You may have heard of the man cave, or a special room in the house (or garage) that a man can have completely to himself. Similarly, women have created their own version called she-sheds. These private spaces allow both men and women to relax and unwind in peace, like going on a retreat on your very own property.

Now theres a way to combine both man caves and she-sheds into one structure: the we-shed.

The we-shed consists of two individual sheds a she-shed and a he-shed joined together by a deck. Each person can use their individual sheds to enjoy some solo time, and then they can come together in the middle for a cute picnic, or even knock on one anothers doors for a quick visit.

Portable Buildings of Greater Houston

This design was originally created by a Houston-based building company called Portable Buildings of Greater Houston for one innovative client. However, if youre outside of their service area, any local shed company should be able to create something similar, and you can customize the layout to your own liking. Heres a different style of we-shed from the same company!

With the growing popularity of both she-sheds and man caves, the we-shed is definitely a fun way to combine the two. Each person can decorate the interior of their shed however they please, and the internet is full of fun ideas. Instagram user @lovely.cuppa.tea added a craft area to her she-shed.

Others keep their she-sheds minimal and clean, with antique touches, like user @agraceful_life. Some even use their she-shed for art, gardening or meditation.

As for he-sheds, those can go in so many different directions. Fill it with games, hardware or sports gear, or just turn it into a cozy lounge area.

The whole point of she-sheds and man caves is to completely personalize the space into your own, so this is one chance to really let your imagination run wild. The possibilities are truly endless, and youll never have to crave solitude again.

Link:
'We-Sheds' Combine Man Caves And She-Sheds In One Charming Structure - Simplemost

New research published in The Journal of Sex Research provides insights into factors associated with emotional and sexual motivations for infidelity. The findings indicate that one of the most consistent predictors is dissatisfaction with the primary partner.

Satisfaction with the secondary cheating partner, on the other hand, is a less consistent predictor.

We have always been interested in the motivations to engage in infidelity, said study authors Jana Hackathorn and Brien K. Ashdown, an associate professor at Murray State University and associate professor at Hobart & William Smith Colleges, respectively.

However, until now we hadnt had access to a population that was specifically using an online website for that behavior. After publishing some previous work on motivations to engage in infidelity, the opportunity to collect data from a sample of folks currently seeking an extradyadic partner presented itself, and we jumped at the chance.

In the study, 545 members of AshleyMadison.com, a popular website for those interested in having extra-marital affairs, completed a brief anonymous online survey regarding their motivations to engage in infidelity and other factors. The majority of the participants (81%) reported they were male and the average age was 48.89 years.

Unsurprisingly, those who indicated that their primary partner did not adequately meet their needs were more likely to report seeking a secondary partner because they had fallen out of love.

One of the things that we found to be most prevalent in the data was that the secondary partner (or the other woman/man) was not as big of an influence or motivation to cheat as the real world might lead us to believe. The biggest influence/motivation to cheat was dissatisfaction in the primary relationship, especially for males. However, greater sociosexuality (i.e., more comfort with casual sex) was very influential for both males and females, the researchers told PsyPost.

The researchers found that participants who were younger and had greater Christian identification were more likely to report seeking an affair to get back at their steady partner.

Women and those who reported lower relationship satisfaction were more likely to report an interest in infidelity because they felt neglected. Participants who were pursuing a secondary partner because they wanted more frequent sex tended to be male, have an unrestricted sociosexual orientation, greater Christian identification, and less satisfaction with their primary partner.

We are both very interested in what happens next. For example, how does someone engage in infidelity and also attempt to continue the current primary relationship simultaneously? We expect to examine this behavior through cognitive dissonance theory, and are really interested in the magnitude of aversion that might be experienced, the dissonance reduction strategies that people might use, and whether they have to keep re-using those strategies over and over, Hackathorn and Ashdown said.

The researchers initially recruited 2,030 paying members of the website. However, 1,485 participants were excluded from the study because they were not using the website to cheat.

The AshleyMadison.com website is a dating website. Due to the hack that happened a couple of years ago, we began our study under the faulty assumption that it was a cheating website and of course some of that came from their slogan Life is short, have an affair. How shocked were we to find out that a clear majority of the participants who completed our study were just in it for dating not infidelity? Some of them were really angry about our assumption too, Hackathorn and Ashdown said.

The study, The Webs We Weave: Predicting Infidelity Motivations and Extradyadic Relationship Satisfaction, was published online on April 6, 2020.

Read the original here:
New psychology research sheds light on motivations to engage in infidelity - PsyPost

COVID-19 and the quick shift to remote work opened federal officials eyes to areas for improvement in their pre-pandemic practices and escalated insiders acceptance of fresh modes and technologies, according to Federal Chief Information Officer Suzette Kent.

Overall, it's been exciting, Kent said during a Dcode virtual session last week with the accelerators Chief Executive Officer Meagan Metzger. Many individuals who I would say might have resisted some of the technology tools, not only have accepted them nownow, because of the duration, they're comfortable with them.

Kent said amid the pandemic, her team and their partners across the federal information technology landscape are primarily focusing on mission continuity and response. Within the realm of response, the CIO said her role is to coordinate and enable, meaning whether through guidance, forumsor beyond, she and her team must act swiftly to move information, to convene and to get action.

I call myself and my teamwe are the enablers of the federal IT community, Kent said.

Usually, that enablingentails tactical work, like developing new policies, but she noted that in this situation it also involves efforts to accelerate data-sharing and install new contracts to get that community resources and tools they need most, while also helping to keep the wheels running in the massive new, nationwide teleworking environment. To her, its been inspiring to see agencies respond aggressively and now two months in, effectively sustain their operational posture.

We're continuing forwardand that gives us some proof points for what the future looks like, Kent said.

Scalable, cloud-based and easily configurable commercial solutions helped federal agencies and officials move quickly in their initial response efforts when the outbreak hit, as did scaling or shifting services that already existed within agencies. And some of the proof points that have emerged in the efforts were spawned by necessity. For instance, some agencies transitioned about 95% of their workforce to remote work due to stay-at-home orders, and in that light, she noted that individuals who might have previously held out against trying new things couldnt refuse new collaboration tools. Officials are also becoming increasingly comfortable with digital signatures and newly-introduced ways to share information online.

It's absolutely thrilling when Ive heard some, again, folks who you might have had to force them to adopt before, or they didn't even take their own their equipment home, talking about, oh, did you see this new feature? Kent said. And that gives us an opportunityagain, use as a proof pointit's not the what if it's when I did it, when that happened, that let me think differently about the paradigm.

The new working reality is also inspiring government officials to rethink their purchasing activities and the flexibilities of distributed workforces, Kent said. Some agencies have teams that endure 24-hour work cycles because they have to, but the current conditions motivated them to make new considerations around shifts and schedules. Further, COVID-19s disruptions have also exposed specific fragilities in the nations supply chains, which the CIO called another proof point to be examined.

Do we understand the critical linkages to certain things and do we have clarity around the things that are most critical to missions of agencies in our citizen service delivery? Kent noted. This unusual situation, it's exposed things that we're going to consider.

And as many agencies are forced to examine their continuity-of-operation plans, Kent added that insiders are realizing that many of those didn't have kind of like the special drill-down for pandemics, or if they did, we are learning things that will help make those assumptions and actions, you know, much more clear and inform them better.

We've captured a lot of those, she explained. So, I think a lot of those are going to help us as we move forward.

Robust data is driving new outcomes across many areas including medicine, commerce, and state and local efforts during the pandemic, and Kent said the needs and efforts are accelerating requirements already put in place by the administration to establish proper infrastructures to help the government become fully data-driven. She noted that almost all agencies now have COVID-19 information links internally for staff or externally on their websites with citizen-serving functions, much of which incorporates shared data. Agencies on the frontlines are recognizing not only how important sharing data and common data models are, but also the crucial need for the consistency of the information, she said.

Still, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act mandated federal agencies to establish the role of chief data officers within their workforce, yet presently, not all agencies have one in placeincluding a top health agency, during the pandemic.

I don't know that it changed anyone's understanding of the role and the importance, Kent said. It might have certainly changed the urgency.

RELATED PODCAST

Read more:
Federal CIO Sheds Light on What Agencies Are Learning in COVID-19 Response - Nextgov

Simon Cowell has lost 60 lbs. through his new health regime.

The 60-year-old media mogul overhauled his lifestyle last year and committed to a diet of white meat, fruit, and vegetables, and can't believe the results he's been getting, as he claims he's managed to shed an impressive 60 lbs in the past 12 months.

He said: "I started this diet a year ago and I've lost 60 pounds."

Simon's been sticking to his diet whilst in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, but says he's always tempted to slip into old habits when his six-year-old son Eric - whom he has with his girlfriend Lauren Silverman - has a pizza for dinner.

He added: "I'm doing a bit of cooking. I'm exercising. Funny enough, more during this time as well, sticking to the diet.

"The only difficult thing is when Eric orders a pizza . . . that's the number one thing I miss."

And when he's not busy cooking, Simon has been spending time in the garden with his son, where they often camp overnight at the weekend.

Speaking to The Sun newspaper, he said: "We're camping on the weekends in the garden in tents. Lauren, the first time, at 11 o'clock said, 'I can't deal with this' . . . and I said 'No, we're staying outside'."

Meanwhile, the 'X Factor' creator previously said he can't believe how good he looks since losing weight, as he managed to shave several inches from his waistline.

He said in January: "The most dramatic period was the first month where most of the weight comes off and you look at yourself and think 'wow'. I used to be 36 inch waist and now I've lost four inches. I'm really happy now.

"You can drink this light beer but you've got to be sensible about quantities. I have loads more energy and feel great.

"All I do is avoid just red meat - white meat is fine - and I eat loads of vegetables, salads and drink this great beer. I'm on a diet but it doesn't feel like it now because the food I eat is really healthy and I don't find it tedious. If it's boring you won't stick to it."

Go here to read the rest:
Simon Cowell sheds 60 lbs. through diet - Yahoo New Zealand News

FROM SHEBEEN TO STUDIO, BUSINESS HQ TO WRITER'S RETREAT, LOCKDOWN HAS UNDERLINED HOW THERE'S A SHEDLOAD OF INSPIRATION TO BE FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN

Its a place of clutter, a fertile breeding ground for fungi and festoons of cobwebs, somewhere to dump half-used cans of paint and your rusty lawnmower. Or its a retreat, a special spot, your own private world and a world unto itself. The fact is, the humble garden shed has the potential to be pretty much anything you care to make it. As the Mens Shed movement (menssheds.ie) proves, the shed offers the ideal spot for getting away from daily life, as well as for finding and doing something new all of which can be vital for good mental health.

Sheds can be palatial or tiny, luxurious or spartan. Sheds can be inspirational: take Derek Mahons glorious poem, A Disused Shed in Co Wexford, finalist a few years ago in RTs A Poem for Ireland, for an evocative foray into their deeper meanings.

Sheds can also be the start of something big. Companies set up in sheds include Hewlett Packard, Harley Davidson and Dyson. Back in 1943, Ingvar Kamprad used a small green shed as the home depot for his fledgling business. He named it Ikea.

Writers have known the secrets of sheds for years. Roald Dahl wrote many of his much-loved childrens books, as well as his spookier adult stories in a very charming shed, built by one of his pals for just 80. Dahl had an armchair and a board for his desk, and a table for mementoes, including his own hipbone relic of an operation and a ball he made from chocolate bar foil. George Bernard Shaws shed is an ingenious affair: no larger than a regular garden shed, it is built on a rotating platform, so the famous Irish playwright could turn it to track the sun. Both sheds can be visited when were out and about again.

Meantime, if youre looking, as Virginia Woolf said, for a room of ones own, why not follow her inspiration? Woolf also wrote from her garden shed, so if youre lucky enough to have one look no further than your own back yard.

Sheds may be scene of many crimes against home brew, but Fionnuala Harkin raises the bar with her twice-weekly shed-based online wine tastings. Harkin works with Wines Direct and, since last summer had been hosting local wine evenings from her garden shed in west Cork. The shed in question was built by Harkins husband Tim. He insists on it being called a workshop, but I commandeered it and renamed it the wine shed, she says.

The walls are hung with tools and saws but, as Tim also DJs at festivals, youll also find neon lights, illuminated palm trees and disco balls. This all adds to the slightly surreal atmosphere of a swanky wine and antipasti soire in, essentially, a carpenters shed, says Harkin. Some get shed envy, she says, while others exclaim Oh! it actually is a shed.

Now that soires are off the cards, for the next while at least, Harkin is using the time to delve into the differences between your sauvignons and your chardonnays, picpouls and pinots, and bringing joy to many in the process. I got a great text from my friend Jane when she saw my @wineshedwestcork Instagram: After scrolling through all these young ones doing exercises, it was such a relief to find you in a shed with a bottle of wine!, she said.

Una Sealy built her shed at the end of the garden 16 years ago, having worked in studios in Temple Bar and Henrietta Street over the years. After I had children and moved out of the city centre, I started working from home. My studio is lovely, she says. Its warm and bright, has running water and has room for my collection of art books. Its separate from the house, so I cant hear the doorbell or home phone and it has no internet, so the temptation isnt there to zone out online.

Not simply a studio, its also a refuge. I practically live in the place. It has everything I need: music, books and even a bed for a bit of a lie down for when things get too much, which can happen! It has also been a solitary space, until recently. Painting is such a private thing, a bit like meditating, so unless Im working on a portrait, I prefer to be alone, she says. Or so I thought, until I shared with Eileen.

Eileen is Sealys 20-year-old daughter, a second-year painting student at NCAD, and since the colleges closed, she has been sharing the space with her mother. I wasnt sure it would work, Sealy admits. However, we both hook up to our own separate worlds via headphones, and were managing very well. In fact, I think were both quite enjoying each others presence.

I was one of the lucky ones, Eileen adds. I had a place to go and work, rather than repurposing my bedroom, or taking over the kitchen table. With all the family at home now, the studio is a quiet space.

The shed was here when we moved in, says Mags Mulvey. It was in an awful state. Cobwebs everywhere, spiders in every slat of wood big enough to be shed bouncers! Stuffed with junk from previous tenants, you couldnt see the floor. Mulvey, a stage manager, video editor and artist, and her housemate, performer Shani Williams, who also works with the Bord Gis Theatre, were sitting in their back garden one evening, chatting about the lockdown. Shani was now working from home and almost all my work had been cancelled.

I looked over at our garden shed and thought: our shed looks miserable, lets sort it out. And sort it out they did. We spent a day clearing it out. I upcycled some old planks of wood to make shelves and reinforced areas where the wood was completely rotting. The rest went in the skip. Paint was found online, the colours inspired by beach huts in Williamss native Australia, where Mulvey has also spent time. We thought if we cant go to a beach hut, lets bring the beach hut to us.

Now a well-laid-out working garden shed, its full of tools, paints, gardening things, as well as a much-loved garden bean bag. Alongside are raised beds for spuds, broccoli, carrots, runner beans, peas, spinach, mangetout, chillies, rosemary, parsley, lemon thyme, thyme, sage, mint, dill, beetroot, spring onions, cucumber, lettuce, radish, raspberries, blueberries, you get the idea.

Its really lovely waking up in the mornings, Mulvey adds. Looking out the kitchen window while putting coffee on. We printed C-19 on the side, as a reminder.

In a perfect world, everyone would have their own autonomous space, says Turtle Bunbury. An article about how Dylan Thomas wrote from a garden hut inspired the author and historian, and his wife Ally, to look at their own garden anew. Research via Instagram and Pinterest brought them from garden pods to steel portacabins and straw-bale sheds, and finally to Siberia.

The shed we opted for came from Timber Living [timberliving.ie] in Tullow; the wood for their sheds comes from 150-year-old Norway spruce trees that grow in Siberia. By chance my brother-in-law Tom Sykes had just been working on a book with the motorbike fanatic and shed guru Henry Cole, so he was full of excellent tips.

These included painting the shed black (It looks bang on), and cubby shelving here, courtesy of a 25-bay Kallax unit from Ikea. Our house is full of old furniture, so I was happy to go the Ikea route to ensure my office was a little more 21st century. A period desk, inherited from Bunburys aunt, adds a touch of history.

To offset the black, we painted the interior Wimborne white, and put in recessed ceiling lights, as well as wall lights. The combined effect is that its a big, bouncy, optimistic space even onthe days when the sky outside has painted everything it touches a sombre grey.

The shed is also equipped with a coffee machine, so each morning, Bunbury heads off across the garden, jug of milk in hand, ready to work. Carefully sited to provide mountain views, the shed is an absolute joy. I never tire of being there.

Read the original here:
Cabin fever: Why the humble garden shed is having a moment - The Irish Times

Though research indicates that the novel coronavirus originated in nonhuman animals, scientists remain unsure how exactly it emerged and was first transmitted between species. One theory is that it first appeared at a market where live and freshly killed animals are sold in the city of Wuhan, in China's Hubei province.

As increasingly dense human populations continueto encroach on the habitats of other animals,scientists fear that the risk ofdeadly viruses being transmitted between species will grow. The number of annual outbreaks of infectious diseases has tripled every year since 1980.

Read more:On May 21, there were 5 million coronavirus cases worldwide

No infectious disease hasspread so quickly across the globe as the novel coronavirus, and there is currently much debate about how to prevent rapid worldwide outbreaks of infectious diseases in the future. This pandemic has once again drawn attention to the disastrous decline in biodiversity, and this has been a particularly important subject for politicians and scientists this week. May 22 has been proclaimed International Day for Biological Diversity by the UN.

Read more:Pandemic linked to destruction of wildlife and world's ecosystems

Biodiversity meeting postponed

Originally scheduled to be held in China in the fall, this year's meeting of signatories to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity has been postponed because of the pandemic. Nonetheless, the signatory governments are still discussing ways on how to meet the global commitment agreed to in January to protect at least 30% of the planet's oceans and land by 2030 in order to minimize the decline in biodiversity. The United Nations has also now called for a ban on live animal markets such as the one in Wuhan where the novel coronavirus may have emerged.

German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze, a Social Democrat, has another priority. "China reacted immediately and closed the dangerous markets," she told DW after presenting a report on the state of nature in Germany. "What's important from a European point of view is that the wild animal trade, which is largely illegal, be suppressed. We have to act against the criminals. This is the job of the police and customs officers. We're working on it."

Christoph Thies, the forests and climate campaigner for Greenpeace Germany, had a similar point of view. "We cannot expect people to stop eating meat from wild animals overnight," he told DW. "There are regions where it's an important part of people's food."

'What is needed'

Thies said he hoped that biodiversity would once again receive the attention that it deserves and that the environment and nature would be examined in the context of climate change. At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, where the Convention on Biological Diversity was signed, the subject was considered as important as desertification and climate change. In the following decades, however, climate change became the main talking point. The three topics are intricately interconnected, Thies said: "Restoring forests and other ecosystems can help to contribute to 20-30% of what is needed to meet goals regarding climate change."

Read more:German restaurants reopen with pandemic measures in place

"In many countries, in many governments, the people who deal with biodiversity and protecting nature often have little to do with people dealing with climate change," Thies said.

Read more:What to expect in German air travel after the pandemic

Germany only has about 10% of the number of partridges and lapwings that it had 25 years ago, according to a report published by the Environment Ministry in May. Globally, about 35% of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, face extinction, the United Nations reports.

"There has been some improvement in the beech forests, and with the birds, in cities, in the forests, but the situation regarding agricultural land is really critical " Schulze said. "What we now call insecticide is happening. We say that in our report. More has to be done about this."

Read more:Lufthansa in 'advanced talks' over coronavirus bailout

Antje von Broock from Friends of the Earth Germany told DW that "the protection of insects calls for knowledge and funds" at the national level, but also by the EuropeanUnion. "We are campaigning to make sure that farmers receive money so that they actually do something for nature and agriculture," she said.

So, if the European Union were to change its agricultural policies, fewer live and freshly killed nonhuman animals were sold at markets globally, and the illegal animal trade were stopped, real progress could be made during the coronavirus pandemic to slow the decline in biodiversity.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that the outbreak of infectious diseases is connected to the destruction of forests and other ecosystems," Thies said. "Apart from the other more traditional reasons for protecting the environment, restoring biodiversity and the forests, there is also that of protecting health and preventing outbreaks of dangerous diseases."

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Originally posted here:
Pandemic sheds light on importance of biodiversity - Deutsche Welle

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Ventura firefighters put out a blaze in an RV parked behind a home Sunday afternoon. Flames damaged outdoor sheds and the eaves of the main home.

A link has been sent to your friend's email address.

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Here are some key tips to avoid a fire at your home.

A fire in west Ventura late Sunday afternoon burned an RV parked on the property and spread to nearby structures, officials said.

The fire was reported around 3:52 p.m. in the 800 block of Riverside Street, the city of Ventura Fire Department reported. The site is west of Ventura Avenue, close to Highway 33.

Crews found the RV well involved with fire. Flames had extended to two outdoor sheds and had reached the eaves of the main house on the property, officials said. A car parked next to the motor home was also impacted.

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More local news: County closes Foster Park over crowds and illegal parking; cars again clog Hwy. 150

Firefighters started a rapid attack to stop the spread. Flames did not reach the home's interior or attic.

No one was injured. The cause remainedunder investigation Sunday night.

Gretchen Wenner covers breaking news for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at gretchen.wenner@vcstar.com or 805-437-0270.

Local coverage is only possible with support from our readers. Sign up today for a digital subscription.

Read or Share this story: https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/ventura/2020/05/18/rv-fire-west-ventura-spreads-storage-sheds-and-eaves-home/5211277002/

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RV fire in west Ventura spreads to storage sheds and eaves of home - VC Star

The Perez family has always had strong bonds to one another, and now theyre even stronger as the family overcame the coronavirus.

52-year-old Eloy Oscar Perez was diagnosed with the virus April 8, and his wife and two younger family members also tested positive in the same week.

While the other family members recovered without severe symptoms after 21 days, things took a turn for Eloy on April 15, when he was admitted into University Medical Center and had to be put on a ventilator within an hour of being dropped off by his family.

"My dads biggest battle was overcoming the oxygenation levels. Thats where COVID attacked the hardest," said Eloy Perez, named after his father. "Our dad fought hard, and he was able to overcome the symptoms that came along with COVID."

Perez spoke with A-J Media on his fathers behalf, as Eloys throat was still sore from the experience.

Eloy was in the MICU for just over 20 days, 15 of which were on a ventilator. Not being able to know how he was doing was hard on the family and Eloys daughter, Amber, in particular. She is a nurse working on a COVID floor, and knew what her father was feeling. She was working with patients, but was not allowed to visit her father.

When the hospital started using plasma treatment, Eloy was one of the first patients to receive it. All seemed well for about eight days, and then Perez said his dad suffered cardiac arrest for several minutes.

"I cant tell you how bad we wanted to be with my dad at that moment," Perez recalled. "We knew he needed to hear us. We also knew God had full control, and at that moment learned what it feels like to fully trust in him."

That night, the Perez family prayed for their dad and prayed again the next night, when UMC held a community prayer night. Perez said the family was grateful to the caregivers at UMC because they were giving daily updates on Eloy and helped the family FaceTime after that.

Almost five days after his cardiac arrest, Eloy began to improve. He no longer needed a ventilator and he was becoming more responsive, though doctors and nurses still monitored his condition.

"The teamwork from the doctors and nurses was inspiring," Eloy said via a message later. "The staff was always very positive, supportive and caring when they took care of me."

Eloy has been steadily getting his strength back since returning home and has started physical therapy. He was able to walk on his own again five days after leaving the hospital and is not having to use his oxygen support except in a few cases.

Perez said the caregivers fought for his dad as they would their own family, and they are so grateful for their help and the support from the community.

Now, the family is focused on helping Eloy recover.

"Family is our priority," said Perez. "Together, we know we can overcome any obstacle that comes our way."

View original post here:
Strengthening their bond: Lubbock family sheds light on recovery after father overcomes COVID-19 - LubbockOnline.com

John Jastremski, a native Staten Islander and longtime sports radio host of WFANs JJ After Dark, is living out his pandemic days in his Brooklyn apartment, which also serves as his recording studio for the time being.

Like many of us, the Petrides HS and Syracuse University alum is taking the stay-at-home order day-by-day, though he longs for the return of professional sports -- not only for the sake of his work, but also out of his own pure desire to sit down and watch a ball game.

For someone who is involved in sports, not having that element of being able to put a game on at night...that throws you out of your comfort zone, admitted Jastremski.

Thankfully and God-willing my family is healthy, he added. But as a sports fan, I need the games back.

In the meantime, the Castleton Corners native, who still spends 3 or 4 days a week on the Island, is doing his best to keep busy when he isnt on the air.

A whole lot of trying to play golf, running, and finding ways to pass the time, said Jastremski.

And hes in the market for an open golf course.

I love running at Clove Lakes Park, but I miss the golf course, he said. Can we find a way to open the golf courses?

Life in the studio has been a bit more challenging, though its a challenge Jastremski has fully embraced.

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?

One would imagine that hosting a four-hour sports talk radio program without any sports being played might be an arduous task.

In mid-March I was thinking: what am I going to do? admits Jastremski, who hosts his show five nights a week from 2 a.m. to 5:40 a.m. on WFAN, as well as nationally on CBS Sports Radio on Saturday evenings from 6 to 10.

John Jastremski, whose show is known as JJ After Dark on WFAN, was a special guest at one of the Advance's Media Days a handful of years ago. (Staten Island Advance/Steve Zaffarano)

Some people like to map out their segments [beforehand]," he explained. I like to read and react, give my opinion and see where it takes us.

With this [pandemic], it definitely requires some brainstorming to find topics that I know will engage the audience, added JJ.

While trying to move forward in a perpetually-evolving landscape, Jastremski is actually turning back the clock.

With no live games, theres a whole lot of me tying in nostalgia, said JJ, who has been watching and discussing classic sporting events.

Were all in lockdown reminiscing, he said. A lot of these games I vividly remember.

Nevertheless, even JJ acknowledges that it still doesnt fill the void.

Its cool showing old games and I get excited, but now Im over it, said Jastremski. I love sports because it gives you the chance to react to something new, and that element of being in the moment...I miss it greatly.

STAYING ENGAGED

Jastremski, who typically doesnt saturate his show with guests, has been making an effort to bring in unique voices and fresh perspectives.

We normally dont have a ton of A-list guests, being an overnight show, but Im trying to engage with the audience, challenge their minds and have the audience get into [the show], he explained.

Among the recent and upcoming guests are Bill Raftery, Steve Schirripa, and David Wells, to name a few.

As if the sports landscape hadnt thrown enough of a wrench into the shows daily planning, it now takes place exclusively in Jastremskis Brooklyn apartment -- something he has found beauty in.

Its easy, I have everything I need, said Jastremski, whose main concern is not frightening the neighbors during his 4 a.m. sports rants.

I have my mic, a mic stand, and my call screen right on my computer, he pointed out. Its not as comfortable as the studio, but we find a way to make it work...Im thankful the neighbors havent gotten me evicted yet.

JJ BEFORE DARK?

WFAN recently announced that Jastremski would be switching time slots beginning next week.

The longtime overnight host will take the reigns from 7 pm to 11 pm, at least for the month of June.

Im excited to be introduced to a new audience and new exposure, said JJ. "Well see what happens in July, but its a good chance to get more ears on the show and I appreciate the vote of confidence from the station.

The listeners have been amazing, he added. Never in a million years would I have thought that we could go 70 days without sports and still have jammed phone lines."

JJ hopes to keep the ball rolling in his new time slot.

The continued support, passion, and energy has been great, explained Jastremski. Hopefully the overnight audience can follow me to 7 p.m. and keep the vibes going.

BACK IN ACTION?

Jastremski, a Staten Island sandlot baseball veteran, doesnt expect to lace up his spikes this season due to the shutdown -- but its not all bad news.

I miss not playing, but I dont expect to this year, he said. "But I think well get there.

[Governor] Cuomo has talked of playing without fans in the stands and I think sports will be back real soon, added Jastremski.

But how soon?

Hopefully baseball will come back in July, I think well definitely have the NFL in the fall, said Jastremski.

We need that safety net and that distraction, its very important to get some games back," he added.

Like the rest of us, JJ concluded with what most of us are already thinking:

We need our sports back, he proclaimed.

Read more from the original source:
John Jastremski, host of WFANs JJ After Dark, sheds light on life during the pandemic - SILive.com

Record job losses hit the state during the first full month of COVID-19 economic fallout.

Illinois lost 762,200 jobs from mid-March through mid-April, the largest monthly jobs loss in state history, new data shows.

March jobs figures were also revised to show jobs decline of 60,900 jobs instead of the 34,100 originally reported. That is the second largest monthly decline for Illinois in recorded history, according to the preliminary data released May 21 by the Illinois Department of Employment Security in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Leading the declines was the leisure and hospitality jobs sector, with 50% of the jobs lost. Many of those businesses were ordered to close under Gov. J.B. Pritzkers stay-at-home order, costing that sector 295,300 positions.

All sectors of the economy have experienced job loss since the onset of COVID-19 related fallout. Total non-farm payrolls throughout the state have now fallen to their lowest levels since 1993.

The large decline in payrolls has also sent the unemployment rate skyrocketing. The current estimated real-time unemployment rate is now above 24%. However, this is likely an underrepresentation, as it does not include those who have stopped looking for work altogether during this crisis. When you add those who have dropped out of the labor force into the equation many of whom are likely not being counted due to mismanagement of the unemployment application system the estimated unemployment rate would have been nearly 27%.

Illinois families cannot afford to be out of work for an extended period of time. Many are still waiting to have their unemployment claims processed and have little to no savings to feed themselves or cover other expenses. Other countries and other U.S. states are beginning to phase in the re-opening of their economies.

Business and consumer confidence are a cheap form of stimulus. Pritzker now has an outline of a plan, but Illinoisans need more detail for it to provide the certainty needed to make economic decisions.

State lawmakers need to do their part to minimize uncertainty by voting to remove the progressive income tax from the Nov. 3 ballot, which they can do by supportingHouse Joint Resolution 123. If passed, that tax hike will hit more than 100,000 small businesses the states most prolific job creators just as they are trying to recover from the COVID-19 recession.

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shed 762,200 jobs in April, 12.5 times greater than worst month on record - Illinois Policy