Some jokes can be funny precisely because they’re not jokes. It’s a paradox, but these riddles prove it.

What do you call a joke that isn’t funny? A sentence.

What did one Frenchman say to the other Frenchman? I don’t know, I don’t speak French.

How is a laser beam like a goldfish? Neither one can whistle. What’s the one thing in life you can always count on? A calculator.

What did one ant say to the other ant? Nothing, ants can’t speak.

Do you know what makes me smile? Facial Muscles.

How tall is the Empire State Building? One Empire State Building tall.

Do you know what’s odd? Every other number.

With summer here, you’re probably wearing lighter clothing and spending more time out in the sun. The Health Site website offers these do's and dont's for keeping your skin healthy:

Do hydrate. Water is important for good health in general, and it’s essential to healthy skin, helping to clean out toxins from your body and opening your pores to give the skin a healthy look.
 
Don’t smoke. Smoking can accelerate your body’s aging process and decrease the amount of necessary vitamins and nutrients needed for healthy skin.
 
Do wash and moisturize. Cleaning your skin in the morning and evening will remove dust and oil that clogs your pores. Use a moisturizer with an SPF of 30 or higher after washing. 

Do use sunscreen. It’s not just for going to the beach. Apply sunscreen every day if you’re going to be outside at all. Choose one that has 30 SPF or higher for good protection from UV rays.
 
Do eat a healthy diet. Lots of green vegetables and fruit can help your skin stay fresh and young. Raw tomatoes and fruits can brighten your skin.

Canadian seasonally-adjusted retail sales increased 2.2 per cent in May, hitting $62.2 billion. Sales grew in 8 of 11 subsectors, but were led by higher sales at gasoline stations and motor vehicle and parts dealers (+9.2 and +3.3 per cent respectively). Core retail sales, which strips out gasoline and motor vehicle and parts dealers, increased 0.6 per cent in May. In volume terms, sales were up 0.4 per cent. 

In BC, seasonally-adjusted sales rose 1.3 per cent in May. Compared to the same month last year, retail sales were up 3 per cent in the province. In the Greater Vancouver region, sales rose 0.8 per cent month-over-month and were up 4.5 per cent year-over-year. 

In May, Canadian e-commerce sales rose 6.5 per cent to 3.5 billion, corresponding to 4.9 per cent of retail sales. This percentage remains elevated relative to pre-pandemic levels, but is lower than during core months of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. 

Link:  https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-retail-sales-may-2022

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

Canadian prices, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose 8.1 per cent on a year-over-year basis in June, up from 7.7 per cent last month. This was the fastest growth rate since January 1983. Excluding gasoline, the CPI rose 6.5 per cent year over year in June. Month-over-month, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, prices were up 0.6 per cent, down from 1.1 per cent last month. In BC, consumer prices rose 7.9 per cent year-over-year, down from 8.1 per cent last month. Average hourly wages grew 5.2 per cent year-over-year in June, indicating a decline in purchasing power. 

While June's CPI brought some encouraging early signs that inflation is peaking, we will need to see a sustained decline in the rate of inflation over the next several months to see any relief on mortgage rates. For now, markets are still expecting an aggressive Bank of Canada, singularly focused on bringing inflation back to its 2 per cent target.

Link: https://mailchi.mp/bcrea/canadian-inflation-june-2022

For more information, please contact: Gino Pezzani.

You think high school algebra was hard? Try wrapping your mind around these amazing numbers, courtesy of the Cracked website:

• To write the largest known prime number in a straight line, you would need a sheet of paper 23 miles long.

• Americans use 100,000,000,000 plastic shopping bags a year, enough to stretch end to end around the equator twice every day.

• A blue whale can eat up to 40 million small krill a day—about 7,900 pounds, which is more than the weight of a Hummer.

• A Rubik’s Cube has 45,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible configurations.

• Beetles represent 30% of all known animal species, with more than 300,000 species currently identified.

• People send 205 billion emails every day. If you were to print out each one on a separate sheet of office paper—which would consume 25 million trees—the stack would stretch halfway around the equator.

Safety is nothing to take for granted, but too many organizations don’t pay enough attention to it because of myths and misunderstandings. The OSHA Education Center website highlights some all-too-common misconceptions about workplace safety: 

Safety training is too expensive. Yes, it may require some upfront costs, but the cost of an injury to an employee can be even worse, not to mention the potential downtime if your organization has to shut down to investigate an accident and fix things.

Accidents will happen no matter what. Accidents may indeed happen unexpectedly, but that’s no reason not to take precautions. A proactive approach to safety will make employees feel empowered to head off potential accidents before they happen.

Employees already know how to protect themselves. Don’t take anything for granted when it comes to workplace safety. Training is essential even for experienced employees. Everyone needs a refresher now and then, and changes in tools and technology call for new training so employees are fully equipped to take care of themselves effectively.

Offices don’t have to worry about safety. You may not work in a manufacturing plant or warehouse, but the traditional office environment has lots of room for accidents. Trips/falls, falling objects, electrical cords, and health issues associated with sitting at a desk all day are all problems to confront in an office setting. Healthy employees mean fewer sick days and insurance claims.

Are you as productive as you could be at work? It depends on how you start your day. To get off on the right foot, follow this advice from the Resume.io website:

Empty your mind. Get rid of extraneous thoughts that might distract you up front. If necessary, write down any ideas or worries, and then set them aside so you can focus on your first task.

Don’t check your email right away. Spend 30 minutes or so on something productive before looking at your emails. You’ll avoid getting sucked into nonessential tasks.

Avoid meetings. Don’t call a meeting first thing in the morning. We spend enough unproductive time in meetings as it is. Block out a meeting-free zone on your schedule, and attend only the most essential early morning meetings.

Stand up. Instead of settling into your chair first thing, take a short walk or use a standing desk for the first 10 minutes of your day. This can help you feel more energetic and empowered.

Use Natural Light. Open your blinds to let in the sunshine. It’ll help you wake up and feel more alert. If that’s not an option at your workspace, invest in a lamp that simulates sunlight.

Set and share deadlines. Let someone else know when you expect to finish an important task. Keeping it to yourself makes letting it slide too easy. Having someone in on it will help you feel accountable, even though it’s just a co-worker with no authority over you.

Start one at a time. Don’t try to accomplish several morning tasks at once, no matter how easy they are. Focus on just one, finish it, and move onto the next. Allocate blocks of time for specific tasks, with shorter spans in between for miscellaneous jobs. 

Looking up into the bright blue sky, a father and son gazed at the beautiful kite they had created together. The boy became very happy seeing his kite high in the air. The kite soared higher and higher, and the boy said, “Dad, it seems that the string is holding the kite back from flying higher. If we cut the string, the kite will be free and go even higher."

"Dad, can we cut the string?”

The father cut the string and the kite started to go a little higher. The boy beamed with happiness. But then, slowly, the kite started to drift downward and soon fell back to the ground. The boy was surprised and said, “I thought that cutting the string would cause the kite to fly higher, why did it fall down?”

The father explained, "The string was not holding the kite from going higher. It was helping the kite to maintain its position in the sky. The string pulling on the kite keeps its nose pointing upward. When we cut the string and the wind slowed, we couldn’t pull the string to keep the kite pointed in the right direction. So, it could only return to the ground.”

Summertime is a good time to remember that the things we think are holding us back are really giving us direction to continue toward our goals and what matters most.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and keep your eyes pointed up.

Meat isn’t automatically on the menu these days, according to the Lansing State Journal. A Michigan State University Food Literacy and Engagement poll found that approximately 41% of Americans say they’re likely to buy artificially produced forms of meat that look and taste the same. This is up from 33% in 2018.

The survey looked at people’s understanding of the relationship between food and climate change. One finding: Fewer than 50% of people surveyed realized that eating plant-based foods can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions 

Meatless meat was originally made from beans, soy, cauliflower, and the like. Newer versions feature plant-like “meat” designed to resemble traditional meat.

But Americans are becoming more open to eating meat-like products made from other sources, like insects. One 2019 poll found that 25% of Americans are willing to try that.

Meat grown from cells in labs are a potential future option, though none are commercially available in the U.S. right now. Still, 35% of Americans say they’re likely to buy some when it comes out.