What happens when a summer bike ride in Chicago turns into an unexpected adventure? Join me, Marcy Backhus, on this thrilling episode of Inside Marcy’s Mind, where I recount Craig's dramatic wipeout and a stormy ride back home that set the tone for a week full of surprises. From a magical evening at Ravinia with Michael Feinstein’s tribute to Tony Bennett to an intriguing headline about Guaranteed Rate's name change and a protest that closed Buckingham Fountain, this episode is packed with captivating tales and colorful city life observations.
But that's not all! I'll share my favorite skincare secrets from Trader Joe’s, my candid thoughts on Botox, and tackle the uncomfortable tipping culture at medical appointments. Plus, my "Did You Know?" segment is loaded with essential health tips for those over 60. And for all you road warriors out there, get ready for a fascinating dive into the numbering system of U.S. interstate highways and some quirky Chicago freeway trivia. Buckle up for a jam-packed episode brimming with insights, stories, and practical tips to brighten your day!
What happens when a summer bike ride in Chicago turns into an unexpected adventure? Join me, Marcy Backhus, on this thrilling episode of Inside Marcy’s Mind, where I recount Craig's dramatic wipeout and a stormy ride back home that set the tone for a week full of surprises. From a magical evening at Ravinia with Michael Feinstein’s tribute to Tony Bennett to an intriguing headline about Guaranteed Rate's name change and a protest that closed Buckingham Fountain, this episode is packed with captivating tales and colorful city life observations.
But that's not all! I'll share my favorite skincare secrets from Trader Joe’s, my candid thoughts on Botox, and tackle the uncomfortable tipping culture at medical appointments. Plus, my "Did You Know?" segment is loaded with essential health tips for those over 60. And for all you road warriors out there, get ready for a fascinating dive into the numbering system of U.S. interstate highways and some quirky Chicago freeway trivia. Buckle up for a jam-packed episode brimming with insights, stories, and practical tips to brighten your day!
Hello and welcome to Inside Marci's Mind. I am Marci Backus and I am your host. Well, what do we got going on today? This is a mixed mosh show. Today I got lots of things to talk about, a lot of things in my mind, on my mind. I'm going to share those with you. Let's go over a little bit of this last week. We will. I don't know. I got stuff to talk about today, so sit back, relax and I'll get started in just a minute. All right, let's talk about this week. First week of summer. Hope.
Speaker 1:It started great for all of you. It started freezing here in Chicago, but now it's nice. Last Thursday, the longest day of the year, was freezing, cold and, of course, craig and I decided to make our seasonal inaugural bike ride on that day, got our bikes out of our storage bike storage here in the condo we have like bike barns and got ourselves on the lake and it was foggy. Now, those of you who live in California, you know what happens when it gets hot inland and then you hit the ocean we get fog. Same thing happens here in Chicago. You've got the cold lake, giant lake, and it's getting warm inland, and bam, and it was getting warm inland and bam, and it was a foggy day, but nonetheless we got our bikes out. We're riding north, we're about five miles north and Craig wipes out. Now I just want everybody to know, because everybody in my family and friends are always worried about me riding my bike. Craig is wiped out every time we have ridden.
Speaker 1:This was a bike path wipe out, made a U-turn, we were going to turn around, go the other way and he kind of got a lot of road rash. Then we realized his tire had popped which might've caused the slide. Anyhow, he was going to walk back. We were about five miles, six miles North, so I started riding back and realized there was a great little bike shop right on the bike path that I didn't even notice on the way up. So we got his bike fixed and we were on our way. By the time we got home the rain had hit, a storm came in, we were wet and cold, but nonetheless a great bike ride, probably 10, 12 miles round trip.
Speaker 1:Had some dinner on the beach, freezing, but it was great. If you have never looked up the beaches here in Chicago as I talk about them, I suggest Google them. They're gorgeous. We have restaurants, we have concierge service. We just have great beaches here, way better than California beaches, I'm just going to say way better Although they don't have waves, well, except for when it's really windy, but then you don't want to be on the beach. So that was our little bike ride.
Speaker 1:Last night we were at Ravinia Again, if you don't know Ravinia, look it up. It's a beautiful concert venue out in the forest here north of Chicago, up in a very beautiful area, and we saw Michael Feinstein and he was doing an ode to Tony Bennett and he had the Carnegie Hall Big Band. That was amazing, very good. This is the time of year. All the lovely city tourists are back. So you get irritated walking by Marcy. You're trying to walk and tourists are looking around. It's the same thing. I get irritated at people at Disneyland who just stand there and make their plan in the middle of the walkway. So it's Marcy's walking irritation season, but nonetheless the tourists are here and we do need them. So, yay, tourists.
Speaker 1:What else was going on this week? Oh, there are some very interesting headlines this week. I don't know. Guaranteed rate is some website where you can get a mortgage and it's called guaranteed rate, and this was a headline that just killed me. Guaranteed rate is changing its name to just rate. Now, I thought it was because they can't guarantee a rate anymore. Well, they can guarantee you a rate once they get all your information. That's not it. People can't spell guaranteed is the reason they're changing their name to just rate. Seriously, I'm like, okay, we're going to, we're going to change our name to rate because people can't pay a spell guaranteed. This is what's happening to our society. People, if you're not looking around, we are dumbing ourselves down. That is insane. So that kind of caught me.
Speaker 1:This week we also had something happen here in um chicago. We have the beautiful again. If you don't know Buckingham Fountain, please look it up. It is a gorgeous 100-year-old fountain that shoots hundreds of feet into the air. It is just a gorgeous old fountain. And there was a protest against what's happening in Palestine and they made it red and then they graffitied on the sidewalk.
Speaker 1:Now, I'm all about free speech. That's the thing that makes our country what our country is but damaging property is not OK. It's just not OK. You know, my feeling is, this is why we can't have nice things, because people out there feel the only way to be heard is to deface something and that's not true and it actually takes away from your message. So I know I'm preaching to the choir there's nobody that would do things like that listening to my podcast but it really upset me. And then they had to dump it into the lake. So I'm hoping it was, you know, a non-toxic dye, but it did reopen. They weren't sure how long it was going to take, if it had dyed the marble or things like that. So thank goodness it didn't hurt anything Because again, the tourists are here, they want to see the bean, they want to see Buckingham Fountain. The bean is back open. So if you had heard the bean was closed, if you don't know the bean, again Google it, but the bean is back open. So that's made everybody very happy. Google it, but the bean is back open. So that's made everybody very happy.
Speaker 1:What else I was thinking about? Some things I was thinking about this week. So we've got 4th of July coming up, and why, when there's holidays, that we know. Ok. So take Christmas, for instance the news vans are always out at the airport. Oh, it's so crowded at the airport. It's been crowded every year at the airport since I was a kid. We see the same. You could just replay from last year. We wouldn't know the difference. Like, yes, it's going to be crowded, duh. Well, it's firework season.
Speaker 1:So on the news this morning they're giving firework safety tips. Don't hate, in case you want to know. Don't put a firecracker in a watermelon not a good idea. And and you can thank me for saving your life this 4th of July with my great 4th of July safety tips. But honestly, anybody watching the news isn't going to be doing that. You need to tell Buford and his buddies not to do that. Like, have a bucket of water. Sparklers are hot, okay, and well, just in case, do you know how to use it? Now I can thank Diana, my friend and ex-supervisor Diana, for her safety safety briefings at our monthly meetings when we had, when I worked.
Speaker 1:And when you use a fire extinguisher, you use the pass method pull which. You pull the pin out, you aim it, you shoot it. Oh God, what's the other S for? Diana? I'm screwing up. You point aim spray and I forget what the other one is. Now I can't remember. So that's how you use a fire extinguisher Just spray that stuff everywhere. That's what you do. But you do need to pull the pin out. You do need to aim, and so maybe the news does need to repeat this on an annual basis. But anyways, do not put a firecracker or any fireworks in a watermelon. Not a good idea, according to this morning's news.
Speaker 1:Let's see what else was I thinking about this week. Oh, you know what I was thinking? We are really going backwards in the world. And why do I say that? Well, think, let's think about this, people, we're going to go through a few things. So let's think about, first thing, cell phones.
Speaker 1:I remember when I got my first cell phone it was a gift from Craig the early 90s, probably 91. We got married in 1990. Might have got it that Christmas. So, 1991, I got my first cell phone, expensive as crap to use, just so expensive, but nonetheless we had cell phones. People started calling on our cell phones. We're no longer using our home phone because our home phone is what. We get junk calls, we get spam calls, we get crap calls on our home phone. So all of us ixnay the home phone. Now, what are we getting on our cell phones? I don't know about you, but I have all kinds of things in place because that's just how I am to screen calls and it does a pretty good job, but every once in a while one will slip through a spam call.
Speaker 1:So now that's backwards. We went from our landlines to our cell phones and now we're back to cell phones, acting just like a landline. That's number one. So on our cell phones we also got text messaging Great. Now we get spam texts. Text messaging Great. Now we get spam texts. Spam texts Just ridiculous. Now emails Okay, we stopped using snail mail because first of all, it's snail mail.
Speaker 1:It's slow, for God's sakes, it's slow as molasses and it's only gotten slower. So we're using emails, we're talking on emails, we're sending emails. Now we got junk mail. We have so much junk mail we miss our emails. I have a junk mail filter. It goes over into junk mail. It's pretty good. In my regular mail I don't get junk mail, but sometimes I get regular mail in my junk mail. Does that make sense? But again, backwards, we're going backwards. Something was better email. Now it's full of crap and junk and our mail is full of junk. We just got more junk calls, junk stuff.
Speaker 1:So I got this really pretty funny email and the subject line said even after reminders, the payment still hasn't arrived. And it worked because I piqued my interest. I just thought, well, what's this one? Because I don't want to ever miss an email, but I know better than to click on stuff. So this one's basic thing was.
Speaker 1:It started out. Hi, sweetie, I gained control of your devices Thanks to your predilection for predilection for some sites. Now we know what they're thinking. I'm watching porn on my computer. It goes on. As a matter of fact, it was those sites that helped me. One of them had a special code on it and it worked. What that means to you is that I see everything that happens on your screen and in front of your screen.
Speaker 1:Ew, oh, I'm sorry. Do you see me looking at Old Navy and Amazon? I'm scared. Then it goes on to threaten me that it's going to send all my horrible things that I watch on my computer to all of my contacts. So if you're in my contacts, you may see me sitting in bed at night looking at Old Navy. But this is just so ridiculous. I can't believe anybody falls for this crap. To cut a long story short I will make you a deal. So they give me some deal. Then it says and one piece of advice from me for the future don't leave your phone unattended. Seriously, think about it.
Speaker 1:Countdown started. What a lame email. And the grammar and the, the, the, the lowercase eyes. And so if you ever get, um, something from me that shows me sitting in front of my computer in bed at night, tick, talking away or scrolling through Instagram or sending David and Lynn memes, just ignore it. I didn't pay the fine. What they want me to? Wire them the money to their Bitcoin account. But this is where we've gone.
Speaker 1:And also, then think about cable. First we got cable. We were so excited, not as many commercials, blah, blah, blah. Then we got streaming no commercials. Now, if we want no commercials on streaming, we have to pay for it. This whole world has just gone bananas and we keep buying into it.
Speaker 1:And I'm the worst. I have every streaming service. I got to go through my streaming services because I have Paramount, netflix, you name it, peacock, you name it. I've got it. So you know, but I don't. You feel like the world's going backwards, like we think we're moving ahead, and then we just get sucked right back into the same thing we were at. We get junk mail, commercials. We're never going to get away from it, people, never. It's just the way life is, I guess.
Speaker 1:So let's see what else do I have here? Oh, yes, all right, trader Joe's For those of you that shop at Trader Joe's, or have a Trader Joe's you know Trader Joe's Love, have a Trader Joe's. You know Trader Joe's love me, some Trader Joe's. So I have one just a block away, which is awesome here in the city of Chicago. I'm super happy to have a Trader Joe's so close.
Speaker 1:So I have two new Trader Joe finds that I want to share with everyone. The first one is Norwegian sourdough rye chips. They're in a small bag like an individual size bag, but don't fool yourself, there's, let's see, four servings at 150 calories each in the bags. But I am telling you, these are the greatest chips I have ever eaten in my life and you have to like, like, the rye flavor. If you don't, don't bother, don't, don't take them for the rest of, from the rest of us. But if you like dark, that dark flavor, oh, they have sunflower seeds, flax seeds, in them. They're really good for you in that sense. They don't have a ton of carbs, they don't have, um, a ton of fat, but man, are they tasty. They've got some protein three grams of protein in a serving. So when you eat the whole bag, that's 12 grams of protein. Just so you know. But I eat them. I eat some with string cheese and let me tell you it's my favorite lunch now and I absolutely love them. So when you're at your Trader Joe's and no, I am not sponsored by Trader Joe's, but when you're at Trader Joe's, try these new sourdough rye chips. You'll find them where the chips are, or maybe where the crackers are. You know how the crackers? Well, it depends on your Trader Joe's. Mine are over, like the freezer section or refrigerator section. I think they might be up there. But if you can't find them Norwegian sourdough rye chips ask your favorite Trader Joe person and you will thank me. You will thank me, they are delicious.
Speaker 1:Another thing that I found at Trader Joe's that I had not bought. I buy a lot of skincare at Trader Joe's. I was told by a esthetician one time that they have great products, which they do. I have wrinkles. That's just the way life goes. There's not a product on the shelf. So it's got to stop that. It's called a facelift. I wish I could get one. I can't, too prone to infection. Long story, but I'll never be able to get a facelift, which makes me sad and wants to cry, but I will have to age as gracefully as I can with Botox. So, anyhow, oh yeah, well, let's talk about. Oh well, let me talk about my Trader Joe's next pick and then I'll talk to you about Botox for a second.
Speaker 1:My Trader Joe's next pick are their tea tree oil facial pads. They're in a little jar. So let me tell you something Wash your face. Do your best. Wash that you can do. Use your little electronic gadgets on your face. Do whatever you can. Wash cloth. Wash your face. You think it's clean. Run those Trader Joe's tea tree oil pads over your face and you will freak out. Run them on the back of your neck. Don't cry when you see how much dirt's on the back of your neck, even though you think you're clean. Okay, they just are amazing. I recommend them highly. They're in where their skincare is. They're the tea tree oil pads in a little jar. You'll love them. You will love them. Make sure you're moisturized when you're done. But that tea tree oil feels so good, especially on your skin in the summer.
Speaker 1:But, uh, let's do that, okay, so so we're going to talk about Botox for a minute, cause, got my Botox this week and I usually I was going back to California and getting my Botox because I love my lady there, and then I had, you know, too long between trips and had to find someone here. So I've gone to this place. Now. Botox is needles in your face and it's done by either a plastic surgeon or a really good nurse. I have a really good nurse that does mine in California at a plastic surgeon, but this week when I checked out, they flipped that freaking iPad around for a tip.
Speaker 1:Do you tip your doctor? No, I'm telling you this tipping thing as I've had on other podcasts, and go back and listen if you haven't heard my talk about that. It was really upsetting to me. So and then you think, okay, if I don't tip, is she going to screw up my face the next time? Like I don't know. It really was a mind game for me. I don't if you guys are having these mind games too, it just is very upsetting. So, nonetheless, I tipped because I don't want my face screwed up.
Speaker 1:But then when I got home, I started to think about it. You know they also do facials and things like that. There I think the tipping screen is more for, like the massage, facially, kind of things that we normally tip for. So next time I'm gonna not tip, because I don't tip for medical things. I don't know. Would you tip, wouldn't you tip? Does it freak you out when they spin that iPad around? It's too much people. It's too much. I can't take it All right. So what else do we have to talk about? Okay, now, my old podcast always had that beginning, which we have. We have our middle area, which we're in now, and I had a third area Okay, I'm choking on some rye chip, okay. And so I, and then I had a third portion to my podcast when I was doing my my AG&E for Sissy's podcast podcast, when I was doing my um, my AG&E for sissies podcast.
Speaker 1:So I am going to have a third section on this, on this podcast. It's now going to be called did you know? And I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you a little tidbit. You either knew it or you didn't. You're going to learn something. It's going to be our learning section. So here's just a few things that um over 60, we're going to talk about a little bit about this over 60. And if you're not over 60 and you're listening this. Listen anyways, because you're going to be over 60 one day and you probably have parents over 60.
Speaker 1:There are some things that we are more prone to. Number one risk is cancer, so it says. With the bad news, most people over 60 have 100 billion cells with at least one cancer-associated mutation. So over 60, we all have a cancer-mutated gene in us. So make sure you're getting your screenings. Get vitamins from plants when possible. What else do they suggest? Take a brisk walk. Regular exercise is one of the most effective ways to reduce your cancer risk, and even short periods of activity can help. So don't think you have to do something big, do something small, worry less. Well, good luck with that. If I ever get cancer, it's not going to be from the other things, it's going to be from worrying. Such a thing, the worry.
Speaker 1:And I am working on a year of positive thinking. If you haven't seen, on Instagram or Tik TOK, I do a video a day on on positive thinking. So while we're talking about that, you can find me on Tik TOK. Marcy Backus, you can find me. You can email me at inside Marci's mind, at gmailcom. I have a website inside Marci's mindcom. What else do we have. Marci Backus, I'm also on YouTube. You can listen on YouTube. You won't get a visual because, honestly, right now I have hair color on my hair. I have bleach, like you don't want to see that and I'm really resisting the videoing, but I think it might help me get more listeners. But we'll talk about that later. Nonetheless, I have hair color on my head right now. See, you can hear the bag Squishy, squishy, squishy. All right, so worry less. All right.
Speaker 1:The next risk is heart disease. We all know this, know your numbers, your blood pressure, all those things. Make sure you're getting all your screenings. Don't skip breakfast this is interesting now and hit the trail. Exercise again is never going to hurt. You Don't skip breakfast unless you fall or drown in the pool when you're doing water aerobics. That was lovely, marcy. Don't skip breakfast. People who skip breakfast may be at a higher risk for heart disease. Now, that's a hard one for me because I, five days of the week, I'm in the pool doing water aerobics at 1030 in the morning. If I eat, it kind of jumbles around in my stomach. So I have to weigh that one out. Make time for sex All right. Having sex at least twice a week can reduce a man's chance of double. That's for a man, oh well, too bad. So I'm sorry. Well, women who report satisfying sex lives are less likely to develop peripheral arterial disease. All right, so sex is a good thing.
Speaker 1:Risk number three COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses. So really, you know, get your COVID vaccines If you have gotten lax on that. Covid is out there. People are still getting it. You know it's not, it's never going away. So stay on top of those vaccines, especially if you're going to be traveling and you're going to be on airplanes and around people Sit up straight. Hours spent slouched over the computer means that we're not regularly stretching the ligaments in our rib cage, reducing our lung function. Seriously, that's interesting, interesting. Invest in an air filter. Get at least 600 IUs of vitamin D every day. I'm going to tell you right now if you're over 50, you should have your vitamin D levels checked. It's not just being out in the sun. I am out in the sun and I still have a low vitamin D and I get a prescription. Vitamin D.
Speaker 1:Number four risk is unintentional injuries. It's not auto accidents but overdoses that take most 60 something lives. Hmm, unintentional injuries. So I guess it's unintentional overdoses. So keep track of your drugs people. You know your phone. If you have an iPhone you can set up what pills you take, what they look like, this whole thing. Look on your phone and it reminds me in the morning, and it reminds me at night and it reminds me and I can click off that I've taken those pills. Great idea.
Speaker 1:Risk number five is diabetes. It's a silent but deadly disease. So really look into your, your numbers on that. And if you do have diabetes, you want to make sure you digest your food with a walk. You go big at breakfast, keep your rest of your meals small sleep. Sleep is never a bad thing, people, but let me tell you it is not an easy thing.
Speaker 1:I have the 2 am witching hour right now. I don't know why. The other night I woke up at 2 am witching hour right now. I don't know why. The other night I woke up at 2 am Sunday morning, 2 am Sunday morning or Saturday night, whatever you look at it and I sat and laid in bed and I've been memorizing the streets here in Chicago, so I just sat going through the streets and memorizing them north to south, east to west, so that I know all of the streets, in which order they come in, in which one ways go. What? That's my life, people. That's sad. Take all these things seriously. Take care of your health. It's important, we all know this, but I'm here just as a little reminder. So now you know I was up at 2 am and memorizing streets what a dork.
Speaker 1:Anyways, our next segment is did you know? So if you did get something to drink before this segment, which I did not remind you, I have a Diet Coke right here, carrot Chick-fil-A caffeine-free Diet Coke, on my way home from the gym. I am going to start our new segment. Did you know? All right, did you know, did you know, that there is a rhyme and a reason to the numbering system on the interstate highways. So I don't know if it's because I was raised in California and really we had the five. I know that drives everybody crazy. That's really our main. You know we had the 405.
Speaker 1:But I didn't realize that the numbers meant something. So maybe you know this and maybe you don't. But the interstate. So those are the the blue sign with two numbers. They always have two numbers and a little red thing along the top. But if you are on a odd and the five is the only one that doesn't. But they said just pretend there's a zero in front of the five.
Speaker 1:So if you are on an odd number, interstate, so 5, 15, 25, 35, 55, 85, 87. If you're on an odd interstate, you are going north, south. Okay, if you are on a low number, like the five, you are on the west coast. If you are on a high number, like 95, you are on the east Coast. And you know, obviously, as the numbers go up, you go more towards the East. So then, if you that means if you're on an even number you are going West to East or East to West, you are going across the country from right to left, not up and down. Anyways, that is your even number. So think about the 10 goes all the way across. Yes, the 10, the 40, the 80, the 90, all even those. So if you're on a number that's even, you know you're going east to west, no matter where you are. And again, the southern, the more lower the number, the more south you are and the higher the number, and the even the more north you are.
Speaker 1:Now there's other things. I implore you to look up your map system for state maps, how the numbers are for exits and things like that. It's kind of interesting and there's spur roads and all these things. But yeah, yeah. And then if you live in Chicago, they have names to their freeways instead of well, they have numbers, but nobody uses the numbers, they use the names. So you have the Kennedy, the Eisenhower, the I don't know the Stevenson. Yes, I do know which they are now, which I had to learn.
Speaker 1:But so again, for you out there that didn't know this, if you are on a odd number interstate and that's an interstate those are freeways that go from one state to another. They're not just in one state, those, if you're on odd, you're going north or south. If you're on even, you are going east or west. So there you have it. The more you know like, the more you know, the smarter you are. So my podcast now makes you smart. If you already knew this, good for you. But for those of you who are just sitting in your car or wherever you're walking going, oh my, I didn't know that, I didn't know it. I learned this like five years ago. I don't know where, I was not paying attention, but nonetheless, hope you had a good day today, hope you enjoyed the podcast, hope you learned a little something. Now. You know what's going on inside my mind, memorizing the streets here in Chicago. I do have hair color on my hair. I need to get that off. You know what? Go out there and make it a positive day you.