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LET'S TOUR THE SITES AND FIND THE TREASURES! 
May 15, 2010 President Kennedy called Washington, D.C., “a city of southern efficiency and northern charm.” And, until air conditioning arrived, Washington was also listed by the British Foreign Office as a “hardship post.” I knew a woman who lived in D.C. then as a young, single woman. She said that, in fact, very little work was done here in the summer, because it was too hot to sleep at night and they didn’t feel up to working during the day. “We mostly talked and dozed at our desks, then we’d go out and spend the evening eating and drinking until one or two in the morning. There was no point in going home to sleep because it was too hot to sleep.” Another woman, a Washington native, told me that on summer nights back then her family would bed down on the sand at Hains Point, a spit of land that sticks out into the Potomac and gets whatever breezes come up the river. “Whole families did that; the ground would be covered with people on summer nights. We all thought it was perfectly safe.” Now we have air conditioning, people in offices work pretty hard all year, and the area keeps changing in other ways too. About ten years ago, a young black woman from Texas, married to an African doctor, moved into the house across the street from us. It’s a two-story red brick house with white pillars out front – a style much beloved in Virginia – and they were the first non-white people to move into the immediate neighborhood. A few years later the wife began confiding to me her dismay about Hispanics “taking over” the neighborhood, as she put it. She assumed I shared her dismay, though actually I didn’t. For the last twenty years I’ve lived in neighborhoods in one stage or another of being “taken over” by Hispanics, and I have always found them to be good neighbors. Most of the Hispanics here are from El Salvador or Honduras, and before the recession many had well paid jobs in construction work, bought houses, and were happily fulfilling the American dream. Construction work tanked when the economy did, and a month ago the Hispanic family next door moved out suddenly, I fear to someplace much worse, and a Cambodian family moved in. He’s in electronics, and his wife tells me that, although she doesn’t speak much English, she “likes Americans very much.” They do an excellent job of keeping up their place, as did the Hispanic family, and life goes on. We’re all managing as best we can in a difficult time. Janette ----Table Of Contents---- 1. Cool Water Over Rocks 1. COOL WATER OVER ROCKS Here in Virginia, summer has hit us a month early. Makes me want to listen to RAVEL’s classical piece, “Miroirs.” It’s music that’s cool in the old-fashioned sense; it sounds to me like cool water flowing over rocks – very pleasant on a warm day. Speaking of classical music, the ice cream man (who turned out to be a woman) just drove by. She has been making me hum “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” all day and half the night. NOW she goes by playing Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.” Who ever heard of an ice cream truck playing the “Hallelujah Chorus?” I fear she is toying with my sanity. 2. HAPPIEST PLACES ON EARTH Of course this piece on Iceland was written before their economy went ker-floop. But, in spite of being in the dark all winter, Icelanders do rank high in the happiness polls. I knew a woman whose parents were from Iceland. She says Icelanders feel that they are a purer and therefore superior race. They are usually too polite to mention this, of course, but that’s how they feel. So perhaps their happiness is at least in part genetic. Sorry about that. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17848293 20 REASONS I CAN’T BE HAPPY TODAY: http://www.marcellegros.com/twenty-reasons-why-i-cant-be-happy-today/ BE HAPPY NOW: http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/fast-company-staff/ MORE HAPPINESS. The Internet is strong on helping us be happy. If you enjoy such things, scroll down to PSYCHOLOGY & SELF-HELP in the column at left. Lots of goodies there. You will note that the first section is titled, “Make Yourself a Happier Self.” If you’re already happy enough, try “Actually Getting Things Done.” If you’re attuned to psychological subtleties, you might deduce that I have trouble getting things done myself, and you would be right. If you too have problems in that area, the Internet is ready with its solutions. 3. POLLSTER VS. POLLING REPORTS TIME MAGAZINE thinks POLLSTER gives a more understandable view of the latest polls. They are all in the line graph format, and here’s an interesting one to start, with lots more available: http://www.pollster.com/polls/us/jobapproval-obama.php Then there’s POLLING REPORT, which I’ve given in the past. It has a wide variety of polls on many subjects: POLLING REPORT has a fascinating group of polls under the odd title of “Comfort Index.” It seems Americans are pretty uncomfortable these days, but they don’t rightly know what could be done about it (at least that’s my interpretation). No doubt something will come to them in November. http://pollingreport.com/gallery.htm#ABComfort 4. HOME DECORATING GALLERY BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS is, it turns out, on the Internet as well as on your aunt’s coffee table. They have a home decorating gallery where you can get ideas for your own home: http://decoratinggallery.bhg.com/ “MARTHA (AND OTHERS) DECORATE FOR YOU.” MARTHA STEWART is of course active in this field. For more from her, click on HOME RENOVATION, UPKEEP, SALE in the lefthand column. 5. “PAINT” YOUR ROOM ONLINE Get an idea of how you’ll like a certain color by “painting” the room online at COLORJIVE. (The colors they use as samples are pretty awful; it makes you grateful those rooms don’t exist.) http://colorjive.com/home.action This “interior paint calculator” helps you calculate how many gallons of paint you’ll need: http://www.easy2diy.com/cm/easy/diy_ht_calc_index.asp?page_id=35720769 6. MAINTAIN A HOME INVENTORY The HOUSEHOLD REGISTER 2010 offers a “free home inventory software program for the PC.” Use it to list everything you own, complete with warranty numbers: http://www.turbosystems.com/hrw31.htm 7. MAKE YOUR LAPTOP SCREAM WHEN STOLEN We’re moving into travel season, and laptops get stolen by the thousands when people are traveling. Here’s one way to prevent that: http://www.lalarm.com/en/Lalarm_Laptop_Alarm.htm And here’s another way to secure your laptop for free: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ 8. TRACE AND DEACTIVATE A STOLEN CELL PHONE MOBIWEE can do wonders, if you are clever enough to install it before you take off. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-trace 9. FOOD ALLERGIES? Travelers with food allergies lead harrowing lives. If you try SPECIAL GOURMETS, you’ll find “15,629 listings in 4,514 cities from 31 countries” where you can find allergen-free food. Plus you can search for “gluten-free, dairy-free, or other allergen-free recipes” using the site. http://www.specialgourmets.com/ 10. 40 WAYS TO STAY FIT WITHOUT A GYM You don’t need gym membership, just determination and this list of exercises: http://www.budgetlife.com/blog/stay-fit-without-gyms/ 11. BEST ONLINE WORKOUT SITES MAKE USE OF has of course made a study of online workout sites and recommends these: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-workout-websites 12. CREATE YOUR OWN WORKOUT MUSIC Work out to music you like that’s moving at your own workout pace! AND join this free workout group: 13. TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE? I have to confess, I have a rubber stretchy thingie in my dresser drawer that was going to develop my arm and leg muscles with no effort to me, except it hasn’t because I never use it. (In fact, after it arrived, I couldn’t remember why I would even WANT my arm and leg muscles developed.) Apparently I’m not the only one to make a mistake of this type. CONSUMER REPORTS made a study of these exercise thingies, some of which cost quite a bit more than I paid. Here’s what they say: 14. SECOND CHANCE STORIES AMY DICKINSON, the well known advice columnist, has written a book about second chances. She’s also collected some second-chance stories. Many of us have been battered by this recession, and we’re looking for a second chance. To hear some of the second chance stories Amy has collected, click below, then click on “stories.” http://mysecondchancestories.com/ 15. RESTORING YOUR CREDIT The economy is getting better, but people are still getting painfully thrust into foreclosure. You CAN restore a good credit rating after foreclosure, though, and it doesn’t need to cost you a penny! I’m reprinting an item I ran a year ago about foreclosure and credit repair scams, and it’s still good today. If you know someone who’s suffered through a bankruptcy or foreclosure, please do bring the credit repair item to their attention. FORECLOSURE PREVENTION SCAMS. The scammers often promise to do great things in preventing foreclosure, take your money (usually $1,000 to $3,000) and then do nothing. Homeowners waste valuable time thinking something is being done, only to find they’re in worse shape than before. Here’s the FEDERAL RESERVE’S checklist on recognizing these scams: http://federalreserve.gov/ FREE HELP FROM HUD FOR AVOIDING FORECLOSURE: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/fc/ CREDIT REPAIR SCAMS. If you’ve been forced into bankruptcy or foreclosure, first check out the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) page on credit repair scams and how to correct disputed items on your credit report: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/ RESTORING YOUR CREDIT. Check out MY FICO’s section on managing your credit, which says: “It's a common misconception that your credit standing is forever ruined by a foreclosure. We'll show you exactly what a foreclosure means to your credit – and how to revive your credit after a foreclosure.” And note that they do this for free. http://www.myfico.com/crediteducation/feature/ © Copyright 2010 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited. |
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