Everything old is new again, the old saying goes – and anyone who was around for during the 1930s must be having a sense of deja vu. It’s gotten to the point where this parody of Herbert Hoover’s famous line, “Prosperity is Just Around the Corner,” seems like it was written last week, not in 1932! But if we’re looking for guidance from the oldies to navigate the new, harsh realities, I rather like this one, written during World War II, evoking a spirit of facing tough challenges head-on. …

In this age of e-mail, SMSing, and who knows what other communication wonder they’ll come up with next, there are still people who use the “regular” – also known as “snail” – mail. Are these people Luddites, or what? And we’re not talking about an insignificant tribe. Judging by the traffic on my local e-mail community list, “can anyone take a letter to the States for me” ranks just behind “Looking for a lift to X” on the hit parade of favors people are always seeking. Maybe it’s …

Kids say the darndest things. To us, that is. But you should hear how they talk to each other when there are no adults around. It’s downright scary! But we don’t mind a little ribaldry from our kids, bless them; it’s part of growing up. We know our kids’ friends, and their parents are pretty much like us – raising their kids as best as they can. Sure, our kids’ friends may have occasional lapses in judgment, dragging our children into trouble with them, but it’s usually nothing …

Lotto, as any late night TV watcher knows, consists of choosing six numbers, between one and fifty – plus a supplementary seventh one. If you pick the right ones, you win!
Now how hard is it to pick six numbers? Very, apparently; which explains the plethora of lotto number picking software (like the one at http://tinyurl.com/3dquav). Is this something people really need? Can’t we pick six stupid numbers on our own?
But on second thought, I can sympathize with the people who use these things; their minds are already overloaded with numbers, …