【推荐1】In 1665, Johannes Vermeer, one of the greatest painters in Netherlands, completed his masterpiece “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” On an April day 357 years later, Janine Strong slowed her bike to stop, paused her fitness app, and watched as the snaking line of her cycling route drew the shape of Vermeer’s masterpiece over the streets of Brooklyn.

Ms. Strong creates what has come to be known as “GPS art” — a practice that uses the Global Positioning System mapping capabilities of modern phone apps to create digital drawings with an athlete’s route. It has grown with the widespread availability of satellite tracking for use by ordinary people. In fact, the idea has been around since before the popularity of smartphones for fitness like Strava released in 2009.

In 2003, The New York Times Magazine told of how Jeremy Wood got the idea for GPS art. Mr. Wood said while he was using a GPS tracker on a flight and the plane flew in a holding pattern above Heath-row Airport, he was attracted by the pattern appearing on his Garmin GPS device. In recent years, technology has advanced enough to create visual maps in real time using a phone or smart watch.

“I get bored cycling on the same path in the same streets,” Ms. Strong said. “Creating GPS art gives me more reasons to hit the pavement, which makes cycling a lot easier. I always have a big smile on my face when it works out and I upload it and it’s done,” she added. “It’s a very satisfying feeling.”

To complete her digital vision of “Girl With a Pearl Earring,” she biked almost 50 miles around southern Brooklyn, carefully checking Strava to make sure each turn, circle, and straight line was achieving the shape of earring and head covering of Vermeer’s original.

【推荐2】On my 70^th birthday, in September 2019, I decided to participate in 70 different sports before I turned 71. The motivation? Simply to have some fun. Athleticism, after all, does not end at some arbitrary (任意的) age.

Shortly after my 70^th birthday, I took a crack at paddle-boarding. Family members were greatly entertained, watching me first try to get on the board, then stand on the board and finally fall into the water before trying all over again. Lesson learnt: Perseverance pays off. Eventually I stood, I balanced and I paddled. An early success.

Winter sports brought their own challenges. A pick-up game of hockey resulted in the odd collision. The quality of play was hardly inspirational, but it was certainly fun. Then came the attempt to teach myself the basics of figure skating. It left me falling flat on the ice, my elbow and knee aching. I refused to give up. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, which I called self-discipline.

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 shut down most of my city, which became a setback to my 70-at-70 goal. By then I had tried nearly 35 sports. Individual sports would have to be the order of the day: Running, jumping, walking. For track, I built my own high jump and hurdles. Athletics does not have to be complicated.

There were some health advantages, too, to all the exercise I was getting. Each activity triggered endorphins that brought an immediate high. Over the longer term came the realisation that dreams are important, regardless of how far-fetched or unrealistic they might seem. As youngsters we dream of playing in the big leagues or participating in the Olympics. As we age, our hopes and dreams change, but one should never let them disappear. We need something to look forward to; what’s better than to wake up each morning knowing there is a game to play?

【推荐2】A waitress who lost her job during the coronavirus pandemic has kick-started her own career as a business woman and baker. She turned one of her lockdown hobbies into a business that brings her a lot of money.

Mona Route, 27, was let go from her server job at an airport in Melbourne, Australia, when COVID-19 hit in March 2020, and the new-found time on her hands left her feeling “so bored”. With nothing else to do, Mona decided to take up baking as a hobby to pass the time and soon found herself trying out experimental dessert recipes—which eventually led her to start her own cookie business.

Mona’s various cookie recipes became her “cheat meal” when she was on her mission to lose weight, and the massive snacks are made up of baked cookie dough (面团) that surrounds a sweet filling. The cookies quickly became a hit with her family and friends, and when her dad suggested she start selling the sweet treats, the woman set up Mona’s Treats with 15 unique cookie flavors to choose from.

The keen baker created an account on the Internet and spent 282 on ingredients for her first industrial-sized batch. At first, Mona was selling around 30 to 40 cookies a month, but she now has a monthly average of 450 orders—leaving her waking up at 2 am to keep up with demand. During the height of lockdown, Mona was selling as many as 700 cookies a month. Mona currently makes an impressive 1,700 every month from selling cookies in addition to her main occupation, and has turned over 14,000 since she started up.

The cook, who runs her business from her parents’ kitchen, is even hoping to transition into baking full-time when she can reach 1,500 orders a month. She said, “Hopefully one day I can do this in a commercial kitchen.”

【推荐1】Dr. Sara McLin thought she made the right choice by going to an in-network emergency room near her Florida home after her 4-year-old burned his hand on a stove last Memorial Day weekend.

Her family is insured through her husband’s employer, HCA Healthcare, a Nashville-based health system that operates more hospitals than any other system in the nation. So McLin knew that a nearby stand-alone emergency room, HCA Florida Lutz Emergency, would be in their plan’s provider network.

But McLin said a doctor there told her she couldn’t treat her son, Keeling, because he had second- and third-degree burns that needed a higher level of care. The doctor referred them to the burn center at HCA Florida Blake Hospital, about a 90-minute drive away.

McLin, who is a dentist, said the doctor told her the stand-alone ER would not charge for the visit because they did not provide treatment.

“I don’t remember exactly how she phrased it, but something along the lines of--we won’t even call this a visit, because we can’t do anything. ” McLin said.

At Blake Hospital, a doctor diagnosed Keeling with a second-degree burn, bandaged his hand, and sent them home with instructions on how to care for the wound.

“I didn’t think anything more of it. ” McLin said.

Then the bills came.

Total Bill: For the emergency room visit, Envision Physician Services billed $829 to insurance and about $72 to the family. HCA Florida Trinity Hospital billed Keeling about $129, noting it had applied an “uninsured discount”. A list showed the original charge had been nearly $1, 509 before adjustments and discounts.

She said she called her insurer, United Healthcare, and a representative told her not to pay the bill.

After being contacted by KHN, Aliese Polk, an Envision spokesperson, said in an email that Envision would give up the debt, apologizing to Keeling’s family “for the misunderstanding. ”

【推荐2】Timothy Harrison had planned to attend his high school graduation. He’d even told his manager who runs a Waffle House (a kind of cake shop) that he would take time off. But when the day began, Harrison found himself unable to go there.     1     Because his family members were working, no one could drive him there. Much to the surprise of his manager Cedric Hampton, Harrison showed up at the Waffle House.

    2     First, he didn’t have a way to get to the graduation. Besides, he’d missed out on picking up his cap and gown.

Once Hampton heard the details, he immediately organized his Waffle House workers for action. “I could see in his eyes that he really wanted to go, and I was going to get him there no matter what,” Hampton said. “    3    ”

Within twenty minutes, Harrison was carried to school to bring back his cap and gown and then back at the Waffle House. To his surprise, he also received a new suit of clothes for his high school graduation.    4    

Harrison was now properly dressed.    5    It was a close call, but thanks to Hampton, the soon-to-be graduate just made it. “When I sat down in that hall, it was the best time of my life.” Harrison said. “This is an experience I will value forever. I felt very thankful to my manager and those people who helped me. I’m going to tell my kids about this.”