MY FINAL PILLOW TALK

Until this latest spree with pillows, I had never before purchased one.  Never washed any, either.  I now have three, two MyPillow and, today, a Miracle Bamboo Pillow (MBP). I have also now washed three pillows.  For the record, there is a hint that bamboo bedding products could be anti-bacterial, so that's a plus, and MBP is about twice the weight of MP.  The prices are all over the map, but when you average things out, they cost about the same, in the range of $50/pillow, except that prices have recently drastically dropped to $30.  Remember, standard Walmart pillows are between $5 and $20, and they are also washable.

So why does anyone purchase a Miracle Bamboo Pillow?  That's where the miracle comes in.  It's a miracle that anyone spends so much money on this pillow.

The plastic covering of MBT is a wonderment of contradictions and exaggerations:

How can this be?   On one side, it says Miracle Bamboo Pillow, and on the other, Not Made with Natural Bamboo Fiber. 

I don't quite want to say, what a joke, what a scam, but both pillows are on the borderline of marketing honesty.    Bamboo?  Isn't that a stiff hard piece of wood that flexes?  How can this material be soft?  Well, the bamboo component is said to be viscose.  If you like rayon, well, this could be material for you.  I dare you to, though, read that link to understand what is being said.   

In any case, the MBP pillow itself uses the same kind of foam as MyPillow.  The cover over the pillow is what is 40% bamboo viscose rayon.  Got it?  You won't feel it when you sleep, because you'll no doubt use a pillow cover.  However, you have the liberty to only wash that cover, perhaps every few weeks if you're fastidiously fussy, and the whole pillow maybe yearly.

Here is a review from highya:  

• a luxury class pillow
• one queen size pillow:  $69.95, plus $14.95 shipping and handling
• "as seen on TV"
• more than half rated the pillow as only one star, out of five
• 33% would recommend it to a friend
• company has a C rating with the BBB

Not too terrific.  Except that my Walmart purchase only cost $29.95.  About half of what I paid for MyPillow, from Amazon.

However, the latest ad from Miracle Bamboo Pillow (left) shows the price at $29.95 with a deceptive 2 for 1 offer.  The true cost is $29.95, plus $9.95 for shipping and handling, plus $19.90 for the second.  A total price of $59.80, or $29.90 each if you buy two.  That's a nickel cheaper than Walmart, but only if you get two MBT pillows.

So, in conclusion, this is a splurge worth your interest.  Sort of like drinking some expensive wine or scotch.  If you feel you deserve it and can afford the expense, why not?  Next?  A new mattress?

Remember, that the average hotel room cost in the USA is now around $125, which is about the same as the cheapest chain hotel you can find in Tokyo.  Surely, you deserve that clean new pillow on which you will sleep for the rest of your life.  And only for $30.

And, by the way, did you know that Martin Luther King Day, to be observed on Monday, January 16 this year, is a national holiday?  Only two other humans are so honored in the U.S., George Washington and Christopher Columbus.

The reason why I got into position to even consider buying my Miracle Bamboo Pillow is that the day prior I was supposed to walk 18 holes at the Ala Wai Golf Course.  However, a friend saw me and invited to join his 7-some.  But they rode carts.  So on Saturday, I felt compelled to take a very long walk, and started with lunch at Lucky Belly, where I had my traditional Belly Bowl, this time with some pink champagne:

I then headed over to Honolulu Harbor and was astonished to see all the stores closed at Aloha Tower:

The whole area has been overtaken by Sharks, from Hawaii Pacific University.  Well, actually, there are two appropriate exceptions,  Gordon Biersch, with the Pride of America (I spent a week on this ship last month) in the background, and Hooters:

First, this entire location, now that Hawaiian Electric has closed it power plant, is being totally misused, for just to the right of this left photo is this other showing the frontage on Ala Moana Boulevard.

Way in back to the right you can barely see that structure where the State should move the staff to a much cheaper location and sell the building to the highest bidder.  On the site of that electricity generating facility develop a hotel.  One is certainly need for downtown Honolulu.

Now, a university at this choice site is perplexing, but with an opportunity that screams for imagination.  Hawaii Pacific University can become a world class institution of international travel management with an infusion of private funds.  A second, and, perhaps, parallel option, would be for a billionaire to sponsor Blue Revolution University.  Already at a protected oceanfront, and HPU fortuitously owns the Oceanic Institute.

Just a few yards away is the Falls of Clyde, badly deteriorated, but with the adjacent Hawaii Maritime Center, additional marine treasures that can be incorporated into the above plan.  The ship first arrived in Honolulu at the age of 21 in 1899, and registered under the Hawaiian flag just about the time the Republic of Hawaii was annexed by the USA.

Here are a few final photos:

The bottom photo is of a sea urchin, and the fish just above is a fugu, or balloon fish.

To close, walking up Fort Street towards 15 Craigside I noticed a Walmart.  I thought, hmmm, I wonder if they have a MyPillow on sale for $30?  Yes, they did, but also for the same price was that Miracle Bamboo Pillow.  So I purchased the later.  I was still planning to walk home, but try doing that with a My Bamboo Pillow under your arm.  First, for a pillow, it was really heavy.  Second, I had a Bus Pass.  Waiting for The Bus, I took my pass and a dollar out.  Then it occurred to me, the pass is good for two years where I can ride for FREE, anytime.  Tomorrow I walk 18 holes at Ala Wai.

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SIMPLE SOLUTIONS FOR A LONGER LIFE: Saunas and Baths

I've long attempted to find monumental solutions for Planet Earth and Humanity:

• remediation of global warming, not merely measuring the obvious
• being involved with the full spectrum of renewable energy
• promoting the Blue Revolution
• drafting the original congressional legislation for hydrogen that became law
• proposing the 10% Simple Solution to Peace

So why am I now pontificating on soup (my posting on January 1), pillows (two days ago) and shirts (yesterday)?

I guess the answer is that I'm balancing this blog site by sharing things about myself.  My cuisine, travels, entertainment options and attempts to live longer.

A reader yesterday sent me a link to towels and why she changes them every day.  On average in the U.S.:

• everyday (16%)
• 2-3 times/week (33%)
• once/week (40%)
• 2 weeks or more (11%)

To summarize:

• even after one day, towels harbor significant numbers of bacteria, yeasts and molds

• men provide a lot more E. coli (10 times more than women after two weeks)
• but, a female towel just after one day contains 100 times more viable yeast organisms

The resultant recommendation was changing once per week, but I'm now more inclined to do this daily, except that 15 Craigside does this for free every seven days, and I can tolerate this delay in light of the extra labor, energy and water requirements.

Okay, so much for towels.  One more truly simple solution for living longer.  I've long felt that taking regular hot baths was good for me.  I had to talk my personal doctor into writing a memo to the 15 Craigside administration for me to install a bathtub.  They hate to do this here and charged me an outrageous $10,000 to install an almost dangerous tub-type.  There was no other option.  This was their practice and exorbitant cost to dissuade residents.  There are only 4 bathtubs in this entire building.

Anytime I visibly sweat, I reward my body with a bath, soothed by music from a bluetooth Bose/iPod system and a generous alcoholic drink.  My blood pressure, which could be 135/85, usually drops to 115/65 after a bath.  The veins on my arms become valleys.  I feel great!

I checked the internet and could not find any medical studies to prove that baths are good for you.  However, The Huffington Post had an article entitled, How Baths can Benefit Your Body and Mind.  A Senior Living blogsite reporting on the Top 5 Places Where People Live the Longest, hints that baths are one reason why.  Okinawa is #1, and you know they take baths there.  #5 was Ikaria, Greece, where people there are three times more likely to reach 90 than Americans, and there is almost no dementia.  Their secret?  Mineral hot springs.  Hawaii, incidentally, was noted as having the highest life expectancy at birth than any state in the Union.  World-wide, Japan is #1 and Macau #2, and residents there do take regular baths.  The article goes out of its way to say, avoid refined sugar.

To reinforce my contention, an article this morning showed that men who take frequent saunas live longer.  This was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  The country is Finland, and those who enjoyed a sauna two or three times/week had a 23% lower risk of coronary problems, compared with only once per week.  If four to seven times/week, this practice lowered risk rose to 48%. There's got to be a connection between hot baths and saunas.

Analyzing why baths and saunas can increase your life expectancy, the minimization of stress reduces inflammation, perspiration rids your body of poisons and the resultant enhanced mental attitude are all factors that promote longevity.  Clean body, clean mind and long life.

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MY SHIRTS

Yesterday, it was MyPillow.  Today, the closest thing I have to a fetish:  my collection of special shirts.  I joke that the reason I go to Bangkok and Seoul is to buy shirts.  The reality is that this is mostly true. In addition to the standard or traditional shirts, I have four special types (left).  Each has a story.

And, by the way, I've just about signed up for my next world journey, beginning in March, and ending with a week of golf near Napa Valley.  Anyway, it was about fifteen years ago, I was browsing through Ross and saw a comfortable-looking t-shirt.  Canary yellow, silky soft, only $12.  I had not owned a yellow shirt for a very long time.  In the third grade I got stung by a bee when I was wearing a yellow aloha shirt.  This was to be my first yellow shirt in half a century.

Then, a couple of weeks later, I saw the same shirt in Ross for $8.  So I bought it.   Wow, saved $4.  A month later I happened to be in Las Vegas, and joined my family to Ross, where I saw that same shirt for $14.  When I returned to Honolulu, I went straight to Ross, and saw that the price had dropped to $3.  I bought three,  Count now up to five.  A week later, the price was $2, so I bought three more.  A couple of weeks later, there was one left, a 3X, for $1.  Purchased my ninth.  I gave two away.  I use it for sleeping.  I have no idea what the make is:

This is my most comfortable shirt, and I've washed them innumerable times.  They are still as good as new.

Maybe a quarter century ago, when I now and then was fitted for tailored suits in Bangkok, I decided to also get two safari shirts.    Last year I ordered a few of my 8th generation.  The material is now a lot more comfortable, with zipper pockets, and now, even inside pockets.

This time I made two long-sleeve versions.   I never really counted, but would guess 20 safari shirts.  How much did they cost?  All of them, combined, amount to less than one night at the Ritz Carlton Tokyo.   I get comments all the time from people who love the style.  I do, too.

This is my most functional shirt, for I can place all kinds of things in the pockets, and zipper them closed.  The long sleeve is great for travel, for I just take it off during the check-in ceremony.  Will be back at Jackie's Tailor in April to try a lighter material.

No kidding, I'm an authority on tailored suits from the Orient.  In the seventies, Hong Kong was the rage.  Maybe $100/suit for the best ones.  In the earlier 80's, Taiwan got into the act.  For $100 you could get a decent outfit (jacket, trousers, vest and shirt, with a free tie), and it would be ready in three days at most.  By the later 80's Itaewon in South Korea took over.  Better quality, still for $100. Then in the 90's Bangkok arrived with $50 suits.  They were not great, but I still own a couple from the era, and began my pathway for the ultimate safari shirts.  Today, you can still probably get a suit made in Bangkok for $50, but the quality will be terrible.  

Incidentally, at one time I must have owned more than 50 ties.  I still own a lot, even though I have not used one for many years.  Anyone want a tie?  I should sell them on eBay.  

My favorite is elegantly clownish.  Most of my ties cost less than $3.  However, in 1990 I bought a Jim Thompson silk tie for $150 (equivalent worth today because of inflation would be $272).  The first time I used it, some chicken grease spilled on it.  Try getting grease out of a silk tie.  Below, the Jim Thompson is on the left.

Which would you wear today?

The third shirt-type can only be found in South Korea.  Their long sleeve golf shirts are light, silky and comfortable.  I've washed them a lot and the only change is that the lighter colors all turn various shades of gray.  I only place sun block on my face, for the sleeves protect the arms, and the combination of socks and shorts protects most of my legs.  This is embarrassing, but I have 40 of them in all colors of the rainbow and more.

The first one I bought cost almost $200.  You can now find them for $30 or so, but need to bargain at the outlets.  Mario is a good place.  I'll be back in April.  Why?  Why not.

I have a few really expensive aloha shirts, which to me is more than $100:

I don't enjoy ironing shirts, but like to think that mine are made of material that need no ironing. I have not felt a comfortable Reyn-Spooner shirt.  I bought a palaka (left) ... threw it away.   

Tori Richards kabe crepe is okay. To the right is the type businessmen in downtown Honolulu wear, tucked-in.   To me, this tradition, which involves a suffocating belt, defeats the whole principle of informality and comfort in aloha wear.  I've tried suspenders, and still do on occasion.  I still own a dozen of them.

Bailey's Antiques has 15,000 of them.  Many are cheap.  I actually bought one for $3 and still use it.  However, they have some that will set you back several hundred dollars, each, and up to $4500.  I have enough shirts for two more lifetimes.  I may never again buy an aloha shirt.

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MYPILLOW

You've all seen Mike Lindell, inventor of MyPillow.  Here is a 30-minute clip if you like to learn more about him.

His first pillow was sold in 2005, and the company struggled for six years.  Then, the product took off after an infomercial in October of 2011.  The long infomercial now runs 200 times/day.  They have sold 10 million pillows and his staff of 50 has grown to 600.  Guinness is set to name their pillow fight involving 6,241 participants at a St. Paul Saints baseball game as the world's largest.

Their pillow is of patented design involving a mix of open-cell shredded polyurethane foam.  There is also a resin that enables the foam to retain the shape when molded to the user's preference.  The pillow is non-allergenic, dust mite resistant, washable and dryable.   There is a 10-year warranty.  IN FACT, THIS IS WHERE I WAS STUNNED.  IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE PILLOW BE WASHED AND DRIED EVERY FOUR MONTHS.  TWO MONTHS IF YOU ARE PARTICULARLY ALLERGIC TO SOMETHING.  HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER WASHED YOUR PILLOW?  I've never washed a pillow in my life.

Donald Trump would love Lindell's company, for not only is the pillow manufactured in the USA (Minnesota), but all materials are domestically produced.  To quote Lindell:

I truly believe MyPillow is the best pillow in the world; if everyone had one, they would get the best sleep ever, and the world would be a better place.  God Bless!

Portions of proceeds go toward The Lindell Foundation, a charity that assists addicts, veterans, cancer patients and other people in need.  Apparently, the National Sleep Foundation endorses this product, and, no, it is legit.  Lindell does not run the organization.  

However, there are a few negatives:

• The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has received 220 complaints for false advertisement.
• A few months ago MyPillow paid out $1.1 million to California  counties for saying that its pillows treat symptoms of fibromyalgia, restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, cerebral palsy and acid reflux.  They basically used anecdotal data to make these claims.
• Lindell is not a sleep expert.
• BBB just a few days ago revoked the accreditation for MyPillow and lowered their rating to F.  Why?  For years now they have advertised buy one and get one free.  Apparently, you can't do this for a long period.  Not exactly a condemning practice.  Interesting that the day this action occurred, I received two MyPillows in the mail.

You can go to Walmart and get a range of pillows from $5 to $20 or so.  However, one day, I saw a MyPillow while checking out, for in the wall of TV-sold products were a few.  The price was about $40.  When I went home, I thought, shucks, I should have bought one, as the MyPillow internet site showed a price of $90 for two queen pillows, and $100 for two king pillows.  Because I trust Amazon, I ordered from them and paid $130 with free shipping.  I then thought I'd buy a third MyPillow, went back to Walmart, and they had none left.

So is my MyPillow worth three times the best standard pillow from Walmart, many of which can be washed?  I would say NO.  MyPillow is kind of clumpy and fat, although, your head settles in a manner that is comfortable.  (Note that the king-size almost sticks out of the standard pillow cover.)  I got to admit I perhaps slept better, whatever that means.  The first night I when I awoke I had a feelable itch on the right side of my chin, which could have been the result of dermabrasion or allergy.  I had the same type of itch when I bought my favorite yellow shirt.  My blog tomorrow will feature MY SHIRTS.  But this itch eventually went away regarding my yellow shirt, and did not occur after night #2 of MyPillow.

Will I wash MyPillow every four months?  Probably not, but, certainly, at least once/year, if not twice.

My recommendation?  Look, I typically pay $300/night for a typical hotel room in major capitals of the world.    Some of my lunches cost more than $130.  Two MyPillows for $130 that will last the rest of my life are trivial expenses.  If I later find out I hate them, I can always go to Walmart and buy two more that are washable for $40.  I don't think my trusted old pillows are washable.  Then, I can use these two MyPillows for guests who might stay the night.  Then wash them.

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