Nuts & Volts - January 2006

I

N

T

H

E

T

R

E

N

C

H

E

S

(that's the law!). After work is better because you have more time. But it's often not practical because of other necessities. It's best to exercise away the stress while the stress is there. But, exercise is useful anytime.

Laughter is also a good method of reducing general stress. There is a Catch- 22 here. The more stressed-out you are, the less funny humor is. And the less you laugh, the less reduction in stress there is. So when you get home, watch the Three Stooges rather than Engineering Disasters.

It should be noted that cigarettes, drugs, over-eating, and alcohol don't really do much to relieve stress. Rather, they cover it up. Worse, these things usually create additional physical stress.

that there is no release of adrenaline. Because if you had a load of adrenaline dumped into your system, the last thing you would want to do — or be able to do — is go to sleep. If you've ever been in a car accident, or other life-threatening event, you know the feeling.

CONCLUSION

Stress is a common factor in engi-

neering environments. But that doesn't make it good. Stress has been shown to contribute to many health issues. Reducing stress improves employee productivity and reduces absenteeism and turnover. The three basic methods for reducing stress are adaption, elimination, and compensation. Everybody's response to stress is different. Finding the proper methods that work for you is an important personal decision. NV

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

There is a common source of stress that is not yet qualified (to my knowledge). This is video games. It is clear that intense playing causes physical stress. The heart rate increases and blood pressure rises and there appears to be a release of adrenaline (however this last point has not been well-documented). The question is if this is good stress or bad stress. It appears to be good stress in that you have complete control over it. Like exercise, you decide when to start and stop. However, there is no physical activity associated with it to burn off the adrenaline. So, that would make it bad stress.

It seems to me that this would be a useful question to answer. There are many people who play video games for three or more hours per day. This is a major activity for them. Being at such a high level of stress for that long, day after day, would appear likely to have some impact on the body. But is it good or bad?

Bad dreams do not appear to be stressful. This suggestion is based upon observation rather than documentation. Simply, if you have a bad dream you wake up, roll over, and go back to sleep. This strongly suggests

Atmel AVRbased Micro64/128 Embedded Controller Module

8-Channel Analog to Digital Convertor Real Time Clock/Calender 29 Digital I/O SPI & I²C Bus Two Serial Ports Serial Boot Loader RS-232, 422 or 485 Selectable Baud Rates up to 250 Kbps Only 1.5 Cubic Inches Supports Assembly, BASIC and C Prog. Languages Inexpensive CodeVision C Compiler

Starting at Only $119 - Single Qty

Start Developing

The Micro6/128 Development Board takes the Micro64/128 I/O pins and expands them out to solder pads and headers for ease of connection when developing. It also connects USART1 to RS-232 drivers or directly to screw terminals for RS-422 or RS-485 communication. USART0 is also connected to RS-232 drivers. The RS-232 drivers are connected to two DB9 connectors. This board includes a prototyping area so the user can add external circuitry. There is an onboard voltage regulator for powering the Micro64/128 and additional circuitry. The Micro64/64A/128/128A development system comes complete with a Micro64, Micro64A, Micro128 or Micro128A, a Micro64/128 Development Board, and a power supply.