A Good Spring For Ticks Means A Bad Spring For You

According to CommonHealth on WBUR it appears that this is going to be a bad year for ticks... well, a good year for ticks, but a bad year for you for having to deal with them. Due to the unusually warm winter (T-shirts in March... unheard of in Boston). According to Dr. Richard Ostfeld from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, ticks usually become active in May, but this year they may be out as early as April. So, to all you hikers (and pet owners), make sure to be extra vigilant after being out and about and check for ticks. If you do happen to find a tick enjoying a nice meal courtesy of you, take a look at this article on how to remove them (and a lot more about ticks themselves).

On a personal note, I pulled a tick off my knee after going for a run in the woods in Connecticut on a warm day in November. So yes, they are definitely out there.

Source: CommonHealth

A Porsche or Climbing Mt. Everest?

It turns out that if you want to climb Mt. Everest, you'll have to plonk down about the same amount of cash as if you wanted to buy a car. A solo expedition will run you about $60K while a seven person team can bring that cost down to $35,000. But wait, if you've never done something like that before, you'll probably want to join an expedition team that'll help you get up that mountain... that'll push that bill up yet again. Take a look at this article from Outside for the details.