Now that I'm running two and a half hours at a time to train for the marathon, I have no time to come up with a clever blog. No brain power left either. By the time I finish my runs, my mind is numb with boredom. Mental note: never run another marathon.
In the meantime, here's the latest round of cool facts from my former customs broker.
Look up in the sky...
Every single day, 2.5-million people now fly through the airspace directly over metropolitan Paris. equivalent to about a quarter of its population.
Those who like to slum, teach
The average American college student graduated this year with more than US$19,000 in debt. Some graduates are now leaving college with student loan debt in the six figures. The rise in unmanageable debt has raised concerns that many graduates won't be able to pursue careers in fields that have traditionally paid modest salaries, such as teachers.
Rise of the fat
Chinese cities have been ordered to put back their cycle lanes in the hope of restoring the nation's image as the land of the bicycle. However, Beijing's most popular statistics is that the city sells 1,000 cars every day. Its least popular statistic is that the length of time it takes to reach any given destination has doubled in 10 years. The government is also considering following London's lead and introducing congestion charges to cut traffic.
Rise of the fat: Part 2
During the last 20 years, the total number of people with diabetes worldwide has risen from 30-million to 230-million and is expected to reach 350-million by 2025. China and India now have the most diabetes sufferers in the world. Today, out of the top ten countries with diabetes, seven are developing countries.
Not burning rubber
A congestion-beating project has been launched in Britain that could lead to some of the UK's 14,500 kilometres of disused railway being paved with rubber. The flexible highways are made of panels of shredded car tires laid over existing tracks. This project will provide a use for some of the estimated 50-million tires disposed of in the UK each year.
50 times the caffeine?
A Panamanian specialty coffee, a rare variety of the geisha plant strain, recently sold for US$50.25 a pound. At over 50 times the price of standard beans, the geisha beat the previous record of $49.75 a pound held by a Brazilian bean. Last year, beans from the same farm sold for $20.00 a pound.
Two girls for every guy
In 2003\2004 there were 1,941 homes for the aged in Canada. Nearly 103,500 women lived in these homes compared with just under 42,400 men. Homes for the aged alone generated C$9-billion in revenue The cost for each resident to live in a home for the aged amounted to $50,126 a year on average, or $136.76 a day.
Magic space train
Rising more than 5,000 metres above sea level, China's newest railway line will be the highest ever built. It is so high that some luxury railcars will be outfitted with oxygen masks for the uppermost elevations. The line will run 1,100 kilometres from Golmud in Qinghai province to Lhasa, capital of Tibet.
Mommy and frat boy need a drink
Sales of coolers to traditional female consumers are stalling and the liquor industry has been forced to turn its attention to heavier-drinking young men to keep the cooler category growing. Women still account for nearly 60 per cent of the C$587-million worth of coolers sold in Canada last year but have been turning to martinis and other mixed drinks.
Nirvana can wait
During soccer's recent World Cup, Buddhist monks In Cambodia who are normally not allowed to watch television, movies or artistic displays, were allowed to watch the games on television providing they did not bet on the games nor cheer or scream.
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