “Just checking if you received everything.”) …

It is time to come home to Guam as London is in continued Level 3/Amber Warning. We (and other parts of the country) are one step away from Red Alert – a state of national emergency.

The Level 3 Heat Wave Alert kicks in when daytime temperatures are consistently above 30C (86F). London is melting – literally in the case of some road surfaces and train tracks.

“You must feel right at home, ” I’ve been told. Indeed, but the other emergency is that I am running dangerously low on shorts and the fall sweaters entering the stores are not helpful. …

And of course as you will already know when you read this the Royal babe has just arrived. …

– Maureen N. Maratita is publisher of Glimpses Publications which comprise Marianas Business Journal Guam Business Beach Road and R&R Pacific.

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