The Daily Dose

Pay-what-you-weigh airline adds XL seats

Rich_Maloof — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:10:03 -0700

Samoa Air is a little airline with a big idea. Back in April, the company made news with the announcement of its unique pricing plan: individual airfares would be determined according to each passenger’s weight.

“It’s the fairest of any system,” claims a page on Somoa Air’s website. “Think equality of purchase. Think no discrimination. Think one price for all because a kilo is a kilo is a kilo.”

Now the airline is going one step further by super-sizing its seats. One of the rows in its aircraft is being designated “XL Class” for extra large passengers. The row has been extended by 12 to 14 inches, the airline’s chief exec explained on Australian radio, and a ramp is being added for easier access.

Whether Somoa’s XL option is an accommodation or an exploitation is up for debate.

Seen one way, the pay-what-you-weigh policy is fair because the airline’s own costs for each flight are determined by weight; that is, they incur more overhead cost to fly more pounds around. Now a 150-pound person doesn’t have to share the airline’s cost for flying a 300-pound fellow passenger. Traveling with the family? Little kids get a full-sized seat but are only charged for the weight they put in it.

On the other hand, charging according to body weight is an increasingly safe bet. According to data from The World Factbook, the U.S. territory of American Samoa in the South Pacific has the world’s highest obesity rate, with 74.60 percent of the population qualifying as obese.

Australia Network News notes that Samoa Air’s rates range from $1 a kilogram (1 kilogram equals roughly 2.2 pounds) on the airline's shortest domestic route to about $4.16 per kilogram for travel from Samoa to American Samoa. Passengers enter their weight when purchasing a ticket, and then are weighed at the airport for confirmation. Personal baggage and cargo is priced the same way and at the same rate. Passengers can take as many bags as they like, with the final ticket price determined by the combined total of their personal weight plus the weight of what they bring aboard.

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Photo: Samoa Air via Facebook, www.facebook.com/SamoaAir

Got an urge to splurge? It’s National Splurge Day!

Charyn Pfeuffer - MSN Living Editor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:40:46 -0700

If the idea of spending money without retail regret gets you all fired up, National Splurge Day is the holiday for you. There’s no room for retail regret today, so tap that “mad money” stash and pull the spending trigger on whatever splurge you’ve had your eye on.

I took a quick poll to find out what people splurge on; here are 12 of my favorites:

National Splurge Day is only a few days from the official start of summer. For that occasion, I wanted a patio table and chairs. I refused to settle for a cheap, plastic set, so I splurged on a quality 6-piece set with an umbrella. It cost me $2,300, but I won't mind when I'm relaxing on my patio while sipping margaritas and eating fish tacos!
Nikki Lavoie of Smyrna, Del.

A tankless water heater. Long hot showers without guilt, endless hot water, showering while I have the dishwasher on or after three other family members. Whoo hoo! That is an affordable luxury that will last more than a day.
Gretchen Kucher of Seattle, Wash.

Gallery: Summer love: Is it a fling or the real thing?

Travel!
Chelsea Lin of Seattle, Wash.

I am hard pressed to spend more than $50-60 dollars on shoes, but put a pair of designer sunglasses or handbag in front of me, and there is no filter and sadly little limit on what I will spend!
Darlynn Tacinelli of The Little Blog Dress

I love being outside and always want to have the best gear to make sure I'm ready for whatever an adventure throws at me. My splurge is outdoor gear: clothing, footwear, climbing rope, climbing shoes, climbing harness, backpacks, surfboards, etc.
Justin Fricke of Winter Springs, Fla.

Shopping: What to wear to spring and summer weddings

I'm newly single and decided to start writing creatively as a hobby to get my groove back. I'm writing my first screenplay at 44! So, my splurge is going to be buying a copy of Final Draft, which is software to help me write it! Hollywood, here I come!!
Julie Trade Levitch of SayCurrent

Garden plants.
Terry Wood-Abeyta of San Diego, Calif.

I always love to splurge on candles, especially the ones that are eco-friendly. I just moved into my new apartment and purchased these lemon & fig candles that were $52 from EJH Brand. Totally worth the purchases because these candles burn forever and smell amazing.
Rebeka of El Paso, Texas

I splurge on something with stay power - so that can be anything from an amazing pair of comfy heels (Manolos I can wear for days) or a gorgeous rug that will totally make my living room. The rest I consider fast fashion and love to mix in and out season after season.
Katie Finnegan, Co-Founder Hukkster

We splurge on vinyl.
Amber de Grace of Red Lion, Pa.

High-end toiletries from my dog. His name is Oliver. He has his own Instagram.
Yianni Garcia of Miami Beach, Fla.

Ridiculously expensive body lotions and top-of-the line hair detanglers, which capitalize on the fact you can't get a comb through your naturally curly hair without their products.
Sally Clased of Phoenix, Ariz.

Live entertainment. We don't even look at the bank account before we buy tickets to shows we want to see.
Christy Karras of Seattle, Wash.

Tell us: What is your splurge?

Bing: Top 10 expensive habits

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Photo: Woman shopping / Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images

5 reasons why summer is overrated

Rich_Maloof — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:11:53 -0700

Summer is great, right? Sure it is. But if the barbecues and vacations get to be too much fun, here are some things to complain about.

Bugs, bugs and more bugs. There are approximately 3,000 species of mosquitoes in the world, and it’s believed they can find warm-blooded mammals from 100 feet away. Then there are the disease-spreading ticks that make the jump from tall grass and foliage onto people and pets, with potentially serious outcomes. This summer we also have the obnoxious cacophony of cicadas cutting through the heat in the East — their noisy calls can be heard up to a mile away. Even fireflies, while not entirely without charm, have a dark side: The females are cannibals, and copy the flash patterns of other fireflies to make a meal of the males.

Gallery: Summer love: Is it a fling or the real thing?

Gas prices often go up in summer months. The increased demand resulting from vacations and road trips is one justification, plus energy companies shut down their refineries for maintenance in the spring, limiting capacity until late May. But the main reason for the summertime pump-up in prices is that the U.S. fuel supply changes twice annually. The “seasonal gasoline transition,” instituted in 1995 to reduce pollution and smog during the summer ozone season, increases per-gallon gas prices in summer from 2 cents to as much as 15 cents in some states.

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Increased traffic accidents means more bad news for drivers and passengers — especially for teenagers. Teen drivers average more hours behind the wheel in summer weeks, and are more likely to pile in more passengers. Teens are also more likely to stay out later than during the school year, and are consequently more prone to driving when tired or sleepy. The days around Memorial Day, July Fourth and Labor Day are among the nation’s most dangerous days on the road, so be careful out there.

Shopping: What to wear to spring and summer weddings

Summer camps provide children with the opportunity to learn new skills, make new friends and even establish a little independence from Mom and Dad — but paying the bills is no walk through the park for parents. The average camp operated by a nonprofit organization, youth group or public agency costs between $300 and $1,000 per week. Privately run camps and specialty camps cost between $500 and $1,300 or more per week (the higher costs are more typical of sleep-away camps).

The scents of summer include fresh-cut grass, flowers on the breeze and a hint of ocean salt on the skin. But hot, stagnant air can quickly turn those wet beach towels and bathing suits into a funk fest. Wearing clothes that haven’t been properly cleaned and dried can create a world of mildew and BO that makes an otherwise decent person seem less than human. And how about those hot city streets in summer, with the science experiments going on inside rotting garbage bags and discarded cartons of spoiling milk? We won’t even mention the aromatic dog runs in Anytown, USA.

Should we go on? Nahh, enjoy the summer … and enjoy it being over in cooler days of autumn.

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Photo: Bug on little girl's neck / Brook Rieman/Getty Images

Biggest givers in the US

Charyn Pfeuffer - MSN Living Editor — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:29:04 -0700

June 15 celebrates the Worldwide Day of Giving. The idea was birthed in 2009 when Reed Sandridge lost his job at a nonprofit and decided to embark on an altruistic journey to honor his deceased mother.

The idea was simple: Give away $10 to a different person every day and learn a little something about each person along the way.

Gallery: Live happier on the money you have

On the Worldwide Day of Giving, you are encouraged to give $10, or whatever you can afford, to a stranger and then share the experience with the world.

Whether you give a little or a lot, it all adds up to make a big picture difference in the world.

Here’s a look at the top five people in America who have given and are giving big to charities and foundations, according to Forbes.

1. Margaret A. Cargill (deceased 2006)

Heir to the Cargill Corporation fortune
Total amount committed: $6,000,000,000

2. William S. Dietrich II (deceased 2011)

Chairman of Dietrich Industries
Total amount committed: $500,000,000

3. Paul G. Allen

Founder of Vulcan investment company in Seattle and co-founder of Microsoft
Total amount committed: $372,600,000

4. George Soros

Chairman of Soros Fund Management
Total amount committed: $335,000,000

5. Michael R. Bloomberg

Mayor of New York and founder of the Bloomberg financial-data and news-service company
Total amount committed: $311,276,000

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Want to participate in the Worldwide Day of Giving? Visit the Year of Giving Facebook page to spread the word.

Tell us: What does generosity mean to you?

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Photo: Paul Allen (Kim Kulish/Corbis); George Soros (Thomas Peter, Pool/AP); Michael Bloomberg (Spencer T. Tucker/AP/NYC Mayor’s Office)

Boston woman pays $560,000 for 2 parking spots

Associated_Press — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:32:26 -0700

BOSTON (AP) — Lisa Blumenthal paid $560,000 for two parking spots in the city's Back Bay neighborhood during an on-site auction held Thursday in a steady rain by the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS had seized the spots from a man who owed back taxes.

Blumenthal, who lives in a multimillion-dollar home near the parking spaces, tells The Boston Globe she didn't expect the bidding to go quite so high for the spots she says will come in handy for guests and workers.

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The record for a single spot in Boston is $300,000.

The median price of a single-family home in Massachusetts is $313,000.

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Photo: Brandt Botes/Getty Images

No joke: Jester wanted at Austrian hotel

Associated_Press — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:43:52 -0700

VIENNA (AP) — It's no joke. An Austrian hotel is advertising for a modern-day court fool who is communicative, extroverted, musical, creative and imaginative.

Applicants are asked to bring and play their musical instrument during the job interview. Also welcome: creative costumes. The successful candidate will earn around $1,900 a month.

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Melanie Franke director of the Rogner Bad Blumau hotel, says those interested should not think they're on a fool's errand in applying. She says the idea is to treat guests like royalty, noting that "jesters were a luxury that royal families indulged themselves in."

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The hotel in Austria's Styria province was designed by famed Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, and Franke says the jester concept fits the hotel's colorful appearance.

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Photo: File photo of a jester (Matt Kent/Getty Images)

10 summer facts you didn’t know

Rich_Maloof — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:26:53 -0700

Summer conjures thoughts of sand between the toes, long dips in cool water and nicking off time at work to extend the weekend. As you head out into the sun, here are 10 little-known facts to take with you.

• The Popsicle: This longtime summer favorite was invented by 11-year-old Frank Epperson in 1905. He had mixed powdered soda flavoring with water and inadvertently left the mixture outside overnight, with the stirring stick still in it, when temperatures dropped below freezing. He patented the “Epsicle ice pop” in 1924.

• The solstice: The summer solstice, which falls on June 21 this year and marks the true start of summer, is when the sun is farthest north of the equator. Solstice comes from the Latin words sol meaning “sun” and sistere meaning “still.” “The sun stands still” is an apt description of how the astronomical event appears from Earth.

• "Dog days": The phrase “dog days of summer” refers to the weeks between July 3 and Aug. 11. They are named after the "Dog Star," Sirius, in the constellation Canis Major. Ancient Romans and Greeks blamed Sirius for the extreme temperatures, drought, sickness and discomfort that came in summer.

• School vacation: There were no summer school vacations until educator Horace Mann created them in 1840. Depending on where you lived, school breaks came either quarterly, if you lived in a town or city, or when planting and harvesting were active, if you lived among farmlands. Summer vacations in other parts of the world are much shorter than in the U.S.

• Learning losses: Students will experience learning losses during the summer if they do not engage in educational activities. Most students lose about two months of grade-level equivalency in math computation skills, and some lose more than two months of equivalency in reading achievement. Students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer.

• Weight gain: Children at high risk of obesity gain weight more rapidly when they are out of school during summer break, unless they remain physically active during these months.

• Ice cream: In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. Almost 10 percent of all the milk produced in the U.S. is used to supply the ice cream industry, which generates more than $10 billion in revenue annually. Americans eat about 5.5 gallons of ice cream per year on average

• TV programming: Summer television used to be repeats only as Americans were typically outdoors for more hours during the summer. New programming was added to summer television lineups beginning in 1991 with a special summer season of "90210," a network first.

• Summer jobs: Thoughts of a summer job may seem brutally depressing if you’re a teenager, though you really are in good company. Multi-billionaire Warren Buffett’s first job was at his grandfather’s grocery shop. Actor Orlando Bloom worked at a clay-pigeon shooting range. Beyoncé Knowles swept up hair cuttings at her mother’s hairdressing salon. Before he made moves like Jagger, Mick sold ice cream. Brad Pitt dressed up as a giant chicken to promote a restaurant, and Eva Mendes sold hot dogs at a mall.

• Wildfires: Increased temperatures and drought throughout the western U.S. have summoned severe summer wildfires. Since 2006, the U.S. has had the three worst years for wildfires during the summer months. More than 9 million acres – more land than makes up the state of Maryland – were burned during 2012 alone. Brush and outside fire incidents are four times higher on July 4 than on any other day.

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Photo: Kids eating Popsicles / Priscilla Gragg/Getty Images

Queen's portrait in Westminster Abbey defaced

Associated_Press — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:16:29 -0700

LONDON (AP) — A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly defacing a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on display at London's Westminster Abbey, police said.

Fathers 4 Justice, a protest group that campaigns on behalf of fathers denied contact with their children, said the arrested man was a member. It said he had written "Help" with paint on the picture in the abbey's Chapter House.

Police said a 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and taken to a London police station.

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The abbey said the painting was vandalized at lunchtime on Thursday. It has been removed from public view until it can be restored.

The portrait, by Australian artist Ralph Heimans, was commissioned to mark last year's anniversary of the queen's 60 years on the throne. It was on display until March in Australia's National Portrait Gallery in Canberra.

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Last week, the monarch attended a ceremony in the abbey to mark the 60th anniversary of her coronation there in June 1953.

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File photo of a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II before it is positioned inside the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey on May 17 in London. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Czechs present bicycle that can fly

Associated_Press — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 13:09:03 -0700

PRAGUE (AP) — Three Czech companies have teamed up to make a prototype of an electric bicycle that successfully took off Wednesday inside an exhibition hall in Prague and landed safely after a remote-controlled, five-minute flight.

Looking like a heavy mountain bike, it weighs 209 pounds and has two battery-powered propellers in the front, two in the back and one each on the sides.

A dummy rode in the saddle.

Milan Duchek, technical director of Duratec, a bicycle-frame maker, says more powerful batteries will be needed before a human takes a two-wheeled flight.

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Photo: Two men watch the remote-controlled flying bike with a test dummy during its presentation in Prague on Wednesday, June 12. (AP Photo/CTK, Stanislav Zbynek)

Group wants to knit cover for Warhol bridge in Pittsburgh

Associated_Press — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 09:36:46 -0700

PITTSBURGH (AP) — An arts group wants to cover a downtown Pittsburgh bridge named for Andy Warhol with knitted blankets.

The Allegheny County Council must sign off on the plan. But if it goes forward, the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh will use machine-knitted blankets to cover the bridge's towering superstructure while individual blankets knitted by more than 1,200 volunteers will be used to cover its walkways.

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The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the group hopes to cover the bridge in mid-August and leave the blankets in place for about a month.

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After the blankets are removed, they'll be washed and distributed to homeless shelters, nursing homes and animal shelters.

Knit-the-Bridge leader Amanda Gross says, "The point is to knit stronger communities."

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Photo: Illustration of what bridge art would look like if completed / Courtesy of knitthebridge.wordpress.com

NJ town to vote on boardwalk ban on saggy pants

Associated_Press — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 08:08:18 -0700

By WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press

WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — Town officials are set to pass a law Wednesday to ban anyone on the boardwalk from wearing pants that sag more than 3 inches below the hips, exposing either skin or underwear.

Mayor Ernest Troiano Jr. said Wildwood, a popular beach town near the southern tip of the state, has been inundated with complaints from tourists upon whose money the city depends for its survival.

"When you have good families who call you up and say, 'I've been coming here 20 years, 30 years, 40 years and I'm not going to any longer because I'm not going to subject my children or my parents or grandparents to seeing some kid walk down the boardwalk with their butt hanging out,' you have to do something," he said.

The proposed ordinance would also require shoes and shirts on the boardwalk, but it's the saggy pants provision that has gained the most attention.

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Frank Krueger, of Gloucester City, and his wife, Denise, are all for it. They have been visiting Wildwood for decades. Together, they had spent about $80 on pizza and games of chance during two hours of strolling the boards on a recent day.

"You want a family atmosphere here," he said. "You don't want to see someone walking around with their butt crack hanging out. On the beach is one thing, but not here on the boardwalk."

"It's disgusting," his wife added.

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John Peters was not sporting his pants quite that low Monday on the boardwalk. But they were still low enough that half his navy blue briefs were exposed. He had not heard of the proposed law but said he was unconcerned about it.

"That's not low, compared to some of the others," he said of his pants.

Known popularly as "sagging," the trend originated in the U.S. prison system, where inmates are not allowed to wear belts. It was popularized by hip-hop artists and embraced by youths.

The issue has cropped up — or rather, drooped down — in towns across the country. Authorities in suburbs of New Orleans, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami and Jacksonville, Fla., are among those who have passed laws banning overly droopy pants.

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The proposed Wildwood law would set fines of $25 to $100 for a first offense and $200 for subsequent offenses. Having to do 40 hours of community service is also a possibility.

Bathing suits are already prohibited for both sexes on the boardwalk, unless covered up by other clothing.

Ruthann Robson, a City University of New York law professor and author of the upcoming book "Dressing Constitutionally," said the Wildwood law appears to be unconstitutional.

"Courts have struck down attempts to ban saggy pants if what is exposed is underwear rather than 'private parts,'" she said. "As for municipalities requiring men to wear shirts, at least one federal appellate court has said that is 'irrational.'"

Troiano said the city's lawyers are confident it can withstand a court challenge.

He promised police won't be out with measuring tapes, relying instead on common sense when evaluating a person's attire.

"They say it's a fashion statement and this is America and they have the right to dress how they want," Troiano said of those who wear their pants low. "Well, I have the right to decency," he said. "My right is not to have to look at your (rear end) if I don't want to. I find that offensive. Go somewhere else and do it, and for every one person I lose, I'll gain 10 more who will be glad."

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Photo: A young man wears saggy pants on the Wildwood, N.J., boardwalk. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

Want more time off? Some employers let you buy it

Associated_Press — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 08:32:55 -0700

By SAM HANANEL, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some companies allow their employees to buy and sell vacation time, a perk that gives workers more flexibility in managing their time off.

The novel approach might help employees buy some extra days off to take the trip of a lifetime or spend more time with a newborn. Co-workers could sell off unused days to get some extra money.

Photo: Nora Kouba, an employee at USG Corp., has made use of a benefit offered by USG that allows their workers to buy and sell vacation time, a perk that gives workers more flexibility in managing their time off. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

"When times are a little tight, this benefit really doesn't cost a lot of extra money to employers to provide," said Julie Stich, research director for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

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A soon-to-be released survey by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 9 percent of employers allowed workers to cash out unused vacation time. Five percent let employees purchase additional vacation days through a payroll deduction. An additional 7 percent allowed employees to donate vacation time to a general pool that can be used by other workers.

The approach is even more popular with employers that have "paid time off" or PTO plans that combine vacation time, sick leave and personal days into one comprehensive plan. About 52 percent of employers reported offering such plans. Of those, 19 percent offered a cash-out option and 15 percent offered a donation program. One percent give their workers unlimited time off.

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The cost is usually one week's salary, prorated over the course of the year. Employees often have to decide whether to participate during an annual fall enrollment process and it becomes part of their benefits for the upcoming year.

Nora Kouba, who manages company cars at construction materials giant USG Corp. in Chicago, said she used to buy an extra week off to care for her kids or take long summer vacations with the family. But these days, she tends to sell her excess vacation time.

USG allows all 9,000 of its employees worldwide to buy or sell up to a week of vacation time each year.

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A flexible vacation policy has been in place about for about 15 years at Kimberly Clark Corp., based in Irving, Texas. The company allows employees to purchase up to five extra vacation days each year.

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2,500-year-old mummy gets rare cleaning

Associated_Press — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 07:58:41 -0700

By RODRIQUE NGOWI, Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — A 2,500-year-old Egyptian mummy is coming out of its coffin to undergo cleaning and restoration at Massachusetts General Hospital.

The mummy known as Padihershef has been on display at the third oldest general hospital in the United States since it received him as a gift from the city of Boston in 1823 as a medical oddity.

On Friday, a conservator trained in restoring ancient artifacts will remove him from his coffin and use cotton swabs to wipe away salt deposits from his face. The salt has been slowly seeping out of his tissue, a result of the mummification process. Experts are also expected to do minor repair and stabilization work on his coffin.

The mummy and his coffin will then be moved to a special horizontal case in which they will lie next to each other in the Ether Dome, a surgical amphitheater where William T. G. Morton demonstrated the first public surgery using anesthetic on Oct. 16, 1846.

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Padihershef was a 40-year-old stonecutter in the necropolis in Thebes, an ancient city on the west bank of the Nile, in what is today's Luxor.

No one knows exactly how he lived or died. Experts are exploring those questions through a conservation project supported by the hospital and donors.

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In March, he was removed from his case and transported on a patient stretcher to the imaging suites in the hospital, where technicians subjected him to full body X-ray and CT scanning. Experts were surprised to see a broom handle embedded at the base of his head and running through his torso in what likely was a crude attempt to stabilize his head. There are no records to indicate when the repair was done and by whom, the hospital said on its website.

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The study was intended to produce images that could be compared with those gleaned from exams conducted in 1931 and 1976 and to determine the condition of his bones. Those earlier tests revealed his bones had interrupted growth lines that indicate a severe childhood illness that resulted in stunted growth.

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Photo: Egyptologist Mimi Leveque begins to remove salt deposits from the face of a 2,500 year-old mummy at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, in this Jan. 6, 2003 file photo. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)

Majority of African-Americans are satisfied with life

Rich_Maloof — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 12:01:24 -0700

A new poll surveying attitudes among African-Americans finds that optimism around financial, social and community issues is widespread.

The poll, conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health and released by NPR, posed a range of questions to nearly 1,100 African-Americans. Respondents were sampled in a geographic breakdown aimed at providing an accurate snapshot of attitudes among black Americans all across the country.

Leading the results was the finding that an overwhelming 86 percent of black people said they were satisfied with their lives. A majority of 60 percent said they’d eventually achieve the American dream of financial security and home ownership.

Those results alone seem counterintuitive given the economic downturn, the aftermath of the housing crisis and an unemployment rate among African-Americans that has held at nearly double the national average. However, one of the survey’s co-directors noted that people’s reports of life satisfaction tend to poll much higher than the actual economic climate might indicate. In keeping, the sunny outlook has diminished only slightly from a poll in 2002, when 90 percent of black Americans said they were satisfied with their lives.

Other findings:

• 43 percent of singles males aged 18 to 49 said they were seeking a long-term relationship — compared with just 25 percent of women.

• 93 percent said religion was an important part of their lives (33 percent “most important”; 45 percent “very important”; 15 percent “somewhat important”)

• “Crime” was the most common answer to the question, “What is the biggest issue facing the area where you live?”

• Half rated their financial situation as good or excellent, and half as not good or poor. Responses to a range of other questions — concerning not only personal finance but local schools, police, cleanliness of their streets and availability of fresh produce — were divided along the same lines.

• 47 percent said they were “very satisfied” with the health care options available to them, a major leap from about 25 percent in 2002.

• 36 percent had recently experienced negative encounters such as being threatened, receiving poor service or being treated with less respect, and believed those experiences could be attributed to race.

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Photo: African-American family / Hero Images/Getty Images

Game nights a social outlet for baby boomers

Associated_Press — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:41:01 -0700

By MELISSA KOSSLER DUTTON, Associated Press

When Ron Riedel's kids graduated from high school, he and his wife, Lorita, found they were socializing less. They weren't meeting up with friends at soccer games, school plays and other kid-related events.

So Riedel formed a "baby boomer" group through his church that hosts regular game nights and weekly dinners.

"When our kids were around, we had reasons to get together," said Riedel, 55, a furniture maker in Auburn, Calif. Now, "we had less excuses to get together, so we invented this."

Photo: Judy Palladino handles mahjong pieces during a game-night gathering in Mayfield Village, Ohio, last month. (AP Photo/Bonnie Gruttadauria)

The group plays everything from lawn games to Connect Four.

"It has nothing to do with the games," he said. "It's really just a social event."

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As baby boomers age, many of the traditional ways to make friends disappear, said Lynda J. Sperazza, an associate professor at the State University of New York at Brockport, who studies how this generation spends its free time. Many start looking for new social outlets.

"Recreation and leisure is still of utmost importance. It is critical to their self-concept and sense of well-being," she said. "Game nights and boomer clubs are a means to be active, which is in sync to their values."

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The Baby Boomer Club in Sun City Center, Fla., for example, organizes parties, dances and game nights, said president Linda Moore.

"It's strictly a social club," said Moore, who, at 70, is technically not a boomer. "Not everybody in the club is a baby boomer. It's people who want to go out and socialize."

The U.S. Census Bureau defines baby boomers as people born between 1946 and 1964.

That includes Debbie Schwartz, 52, of Mayfield Village, Ohio, who looks forward to a monthly mahjong game with friends.

"It's a real thinking game. It's great for keeping your mind sharp," she said of the Chinese game played with tiles.

Photo: Women display bracelets made of mahjong pieces during a game-night gathering in Mayfield Village, Ohio, last month. (AP Photo/Bonnie Gruttadauria)

Games do help people stay mentally sharp, said Dr. Martha Stearn, executive director of the St. John's Institute for Cognitive Health in Jackson, Wyo. Each fall, the institute holds a Brain Game Challenge with trivia contests, word games, Tai Chi demonstrations, sing-alongs and other activities. But Stearn said the social benefits of games and activities are even more important for brain health than the mental challenges are.

"We are programmed to be social. Isolation is one of the worst things for the brain," she says.

Schwartz, who started the mahjong group 15 years ago, said its six members don't take the game too seriously.

"We use it to talk and catch up," she said. "We've been friends for a long time."

Fellow player Judy Palladino, 57, said she and her husband, Vince, like the excuse to get together with their friends. The husbands often play poker while the women play mahjong.

"We're all older. We're tired. It's nice to come home and do nothing. It's also important to stay active and connected with old friends," Palladino said.

When the couple recently bought a second home, in Florida, they chose a community that organizes recreational activities. "That was really important in our search for a Florida house," she said.

They picked an over-55 community in Sarasota where Palladino has found another mahjong group.

Tracy Weller found a monthly Bunco game when she moved to a new neighborhood in Wexford, Pa., in her 30s. Gathering with other moms in the neighborhood to play the dice game was a good excuse to get out of the house, she said. Now 49, Weller is a substitute player in the group; she gave up her permanent spot because her two teenage daughters have such busy schedules.

"I enjoy it when I get to go," she said. "It's my connection to what's going on in the neighborhood."

She anticipates returning to the group full time when her daughters head off to college in a few years.

"I expect I will have more time to myself then," she said.

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Do smoking bans really work?

Rich_Maloof — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:50:51 -0700

All across the country, smoking bans have been picking up some serious momentum.

Smoking will be smothered in the sand this summer as bans go into effect on public beaches, including seaside spots in Delaware, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. On June 1, Starbucks instituted a ban within 25 feet of some 7,000 locations, imposing a trial separation on the long-term relationship between coffee and cigarettes.

New bans and restrictions stretching from California, across the Plains and clear across to New York, are being voted into law. According to data from the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, 22,470 municipalities representing 81.3 percent of the U.S. population are covered by completely smoke-free provisions in workplaces, restaurants and/or bars.

It’s not just an American phenomenon, either. In Russia (the world’s second-largest tobacco market after China), a law enacted this past Saturday bans smoking in airports, railway stations, playgrounds, on busses, and at schools, universities and hospitals. They’re even clearing cigarette ads from public streets. Korea’s tourism board proudly announced a nationwide ban against smoking in public places last December. And some politicians in New Zealand have designs on making their country the world’s first entirely smoke-free nation.

Do the bans have a positive effect? Tobacco companies have maintained that smoke-free ordinances have a negative impact on businesses and tourism, though advocates cite studies adamantly refuting such claims, and other opponents of the bans call the legality of restricting outside smoking into question.

Smoking bans on the campuses of U.S. colleges and universities have prompted some vehement protests by students who see them as a constraint of personal freedom. Regardless, restrictive smoking policies in higher-ed communities indicate that bans can indeed yield measurable changes in people’s attitudes, with positive results in slashing smoking prevalence.

Back in 2008, a study was launched as Indiana University initiated a campus-wide smoke-free air policy. Researchers wanted to compare habits and attitudes at IU with those at nearby Purdue University, where smoking was allowed outside a 30-foot radius from buildings. Even though IU’s ban wasn’t strictly enforced, the ban served a secondary function as an awareness campaign. Within two years, the percentage of smokers at IU fell from 16.5 percent to 12.8 percent, while at Purdue the rate increased from 9.5 to 10.1 percent. Even among smokers, the average number of cigarettes smoked fell at IU and rose at Purdue.

An April 2013 publication from the ANR indicates that at least 1,159 campuses in the U.S. are currently 100 percent smoke-free.

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Photo: A no-smoking sign is posted in the pedestrian plaza located in Times Square last month. A new smoking law took effect in New York City Monday, prohibiting smokers from lighting up in certain public places, including parks and beaches. (Photo by Daniel Barry/Getty Images)

It's national 'Leave The Office Earlier' Day

Rich_Maloof — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 08:43:56 -0700

Is anybody out there reading this, or did you all go home already?

Today is National Leave The Office Earlier Day. If you’re wondering whether that’s an official holiday, ask your boss.

In a straw poll taken for this blog, 99 percent of workers enthusiastically supported the concept of National Leave The Office Earlier Day. Their employers did not. One boss asked if we’d ever heard of “National Unemployment Day.”

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Leave The Office Earlier Day falls right alongside other indulgent quasi-holidays on the calendar this week, like Hug Your Cat Day (June 4) and, of course, National Doughnut Day (June 7).

However, the point of today’s half-baked holiday is not to shun responsibility but to increase productivity and complete your work early so that you can make an early departure with a clear conscience.

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That’s what author Laura Stack, “the PROductivity Pro,” had in mind when she invented the holiday eight years ago. Stack, who offers lectures to corporations on efficiency and time management, reported in 2005 that 10,000 workers pledged to join her on the first annual “Leave the Office Earlier Day.”

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While we suspect Stack may have acquired some of those pledges by hypnosis, we can’t deny it was a pretty savvy marketing move for an author with a book called "Leave the Office Earlier."

Classic productivity tips:

• Tackle the most difficult or least desirable job first.

• Establish fixed times to respond to emails, texts or phone messages, and do not check them between intervals.

• Finish one job before sacrificing any attention to another.

• Stop reading blogs about leaving early and go do your work.

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Photo: It's leave work early day / Ocean/Corbis/Getty Images

Missing man walks up to news crew covering his story

Rich_Maloof — Thu, 30 May 2013 10:35:25 -0700

Talk about a scoop.

On Tuesday morning, the news crew from WMTW News 8 in Maine was covering a sensitive local story. Limington resident Robert McDonough, age 73, had been missing for more than 14 hours.

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At 6:30 a.m., reporter Norm Karkos and crew were positioned on rural Gammon Road, where Mr. McDonough lives, ready to provide a live update. Karkos was preparing for a shot on the tree-lined road. When a passerby walks into the background, hands draped into his jeans pockets, Karkos waits patiently for the man to walk out of frame. The two are heard exchanging a casual greeting, and then the man walks on.

Watch the video to see the moment when Karkos realizes the subject of his missing-man story has just strolled into his news cast.

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Karkos and his crew spoke with the man and immediately contacted the Maine Warden Service, which had spent the previous night searching for McDonough after he was reported missing around 4 p.m. Monday.

McDonough reportedly suffers from dementia, an umbrella term used to describe a syndrome marked by mental fogginess and impairments to memory and judgment. Dementia is generally age-related. The number of people with some form of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease, is expected to more than double by the year 2050 due to the aging population.

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Reporter Norm Karkos noted that McDonough had some blood on one hand and on his shirt but appeared to be in good condition.

Tip of the hat to HyperVocal.

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Photo: Robert McDonough with WMTW News 8 anchor/reporter Norm Karkos (WMTW News 8, http://aka.ms/missingman)

Man had pencil in head for 15 years

Associated_Press — Wed, 29 May 2013 12:15:05 -0700

BERLIN (AP) — German doctors say a man spent 15 years with a pencil in his head following a childhood accident.

Aachen University Hospital says the 24-year-old man from Afghanistan sought help in 2011 after suffering for years from headaches, constant colds and worsening vision in one eye. A scan showed that a 4-inch pencil was lodged from his sinus to his pharynx and had injured his right eye socket.

The unnamed man said he didn't know how the pencil got there but recalled that he once fell badly as a child.

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The German doctors removed the pencil and say the man has recovered.

Hospital spokesman Mathias Brandstaedter said Wednesday the case was presented for the first time at a medical conference this week.

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Photo: Andrew Unangst/Getty Images

Colony of ants jam doorbell, keep German woman awake

Associated_Press — Wed, 29 May 2013 09:26:38 -0700

BERLIN (AP) — A 75-year-woman in the southwestern town of Offenburg called police at 3 a.m. Wednesday complaining that she couldn't sleep because her doorbell was always ringing.

Police said officers dispatched to investigate the cause quickly tracked down the culprit: an ant nest next to the doorbell.

They say the insects had built such a big home that the nest pressed the switching elements together, keeping the bell ringing.

Officers silenced it by removing the nest with a knife.

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