Author: Victor Varma

Look for discounts on smaller cars this summer. Industry analysts say lower gas prices have shifted buyers to SUVs and trucks. This has created a glut of compact cars. Manufacturers have offered big cash back incentives, according to Bottom Line Personal.

Census data show 18-to-34-year-olds would rather live with parents than start their own households.

Census data won’t tell us why. Are they less romantic? Can’t find a job or hold one? Have they just decided not to live on their own until they reach 35? Or do they just want help to pay off student loans. A study by Pew Research Center is delving into the situation.

It was in 2014 when living with parents (32.1 percent) passed living with a romantic partner (31.6 percent) as the top arrangement among young adults.

The rest lived alone, with roommates or as single parents. It was the first time since 1880 that so many decided to live with their parents. The researchers said there was a dramatic drop in the share of young Americans choosing to settle down romantically before age 35 or with a spouse or partner. For whatever reason forming a new family is not nearly as important as it used to be for young adults, according to Richard Fry, senior researcher at the think tank.

He found that half those 18 to 34 were living with their parents while 25 percent of those 25 to 29 were. But both groups were much more likely to live at home in 2014 than in 1960.

Apparently, the young adults and their parents get along pretty well and often share the young person’s goals.

This month marks the 47th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic flight into outer space. It’s mission? For astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to become the first humans to ever set foot on the moon. Pilot Michael Collins remained in the Command Module. They achieved this feat on July 20, 1969.

In May of 1962, President John F Kennedy expressed concern that our country was falling behind the Soviet Union in both technology and prestige. Putting a man on the moon before the end of the decade would change that. He was right. When the command module Columbia returned safely to earth, on July 24, 1969, the president’s objective was accomplished.

The Lunar Module, nicknamed the “Eagle,” touched down on the moon’s surface at Tranquility Base. Armstrong reported “The Eagle has landed.” After taking his first step, he said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Apollo camera broadcast this event to the world.

It created an ecstatic reaction. More than half the world’s population was aware of the mission’s success. The Soviet Union tried to jam Voice of America radio broadcasts, but word spread through newspapers and TV.

The crew spent 2.5 hours conducting experiments and collecting lunar surface material, then unveiled a plaque affixed to a leg of the descent ladder and read aloud, “Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind.” It was signed by Armstrong, Collins, Aldrin, and President Richard Nixon.

The astronauts also planted an American flag on the moon and received a call from President Nixon, who called it the “most historic telephone call ever made.”

The National Air and Space Museum holds approximately 3,500 space artifacts from the historic Apollo moon-landing effort, with 400 objects related specifically to the Apollo 11 mission.

Excitement has risen again for space fans. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon and a self-described space enthusiast, has used his personal finances to search that Atlantic Ocean for the five engines that thrust the Apollo 11 astronauts into space.

Bezos’ salvage team found five of the Eagle’s engines 14,000 feet below the surface of the sea on March 28, 2012. He hopes to retrieve at least one of them so it can join other artifacts in the museum.

It is the computer age. We can make a phone call, play a game, save a report, and send data to Japan with about four words to our smartphone assistant.

Why are we still folding laundry?

Answer: There is just no app for that. But there could soon be a machine and, failing that, there are new strategies.

All the newest clothes dryers helpfully steam, de-wrinkle and freshen but somehow when they come out of the machine, they are not folded. According to the Wall Street Journal, most of the major appliance makers have not solved this problem. Same with unloading dishes into cabinets; it doesn’t happen.

During a lifetime, people spend 18,000 hours (375 days) doing laundry and half that time is manually handling each piece and folding.

A Tokyo-based company is developing the Laundroid to address an annoying gap in the market. The size of a refrigerator, the Laundroid takes several hours to fold a load of laundry. Drop shirts, pants, and towels into the machine and overnight they are folded.

Another strategy being developed in California, FoldiMate is a folding machine about the size of a washer. Users clip a dozen items to the outside of the machine. Folding takes 10 seconds per garment. Dewrinkling takes 30 seconds per garment.

Neither the Laundroid nor FoldiMate is on the market yet, but plans are to start production in about a year.

One mosquito bite and it seems we are exposed to an increasing host of bad stuff from malaria, West Nile and now the Zika virus. If that is not enough, Fido can end up with heart worms.

Is there any protection?

Yes. There is an effective repellent that has worked for 50 years on hundreds of millions of people with few, if any, side effects: DEET.

Some still don’t trust it.

Popular Science calls DEET the most effective mosquito repellent ever invented. But, like many chemical agents, DEET has come under suspicion in recent years, even though it has a long track record of safe use.

Developed by the US Agriculture Department in 1946, it was designed to protect soldiers. It has been available to the public since 1950. Hundreds of millions of people have used it safely since 1950. Today, it is applied 200 million times a year worldwide. Since its invention, it has literally been used billions of time, according to the Los Angeles Times.

So why the worries? The EPA says concerns are overblown, and DEET poses no health concern, especially when weighed against the dangers of mosquito-borne illness.

As a practical precaution, DEET should be used when necessary and not excessively. It should be washed off the skin after use. It should be not sprayed under clothes, but is fine on top of clothing.
DEET has been implicated in a handful of deaths during a 20-year study period, but never named as the cause. In all cases, the chemical was either deliberately ingested, or a heavy application was repeatedly applied to children.

In 1995, researchers reporting in the Journal of American Mosquito Control found 14 cases of individuals who had used DEET and suffered encephalopathy, a brain disease. All but one were under eight years old. Three died. The others recovered. The researchers wrote that the exact role of DEET was difficult to determine. It could have been other factors, or it might have been DEET.

A 2001 study in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene concluded that DEET has no adverse effects on the growth and development of children in the womb or a year after birth. The authors concluded it was safe to use during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

In the European Union, the repellent is approved for only 15 percent strength. In the US, DEET is sold in concentrations of up to 30 percent. The EPA approves DEET for use on human skin at 100 percent concentration.

Life hands every single person a sense of loneliness at some point, but other people can do a lot to help out.

In the United States, a 2014 survey by the National Science Foundation revealed that 1 in 4 of 1,500 people interviewed have no one with whom to talk about personal troubles or triumphs or to share confidences.

People become lonely or blue for many reasons. Some are introverts and find social engagement difficult or feel they don’t fit in. Some are depressed after the death of a loved one, a divorce, loss of a parent or job or when children leave the nest. Some suffer from a disease or physical limitation that doesn’t allow leaving home; others may be abused by a spouse and fear outside relationships.

Remember when people are lonely, they often long to share the things they love: That perfect rose bush, a fabulous soup, or a favorite book. So helping to relieve someone’s loneliness is often just being willing to share in their experiences.

What can we do to add cheer to the world or even just a stranger who needs a lift?

* Tell people when you value their work.
* Ask someone new to lunch.
* Visit a recently widowed neighbor.
* Take your talent on the road by dancing or singing at a senior facility, for example.
* Smile at store clerks, your restaurant waiter, and a seemingly unfriendly neighbor.
* Pocket your phone and never use it in public except for emergencies.
* Call someone, or visit. Go to dinner. Take time to admire the important things.
* Spend time talking and laughing or playing a board or card game.
* Ask what they need (a ride to the dentist or church, a grocery trip, or repair of a dripping faucet).
* Make this one day of cheering up one person an important part of your life. If you want something, give it sincerely to someone else.

High school and college students in larger cities are checking out tech-type companies for their summer work, spurning the usual retail and restaurant positions.

According to The Wall Street Journal, jobs in companies like Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart, and Postmates are hiring students for deliveries, tech support, and transportation. These are jobs that, for the most part, didn’t exist at all 10 years ago.

Delivery services Postmates and Instacart go out of their way to court students for summer work.

But unlike traditional summer jobs, these can be very flexible, offering little in the way of structure. According to college coach Suzanne Shaffer, a summer job is what trains kids to get up, dress up and show up on time. Listen to instructions. Obey a boss. Work with others. Accept responsibility for the job.

As we consider the dramatic words of the Declaration of Independence, we wonder whether the writers knew the long-range impact of their words.

Did they see a great nation emerge from a vision of independence? We think they did. How many times have you personally marveled at the wisdom of these national founders?

They had a rare vision of what our country would turn out to be, and that vision rings true to this very day. Their writings were an achievement of significant proportions.

Since the first July 4th, historians give us some interesting notes about that calendar day. First, they say the Declaration of Independence was signed on August 2, 1776, about a month after being adopted.

President Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4, and three of our nation’s first five presidents died on that day: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in 1826, and James Monroe, our fifth president in 1831.

Congress didn’t actually declare it as legal federal holiday until 1941.

The 4th of July is also a holiday for American business, says Robbie Briggs, a real estate company CEO. He reminds us that it’s a day that celebrates America’s devotion to entrepreneurship and the opportunity to build businesses of our own.

Briggs says it serves as a tribute to each citizen and all they may elect to pursue in business or any other endeavor.

As we commemorate our independence, we remember that America’s freedom and democracy occurred because of the determination of our forefathers to establish this place as a free country.