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A concept that has recently been at the forefront of health and wellness magazines and discussions is that of mindfulness or mindful thinking. At first blush, this might seem like new-age nonsense or incite thoughts of monks meditating for hours on a mountaintop, but in reality, it is a concept that is much easier for anyone to achieve than they may think. Mindfulness is essentially defined as paying attention to the present moment that you are in or thinking and acting with specific and realized purpose. It is a way of redirecting your mind out of auto-pilot or to intentionally move your thoughts away from stressful and negative ones. Particularly in a day and age where we are constantly connected to everything through our phones and technology, it can be very easy to simply go through the motions of your day and wonder, what was I even doing? We have probably all experienced a time where we go to the store for the sole purpose of buying the soap or milk that we need, then arriving at the store and having no clue why we came. Or watching a television program and having to rewind parts of it because you simply cannot remember what just happened. These are examples of thinking in a way that is not mindful, and can contribute to stress and anxiety, inefficiency, and a lack of satisfaction in activities of daily life, hobbies, careers, or relationships. Mindfulness efforts attempt to reset thinking into being aware of what you are doing or thinking about at that very moment. The goal is not total calm or relaxation, or a blank slate of a mind free of all bad thoughts. It is simply to realize and recognize what you are thinking or doing and make a conscious choice of your next thought or action. While the actual act of practicing mindfulness is fairly simple, it can be tough to get used to at first. Mindfulness activities can include taking a few minutes in the morning when you first wake up or before you go to bed at night to focus your thoughts on something of your choosing. You might dedicate your thoughts to an entire task at work without looking at your phone, in an effort to train your brain to be less concerned with immediately responding to an email or text that will interrupt you from the task at hand. It could also be something like picking a simple activity, such as washing dishes or brushing your teeth, and focusing your attention on just that activity for the duration. You can also acknowledge a bad or stressful thought when it enters your mind, and choose how you will respond to it, whether that be redirecting your thoughts to something more uplifting or deciding how you will cope with that particular stressor. Mindfulness can also include more in-depth practices, such as yoga or meditation, but can be as simple or as involved as you choose for it to be. As a simple, free, and beneficial activity for people of all kinds, it certainly seems that mindful thinking is more than just another health fad and is a worthwhile practice for everyone to try.

In a game that shocked the sports world and blew up just about every March Madness bracket in existence, the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) upset the number one overall seed Virginia in 2018 NCAA men’s tournament. This will be a game that sticks in my mind and memory for the rest of my life. I’ll remember exactly where I was sitting, exactly what I was eating, exactly who I was with, and exactly how I felt. There is something about an upset that is written into the American DNA.  After all, we are at our core, a nation of underdogs who upset our own number one seeds in order to make our mark on the world. Even though our country likes to consider itself the reigning champion, our vitality, work ethic, and prolificacy are derived from our willingness to accept the underdogs of the world into our community and value their contributions. In watching what will go down as one of the most legendary upsets in March Madness history, my mind began to drift off to other great upset stories. The first upset that sprang to the forefront of my mind was Appalachian State’s upset of the University of Michigan in 2007. This was a wildly entertaining college football game where a FCS school upset one of the top ranked teams in the country. At the time we didn’t believe that anything like this could happen. The level of ASU’s talent, facilities, money, and coaching expertise simply could not rise to the level of a storied blue-blood program like the University of Michigan. However, Appalachian State proved the world wrong upsetting Michigan in dramatic fashion. I will always remember exactly where I was when I was watching this game. I was in the “HUB” student center on the campus of Penn State University watching the game on a giant screen television in a student lounge. This game’s legacy stems far beyond the scoreboard on that particular day. In my mind, this upset created a chain reaction across the country of smaller programs upsetting college football royalty on a consistent basis. Some other great upset stories that stick out are, of course, the “miracle on ice” where the United States hockey team beat the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics, and Buster Douglas’ knock-out of Mike Tyson in 1990. No matter what walk of life you are from, I am willing to bet that you have at least one memory of a great upset or come-back victory. Take care to hold these moments of triumph in your mind and draw on them for inspiration when you face adversity in your own life.

Pennsylvania Superior Court orders new trial in landmark products liability case: Tincher v. Omega Flex The Tinchers lived in the central unit of a two-story triplex. In 2007, a fire erupted in their home. Investigators later determined that a nearby lightning strike caused a small puncture in corrugated stainless steel tubing (“CSST”) that transported natural gas to a fireplace located on the first floor of the residence. Heat associated with the melting of the CSST caused by the lightning strike ignited the natural gas and fueled a fire estimated to have burned for over an hour before it was discovered. No one was injured in the fire, but the fire caused significant damage to the Tinchers’ home and personal contents. The CSST installed in the Tinchers’ home was manufactured and sold by Omega Flex as part of a gas transportation system marketed as the “TracPipe System.” The Tinchers sued Omega Flex, asserting claims premised on theories of strict liability, negligence, and breach of warranty. The strict liability claim was based on section 402A of the American Law Institute’s Restatement (Second) of Torts (1965), which provides: One who sells any product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to the user or consumer or to his property is subject to liability for physical harm thereby caused to the ultimate user or consumer, or to his property, if (a) the seller is engaged in the business of selling such a product, and (b) it is expected to and does reach the user or consumer without substantial change in the condition in which it is sold. The Tinchers alleged that “the CSST incorporated into the TracPipe System was defective, and unreasonably dangerous to intended users, because its walls are too thin to withstand the effects of lightning.” Omega Flex moved to have the trial court apply Sections 1 and 2 of the Third Restatement of Torts: Products Liability (1998) and to deliver jury instructions based on the Third Restatement, rather than the Restatement (Second) of Torts. The Tinchers responded that the Second Restatement remained the law of Pennsylvania and the court, therefore, should base its jury instructions on the Second Restatement and the Supreme Court’s decisions under that Restatement, including Azzarello v. Black Bros. Co., 391 A.2d 1020 (Pa. 1978). In Azzarello, the Court had held that: it was improper to introduce negligence concepts into a strict liability case; it was for the court, not a jury, to determine whether a product was “unreasonably dangerous” under the Second Restatement; the dispositive question in a case alleging that there was a defective design was whether the product is safe for its intended use; and in such a case, “the seller is the ‘guarantor’ of the product, and a jury could find a defect ‘where the product left the supplier’s control lacking any element necessary to make it safe for its intended use or possessing any feature that renders it unsafe for its intended use.’” The trial court denied Omega’s motion and instructed the jury under the Second Restatement and Azzarello. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Tinchers on the products liability claim and in favor of Omega Flex on the negligence claim. The jury awarded the Tinchers more than $950,000 in damages. After adding delay damages, the court entered judgment in excess of one million ($1,000,000.00) dollars. Omega’s appeal ultimately reached the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to determine whether the Court should replace the strict liability analysis of Section 402A of the Second Restatement with the analysis of the Third Restatement. The Supreme Court declined to adopt the Third Restatement, overruled Azzarello, and crafted a new test for proving whether a product is in a defective condition under Section 402A of the Second Restatement of Torts: The plaintiff may prove defective condition by showing either that (1) the danger is unknowable and unacceptable to the average or ordinary consumer, or that (2) a reasonable person would conclude that the probability and seriousness of harm caused by the product outweigh the burden or costs of taking precautions. The Supreme Court remanded this case to the trial court for “further action upon post-trial motions,” and permitted the trial court to order the filing of supplemental post-verdict motions or briefs on the issue. The Supreme Court did not specifically grant a new trial. On remand to the trial court, Omega Flex filed a renewed motion for post-trial relief in which it abandoned its request for entry of judgment notwithstanding the verdict and sought only a new trial on the basis that the jury was instructed on the law under Section 402A of the Second Restatement of Torts and Azarello; and therefore, was improper in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision . The parties submitted additional briefs, and the trial court held oral argument. Ultimately, the trial court denied Omega Flex’s motion, and it entered judgment against Omega Flex. In denying Omega Flex’s motion, the trial court recognized that the predominant factual issue in the case was whether the corrugated stainless steel tubing was defective because of its inferior thickness (equal to the thickness of four sheets of paper), rendering it incapable of withstanding perforation by an electrical arc produced by lightning. The court further held that if the jury instruction it gave in this case required a new trial, the Supreme Court would have simply remanded this case for a new trial. Omega appealed and the issue for the Superior Court was whether the trial court erred by denying Omega’s motion for a new trial. The Superior Court determined that there was a “fundamental” error in the trial court’s decision because the trial court instructed the jury in accordance with Azzarello and its progeny, Omega was entitled to a new trial. More specifically, the court noted that the jury was instructed only on whether TracPipe was defective under Azzarello’s now-overruled design defect test, and not on the new definition of “defect” under Tincher, and thus a new trial was required.

Today marks the start of 3 weeks of ‘madness’ where anything can happen and seeds get thrown out the window. The tournament starts off with 64 teams playing in 32 games over the course of a week, then the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four tournaments follow in the next week or 2, generally ending around the first weekend of April. The national championship game this year will be held on Monday, April 2. You can catch these games at almost any time of the day on the following networks: CBS, TNT, TruTV and TBS. Creating a bracket must be done by noon today so if you’re just tuning in, CBS and ESPN are our top two picks for the best platforms to create brackets. Good luck and enjoy the madness!

The ancient Babylonians calculated pi roughly 4,000 years ago. What Is Pi? Pi represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The first calculation of pi as 3.14 is attributed to Greek mathematician Archimedes, who lived in the third century B.C.. He used the Pythagorean Theorem, a geometric theorem involving triangles, to accurately calculate the number. It wasn't until the 1700s that the Greek letter we commonly see began to be used to represent pi. Pi Day has been recognized on March 14 ‘officially’ for the last 30 years. Some people who celebrate tend to eat foods that are circular in shape – such as pizza or pie, naturally. It seems appropriate that March 14 also marks the birthday of renowned theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Most recently, famed physicist Stephen Hawking passed away today at the age of 76.

It was 6:45 p.m. Sunday evening and it wasn’t dark. I was thrilled! Daylight saving time (DST) started it’s 8-month run earlier that day at 2 a.m. while celebrating its 100 th birthday in the United States. I always look forward to the longer days. I feel like I get so much more accomplished with the additional daylight and the desire to fall asleep in the evening diminishes. I won’t deny there is a bit of an initial adjustment in that the mornings aren’t nearly as bright, but that doesn’t bother me nearly as much as dusk at 5 p.m. According to USA Today, daylight saving time was first enacted by the federal government March 19, 1918, during World War I as a way to conserve coal. Although it was halted nationally later that year, it persisted in some form at local or state levels for decades before being finally being recognized again nationally in 1966 by the Uniform Time Act. The Department of Transportation (DoT) is in charge of daylight saving time and all time zones in the U.S. because time standards are important for many modes of transportation. Daylight saving is observed because it saves energy as lights and household appliance are used less during that time, saves lives by preventing traffic accidents because people are driving more during daylight hours and reduces crime because people are out during the daylight and not at night when more crime occurs. In 2007, the federal government expanded daylight saving time and it now accounts for about 65 percent of the year. However, individual states have the final say as to whether to opt out of DST. Whether you love the time change or could do without it, DST is a reminder that spring is just around the corner.

This time of the year has my mind rushing back to a time in my life that I spent so much of my time planning for, training for and simply could not wait for - spring! But for a different reason than most. I like the flowers, everything is starting to bloom, the weather is changing, etc. These are all good things, but for me, it was the start of spring sports and the one I looked forward to most was softball. I played other sports as well, but softball was my favorite and holds a special place in my memory book. From the time I was old enough to play, I played all spring, summer and fall on regular season teams, all-star teams and travel teams. The friendships, opportunities and memories made along the way are irreplaceable. I was lucky enough to have two daughters who felt the same way and carried on the love of the game. It was, and still is, a huge part of our lives. As I sit and reminisce for a moment, one of my favorite quotes comes to mind, “To uncover your true potential, you must first find your own limits and then you have to have the courage to blow past them.” – Picabo Street. For all of the athletes out there getting ready to step on the field, track or court, good luck and take in every minute!

Webster defines the word “name” as “a word or combination of words by which a person or thing is known.” Before we are even born, our parents more than likely pondered over names with family members, baby name books and other resources in order to choose our perfect title. People put a lot of value in their name as it is their identity – how they are recognized. Calling a person by his/her name shows respect and recognition. It makes a person feel a sense of connection which generally leads to a friendlier conversation. People tend to listen more closely to your thoughts and ideas simply because you care enough to bring the conversation to a more personal level. We live in such a busy and technical world. It becomes very easy to get lost and feel insignificant because of hurried schedules each and every day. However, we need to practice slowing down and keep in mind the importance of “name calling”. It builds better relationships and may even prompt others to return the favor.

Today is International Women’s Day. This marks a day where we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. International Women’s Day (or “IWD”) has been observed since the early 1900s. It came about during a time of great expansion in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. The theme this year is #PressforProgress if you want to follow along on social media. International Women’s Day’s hashtag is #IWD2018. Today, and all days, we salute the strong women out there making a difference in their communities. How will you celebrate?

I am a mother of three cell phone junkies. I feel as though I have lost my children in a whirlwind of texting and social media and believe me when I tell you, it’s a struggle to get my young adult children to put their phones down for any length of time. Just recently, I purchased two chunky paperback knock-knock joke books online. The day they arrived in the mail I simply placed them on the coffee table in our living room. My husband walked by, picked one up and asked me if I was out of my mind. I told him I had a plan. Later that evening, my 15-year-old son was sitting on the sofa, phone in hand. My husband was doing the same on the loveseat. I picked up one of the books and handed my son the other.  Then I read one knock-knock joke. Then I read a second, and then told him it was “his turn”.  We went back and forth reading cheesy knock-knock jokes, laughing and really having a good time. After about 15 minutes of this, he was ready to go back to social media. I have started a new trend in our household to help pull my kids back into the real world as well as actually “hearing” them laugh instead of seeing a “lol”. Knock-knock. Who’s there? Canoe. Canoe who? Canoe come out or what?

Recently, our area has had quite the spout of interesting weather. We’ve had heavy rains which caused major flooding. We also faced heavy snow and freezing temperatures. Low temperatures have led to pipes freezing and water main breaks leaving many communities under boil orders or being without water completely for some time. Right now, water is something probably no one would like to discuss. But water is not all bad considering our country has access to it so easily. Approaching in March is “World Water Day.” The day calls attention to the water crisis some countries are facing. Today, close to 2 billion people live without safe drinking water at home. Lack of clean drinking water is affecting their health, education and livelihoods. Children often miss days of school to collect clean water for their families. Aside from the education they are missing, these children are not able to just enjoy being a kid doing things such as playing with friends. Instead, they are focusing efforts on survival. The parents of these children are out of the home, too, constantly in search of clean water. This search takes away valuable time they could use to pursue careers causing the economy to fall tremendously and taking away from just overall family time. Some new inventions such as the LifeStraw could help curve efforts of providing everyone with clean drinking water. The straw removes 99.9999 percent of waterborne bacteria including E. coli. The impact water has is astonishing. It’s so easy to take it for granted as it is available to us in excess but next time you turn on the faucet take a second to appreciate the blessing.

Not many people think about dogfighting each day, but I do. Why? Because I’ve seen what it does to dogs. It hurts and can even kill them, but most of all, it teaches dogs to attack. Some dogs know when to turn it on and off, but most fighting dogs don’t. Its an awful thing to see dogs used as bait dogs. Did you know that the owners of these fighting dogs go out into our neighborhoods and steal dogs out of people’s yards to use them as bait dogs and then just toss them out like trash, because they are dead or almost dead? The ones that survive are left to die in ditches or out in the woods. How awful is this to hear? It is even worse to see. Years ago, I was at one of our local shelters when authorities broke up a dogfighting ring in our area. The bait dogs were so mangled and broken that they were put down due to their injuries. The fighting dogs were sent to rehab throughout the United States. I don’t know what became of the ones that were sent to rehab, but I do know that the most aggressive dogs had to be put down. Most were pitbulls. I get very emotional when any dog must be put down. People have compared boxing to dog fighting. In my opinion, boxing is nothing like dogfighting. The boxers have chosen to do this while a fighting dog had no choice. They were taught this behavior by a human. How could you teach a dog to do this? You must be mentally unbalanced to teach any dog to fight to the bitter end. Pitbulls have been so inbred that the temperament of this breed of dog has become more and more aggressive. God bless the people who take these dogs into their homes. If you google “dogfighting” what comes up are some of the most disturbing pictures I have ever seen. Please beware, these are very graphic photos and I advise you not to open the links to view the photos. You can read articles on how to start your own dogfighting ring, you can also read some great articles about saving dogs from the dogfighting organizations. Did you know that these underground organizations are all over the country? Did you know that some parents take their young children to these events? The money that dogfighting generates is unbelievable. I was shocked to hear how much money people bet and how much the payoff can be. Dogfighting rings are all around us. Yes, I said around us. It’s in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. It’s a multi-million-dollar business and the rings need to be shut down. I’ve spent a lot of time reading articles. It makes me physically sick every time I look in to the world of underground dogfighting. No one knows who has a dogfighting organization in or around your area where you live, it could be your next-door neighbor. Scary to think that, but it could be true. My passion is to help stop these awful events from existing. That’s why you will see on most of my blogs, I conclude with adopt, don’t shop. Spay and neuter your pets. And animal fighting is not a sport. It is abuse and you need to call your local authorities to get the animals the help they so desperately need. Help spread the word about stopping the madness of dogfighting. Please, if you’re looking for a new four-legged friend, go to your local shelters or call your local rescue league. Trust me, they have what you’re looking for. The next dog blog will be on puppy mills in our area. Bark on, Bordas Dog Nation, bark on.