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Lori Borgman: Do-it-yourself plumbing is a pipe dream
There are two kinds of people in this world: Do it Yourself People and Hire Someone to Do It For You People. Wisdom is knowing which category you fall into.
We are Do it Yourself People. Unless it involves plumbing. Then we are Hire Someone to Do It For You People.
Experience has taught us that nearly every home plumbing project can and will ...Read more

An in-depth look at race, culture and their effect on society
Cultural Psychosis. You might not have heard the term before, but you’re sure to have seen its effects. The term is used to describe a unique set of psychological and behavioral responses — such as feelings of hopelessness and alienation, anxiety, depression, anger, and maladaptive behaviors — within a marginalized group to systemic ...Read more

Road to freedom fraught with danger in historical western adventure
The son of a Virginia plantation owner and an enslaved woman flees west after he is accused of killing his father… but that is only the beginning of his misadventures in Dan Schafer’s western homage, "Sun Walker."
In 1821, Joshua Beck is one of a hundred volunteers for a large trapping party ascending the Missouri River on keelboats to its ...Read more

New pacifier monitors electrolytes in newborns
Creators of an innovative pacifier believe it will transform neonatal care.
According to team lead and associate professor Hong Yeo in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, this is the first device in the world that can continuously measure a baby’s electrolyte concentrations.
“We started to develop this technology...Read more

Lori Borgman: Method to the basketball madness
I was one of the first to complete the family NCAA bracket this year. There’s not a chance I’ll win and I’m good with that.
Our son-in-law started the family bracket challenge, which includes his side of the family and our side, 15 years ago.
His side of the family loves sports. His dad even refereed for years.
When you love sports, you...Read more

9 novels that shine a light on the privileged class of society
Part of what makes novels so appealing is how they allow us to step into the lives of others. This allows us to not only escape the real world — like in science fiction and fantasy — but also to see the real world through a new lens. To see — to feel and experience — what it’s like to live a completely different life, even if only for ...Read more

'Casablanca' meets the spy world in WWII story of love and espionage
"The Librarians of Lisbon" is accurately described on the cover as “A WWII story of love and espionage,” and novelist Suzanne Nelson certainly delivers, as promised, a fine work of historical fiction for adult readers.
This former children’s book editor and award-winning author has previously written dozens of middle grade and young adult...Read more

A heart attack while shoveling snow. Then another emergency during cardiac rehab
Looking out the window of his home in Troy, New York, on a Friday night, Kyle Wessels made note of his first chore the next day: shoveling snow.
On Saturday morning, he saw that only a few inches of snow had fallen, but it was the wet, heavy kind.
Having grown up in Troy, then-47-year-old Wessels knew the drill. He grabbed his snow blower and ...Read more

Lori Borgman: Dropping the penny may make cents
I can’t call heads or tails on whether we should stop minting the penny. There are two sides to every coin, right?
Zinc and copper used to make a penny are worth almost four times the value of the coin. Bottom line: The penny is not cost-efficient. I empathize. Some days I’m not terribly cost-efficient either.
It’s hard to imagine life ...Read more

When midlife is a new beginning: Gen-X romance novels
Is there such a thing as too old or too late to find new love?
I admit that before I turned 40 almost a decade ago, I didn’t give much thought to this question. Though I was writing romance and love stories, my protagonists were my age or younger, because that was what I knew. The protagonists I read about or watched on film and television ...Read more

When her son was diagnosed with severe heart problems, she blamed herself. Could she get over it?
With her mother in labor, then-17-year-old Jamie Dawson sneaked past nurses and headed for the delivery room.
The door was cracked open just enough for her to hear baby brother Max cry for the first time. Dawson felt a surge of love like she'd never experienced. When she became the first person to hold Max other than his parents, the feeling ...Read more

CIA spies, political leaders and hotel chains are pawns on geopolitical chessboard in epic thriller
The fate of America sits in the crosshairs as Russia unleashes its most ambitious plan yet to deceive, distract, and sow chaos. But no Russian machinations have yet survived a run-in with Dan Reilly, international hotel executive and part-time CIA spy, as Ed Fuller and Gary Grossman reveal in the fourth installment of their popular Red Hotel ...Read more