My step father in a general physician and the senior partner in his practice so he was one of the doctors I spoke to about healthcare. In the beginning he was all for the changes that were being proposed and then something changes; it became about the insurance industry and not about the care that we get from our doctors and hospitals. No one is arguing that we should do nothing; the question is what do we do?

Today it was released that the average American spends 17% of their total income on healthcare. That’s over a third of the average American’s mortgage payment since most house payments cannot exceed 45% to be approved. That is a staggering amount of your household income spent on healthcare but again; what do we need to do? I suggest you ask your doctor on your next appointment and find out what he or she thinks they need us to fight for in order to improve care. When I have asked mine the questions they had said some very smart and creative things. We should be talking to the people who take care of patients and NOT the administration big wigs whose only job is to make a lot of money. Until we get our priorities straight, a solution will never be found.

If you listen to all the retail stores, news outlets and anybody else that is hollering for you to buy, the time to shop is always now! There is always a sale just finished, just started or going to start in a day or two. That’s because retailers are hurting and while that is not very good for them it is a good thing for you. So before the economy picks up and prices start to rise, it is a good time to shop if you have the resources. It’s never a good time to shop if you don’t have money.

The other thing people are afraid to do is barter with the store. Find a manager and make him an offer. The worst he can say is no and so you loose nothing by asking and have to possibility to get a better deal. This works when retailers are looking to sell you things they can’t seem to get rid of. No retailer want to hold inventory for very long as this creates a large problem as seasons change and new merchandise arrives. Offer to take it off his or her hands at a reduced price and see what happens.

My wife recently noticed that I never look at recipes when I cook dinner and she asked me why. I had to stop and think about it because I never even thought about looking for a recipe when it involved what I call a regular meal. That’s one where you have meat, potatoes and a couple of vegetables or a breakfast type meal with eggs, meat and potatoes. I just look in the frig and see what we have and start cooking.

I would never think about cooking without a recipe if there was baking involved but other than that, I tend to stick with experimental cooking. The funny thing is it works out far more times than not. I like to work with a lot of fresh foods that lend themselves to quick salsas and relishes that can easily be served over pork and fish. These are not hard to make and can be made of just about anything as long as you have a fruit of some kind, onions and an herb. You can make them fresh or to be cooked with the meat. Either way, they are really good and fresh tasting. Fresh vegetables and be steamed, sautéed or eaten raw and are just good for you. I also prefer sweet potatoes and they can be roasted with a little garlic and chives or mashed just like regular potatoes. I cook what I feel like cooking and have a blast experimenting. The only real problem I have had is not remembering what I did when it’s really good and people ask for the recipe but that’s a good problem to have if you ask me.

I need to start putting some thought into what I say and up the general vocabulary. To start, two words that need to come back with a vengeance: gumption and akimbo. Don’t they just seem fun to say and they have great meanings too! Courage, guts, nerve, oomph, all those words sum up gumption, but gumption just has more substance and more syllables. I was out the other night, and a friend of mine was telling a story about the amazing lengths he went for a girl he was madly in love with and he slid the word into his story. I swear the story got 3 times as good with that zinger of a vocabulary word or maybe I’m so fixated on this word, because it is generally lacking in many of us young folk nowadays. I think we all need it to come back in life. If we start using the word, maybe we will start to embody it?

Akimbo – arms akimbo, bent or arched. Maybe there is a connection with this word and the previous. Superheroes and wonder-women seem to be associated with this word and image of arms at the hips and elbows bent upwards. And it could be easily argued that these figures of strength easily have gumption.

When I think about building something new I start with the materials and normally think about the raw materials such as wood, hardware, etc. I have recently learned to think a little differently in terms of recycling or reusing a material for something new. One idea that I had actually seen in an office was to use an old door for the top of a table or desk. In this case the door was smooth so it worked well.

When I went to find a door I liked, I choose and old style solid door with beautiful sculptured indentions that look great on a hung door but you can’t write on it very well. The fix was a piece of glass that fits over the door. I used galvanized pipe for the legs and braces and it works perfectly! The total cost was about $233 and it took me less than a day to put it together and paint it. I also attached a custom keyboard drawer underneath that cost me less then $25 since I picked the sliding brackets up at a garage sale.

Recently my sister-in-law decided to redo a spare bedroom and turn it into a playroom for her two small children. To the dismay of their mother, one of the things these two like to do is draw on the walls so I suggested we paint at least one wall with chalkboard paint and let them have that wall to express their creativity. She was delighted at the suggestion and I even had some chalkboard paint left over from another project in our kitchen this past spring to donate to the cause.

My wife convinced me to help them pain since I was “so experienced”. I was actually pleased to do it because I wanted to see how my idea turned out. After we got the paint on I decided to make it into a giant chalkboard and lined the borders of the wall with some stained wood trim and fastened a wider piece on the bottom for the tray. I surprised the kids with those big fat pieces of chalk and the largest eraser I could find and they went to town on that wall. The excitement and joy was thanks enough but I sure did enjoy those lemon bars my sister-in-law made just for me!

Our families are taking some time off to enjoy the 4th of July Celebration this year in high style. We are forging downtown to have a wonderful evening of music and meriment, topped off with music and fireworks to cap off a wonderful fun filled day.

We wish the same thing for your family and friends. Take time to remember America and celebrate all she has done for you and your family. She may not be perfect but we can’t think of anywhere else we would rather be. Happy 4th of July!

I have noticed that many young people are living in a new an interesting way; minimally. They are restoring older and used furniture, lamps, interesting recyclables and rubber tires. They are restoring the furniture or turning it into new wonderful pieces of art as well as accessories of clothing and handbags. I have also noted how many of them live in homes that have very little furniture in them yet they seem to get by very well.

You might think they are the so called “hippy” generation of today but they live in some of the most expensive high rise condos in the downtown districts as well as areas where housing has been restored and renovated as opposed to being torn down and rebuilt. Some have gardens and garden terraces as well as use clothes lines again for drying laundry and many use energy star, solar or thermal in some place in and around their homes. Those of us that have been brought up in the “things” generation might do good to take a look at how the younger generation is living and mimic some of their minimal ways. If we do, together, we might just change the world.

I just read where a University of British Columbia neuroscientists study found out that there is a lot of activity going on for those of us who daydream. This activity is in the gray matter that is dedicated to high level thought and complex problem solving. As a dedicated daydreamer who has wondered off into the world of daydreams for years, this was some good news! I remembered teachers tapping me on the head and saying, “come back to reality and pay attention!” Now I know I was giving my gray matter a work out.

It seems that most of us spend some time daydreaming and some of us spend as much as a third of our waking time out in naw-naw land but we are accomplishing something. According to the study; while we may seem like we are not paying attention in class, in meetings and such, we are really addressing many other things in our life that are important to our lives and sometimes our very survival. So if you see me looking off into the wild blue yonder, just let me be. I’ll be back with you shortly after I figure out how to save the world, or a little piece of mine.

Get ready.  With Christmas right around the corner it won’t be long before you will, once again, have more stuff than you know what to do with.  At this point you will need to know what to do with it all.  Well, let me help you get ready before it happens so you will be prepared for this great day.

Years ago I realized that Thanksgiving was a signal to me to look around and find everything we have not touched in the past year and donate it to a charity, church or community organization.  It works out every year that what we give away each year makes room for what we get.  I’m not sure why it works out that way; it just does.  You get the satisfaction of giving to those who have less than you as well as cleaning out items that you just don’t use or use anymore.  Try it and let me know how it makes you feel.