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October 23, 2014

Columnists

Common-sense preparations

This is the third in a continuing series on building a Roadmap for your executor/heirs to follow in the event you are not there to guide them.

A Healthier You Update

Due to personal business and getting ready for my winter in Florida, I will be taking a few extra weeks off from writing my column, “A Healthier You.”

More dangerous artificial sweeteners: Splenda

Splenda is the #1 artificial sweetener sold today. Between 2000 and 2004, the percentage of U.S. households using it went from 3 to 20%. In one year, Splenda sales topped $177 million compared to 62 million on aspartame-based Equal and $52 million on saccharine-based Sweet’N Low.

Ask the Woodchucks: October 9, 2014

Question: The water in our tub drains very slowly. There is probably hair blocking the drain, but I can’t reach it because the drain plug is in the way. Is there a way to remove this plug so the blockage can be removed?

That ‘ka-chunk’ you just heard is million-dollar provenance

I tried to staple a receipt to a bill this morning, and instead of the satisfying “ka-chunk” of a little silver staple being driven home, I heard nothing. The stapler pressed quietly into the papers with a metallic sigh, like an old man easing into bed.

Organizing electronic access

Our last column began the discussion of preparing a “Roadmap” for your executor or heirs to follow in the event you are unable to assist with managing your personal affairs. I should add that this map could well be an asset for a surviving spouse in the event they are not the one who manages that aspect of your lives.

I’m on top of the world…and the bottom

From the top of the world to the bottom is approximately 12,416 miles, North Pole to the South Pole. A lot of miles to travel to reach these extremes of the earth, both similar in nature but still unique unto their own selves. And that’s what a Del Webb resident, Ruth Ann Houston, undertook: travel to both extremes to see what’s there!

Travel back in time, no DeLorean required

Return with us now to those exciting days of yesteryear. Let us bring back memories of a time when restaurants used linens as opposed to using paper. When men actually wore shirts with collars. When dining out was a luxury and not a necessity.

Gone Girl – where oh where can she be?

Several months back, looking for something to read, I Googled the New York Times best-seller list and up popped the book “Gone Girl.” I’d not heard of it but sales of over 6.5 million copies and months on the list convinced me to give it a try. When I finished reading, I realized that author Gillian Flynn had crafted a mystery quite unlike anything else I had read before.

Don’t just sit around this autumn, take it by the wheel

My 16 year old daughter and I are struggling. It seems that every other day we argue about something. My straight-laced, couldn’t-tell-a-lie-if-her-life-depended-on-it daughter is still infinitely dependable and honest; we just continue to butt heads.

Ask an Angel: October 9, 2014

Q. I was in the hospital recently, and I just received a bill for my stay. I learned I wasn’t considered a patient, but rather I was there under “observation.” What happened? I am stuck with a pretty hefty bill now.

Planning for the worst-case scenario

The sudden and unexpected loss of a family member several years ago set the wheels in motion for a comprehensive look at how my wife and I manage our personal “business” affairs. After the accidental death of one of our son-in-law, I sat down with my daughter to help her sort through the finances, as her husband had taken care of all aspects of that part of their lives.

Ask an Angel: September 25, 2014

Q. Can you give a few tips on preparing for an emergency?

Dare to be different in your garden

Things that are different always seem to attract the most attention. A bright yellow car among grey and black vehicles may get a second look. A particularly tall person, pardon the pun, stands out in a crowd. As a redhead, unfortunately, I knew by the time I was 5 that I was different.

Is agave nectar healthy?

As fears about white sugar and high fructose corn syrup sweep health conscious people in America, so called “natural sweeteners” are gaining in popularity. The biggest one is agave nectar or syrup.

This is Where I Leave You, and good riddance

The audience certainly enjoyed this movie. Billed as a comedy, there was plenty of laughter throughout from those in attendance. Unfortunately, much of the humor was based on profanity and/or sexual innuendos, which limited the enjoyment for your frequently cynical movie critic.

Fat burgers in a skinny restaurant

On a recent Saturday, our friends Steve & Deb came over for an afternoon of noshing and Sangria followed by local dining in the evening. Since they both love “bar food,” we decided to try D. C. Cobb’s in the historic Woodstock Square.

A twinge of concern about love that blooms on a Jumbotron

You see them everywhere these days—those grand displays of young love meant to guarantee a long life together. You know what I mean—the airplane sketching “I love you Tori” in a tracery of wispy clouds across the blue sky above the beach.

Take a fall into Kentucky

Quick, name the two largest waterfalls EAST of the Mississippi! I do believe you were able to name Niagara Falls but could you name or would you even know the second: Cumberland Falls in Kentucky. I didn’t, and I actually grew up not too far from there.

Fire Suppression System Warning

If your house was built after 2005, it probably has a fire suppression system (sprinklers), especially if it is an attached property in neighborhood #34. You can verify this by looking for sprinkler heads high on the inside walls.

Gauchos, Swords and Meat…

You are seated in an upscale restaurant. Your hand slowly reaches over to a marker on your table. You slowly turn it from the red to the green side. This immediately unleashes a steady stream of Gauchos running over to you with selections of meat impaled on three foot long swords. The name of this carnivore’s dream is the Texas de Brazil Churrascaria in Schaumburg.

Magic In the Moonlight: Illusion or not?

Woody Allen excels in three distinct arenas in the world of entertainment. First, as a young man he was as good a stand-up comedian as I have seen, but that goes all the way back to black and white TV. Secondly he writes movie scripts with a distinct and creative flair, almost all of them “out of the box” experiences. Finally, he takes those scripts and turns them into great movies, particularly if he doesn’t act in them, as lately has been the case (thank goodness!).

The world I woke up to this morning is gone

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, I pulled into the parking lot at Maine South High School, my familiar morning stopping point for the past 30 years of my life. As I walked from my car to the building, I dawdled a bit to breathe in the fine clean air beneath the impossibly blue sky.

Ask the Woodchucks: September 11, 2014

Question: Our roof has black streaks on the shingles. Does this mean the roof is wearing out and the gravel has worn away?

Make your garden perennially colorful

It seems we all want the most out of our purchases. Weather it is a Diet Coke filled up to the very top, a new appliance that runs more efficiently than the old one, or a cell phone that is also a calculator, gaming device, and weather predictor. Throughout the summer I have spoken to many homeowners that are requesting perennial flowers that have flowers on them for several months.

More dangerous artificial sweeteners

If you are a diet soda lover, here is something to consider. That soft drink may be refreshing but evidence is mounting that it is cancer in a can. Studies have reinforced the view that Aspartame may cause breast cancer, leukemia, and lymphoma.