My Blog 2

Ask Amy: Marriage at midlife is one long slog Dear Amy:  I’m a 66-year-old man who has been married for 19 years. We started out fairly well, but over the years, more and more arguments emerged. Now we have three young kids and have devolved into the Odd Couple. She is a downright slob (really bad, even by her own admission), and I’m more of a normal clean-type. I can’t keep cleaning the house all by myself, and it gets so disgusting that I’m embarrassed by it. We do have some great times, but I just feel like I love her as a friend and can’t stand living with her. I’m somewhat into staying fit, and I work out to maintain a good look and heart health. She does not. She can’t keep up with me even on a short hike. I fear that she’ll die way before me or eventually become too heavy for me to find attractive. The other day our oldest still at home — a 16-year-old girl — told the story of our meeting and marriage at an extended-family dinner. She concluded with: “ ... then they...

Space tourism in 2018 Hamid Ansari talks on the phone with his wife, Anousheh Ansari, during her first moments onboard the International Space Station, on September 20, 2006 in Korolev Russia. Ansari and the Expedition 14 crew docked to the International Space Station September 20, 2006. A Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan September 18, 2006. Photo by Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images Russia officials say they will resume space tourism in 2018 after years of sending into space only professional cosmonauts and astronauts. Russia had sent seven paying guests to the International Space Station since 2001 before curtailing the program in 2009. Sending a tourist has been all but impossible since 2011 when the United States shut down its Space Shuttle program and had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets in order to get into orbit. Russia, however, has made an exception for British soprano Sarah Brightman who is due to blast off on Sept. 1. American...

Jetpacks have long been a staple of science fiction. Since the 1950s, British comic book hero Dan Dare (“Pilot of the Future”) would use one in battle with his nemesis, the green-headed Mekon. More recently, there was Boba Fett in the Star Wars saga. For various reasons of safety and practicality, they have stayed relegated to fiction . . . until now. Enter the Martin Jetpack, the first commercially available practical jetpack from the Martin Aircraft Company, based in New Zealand. More accurately, it is a ducted-fan pack, but we can ignore semantics here because jetpack just sounds more awesome. So what makes the Martin Jetpack so practical where so many others have failed? Generally speaking, there have been two main hurdles in developing a practical jetpack: safety and flight time. The most commonly known jetpack was the Bell Rocket Belt. First demonstrated in 1961, this device used high-grade hydrogen peroxide as a fuel. The nitrogen-pressurized H2O2 would be blaste...

Climate Change Is Messing With Your Dinner A fisherman cleans his catch offshore from Newlyn, U.K. The world’s dinner tables are seeing the impact of climate change, like it or not. As cold regions become warmer, and warm places hotter still, farming and fishing are shifting. An evolving climate means big changes for people who grow, catch and rear for a living, and everyone else who buys and eats what they produce. There are winners and losers. There are rich-world problems (less cod, more lobster) and poor (drought and pestilence). There are threats to the quality of the world’s basic staples including wheat and corn, as well as such nation-defining luxuries as Chateau Briand, Bordeaux wine and Java coffee. And whether through dearth or deluge, supply shocks can shake up prices. As temperatures rise, the best growing conditions for many crops are moving away from the tropics, and from lower lying land to cooler climbs. Fish and other underwater catches, too, are migra...

This chart shows every major technological innovation in the last 150 years — and how they have changed the way we work... Former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs holds an original iPhone, one of the biggest technological breakthroughs of modern times.    * Since 1760, productivity has increased almost 30 fold.     * That is largely down to technological innovations like electricity, telephones, and the internet.     * Barclays chronicled the world's rising productivity in its latest Equity Gilt Study. LONDON — Humanity is always moving forward with innovation after innovation improving global quality of life. The last 150 years have seen the most remarkable advancement of technology in history. Electric lighting, cars, plastic, the telephone, and television are all less than 150 years old, while newer innovations such as the internet have spurred ever more rapid societal development. Technological advances have boosted productiv...

"It walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon and three legs in the evening. What is it?" Riddle of the Sphinx -- Man ( or woman ). A baby crawls on all fours, then walks on two legs as an adult and uses two legs and a cane when they're old. Life, if you’re lucky, is divided into thirds, my father used to say: youth, middle age and “You look good.” The dawn of that third stage is glinting right at me. It isn’t simply that at this point more life is behind me — behind any middle-aged person — than lies ahead. Middle-aged? Who am I kidding? Who do you know who’s 144? And this is the age where they can hack immortalily, though its a tough sell. No one wants to be 144. It’s not just about aging. By the time you’ve worked long enough, hard enough, real life begins to reveal itself as something other than effort, other than accomplishment. Real life wishes to be left to its own purposeless devices. This isn’t sloth. I...

Dear Amy: I have a wonderful partner. We have been together for three years, plus -own a beautiful home and have a baby on the way. She came over from the Philippines on a fiance visa and we married inside of 90 days. My gal’s sister, “Marcia,” is a purported perpetual victim. She is always suffering from one perceived slight of one kind or or another. The world is always out to get her. And she is never at fault. https://m.facebook.com/joan.dumalag.5 Over a year ago, I made the mistake of asking her, very nicely (and privately), to stop pestering my girlfriend, her sister over a particular issue. Her "sister" wants to also come to America. However she may prove to be a burden, so my gal has refused sponsorship. My gal has sponsored her 82 yo mother, I'm guessing she's not a burden. The "sister" is fuming. The niece is also having a baby and we don't know who the father is. I was kind and empathetic, throughout. It went poorly. Now, I am a terrib...

Dear Amy: I am nearing 31 years old. I have an younger male co-worker who I feel violated me recently. He came to my home to deliver something, and proceeded to kiss me on the lips, and violating me as he is coming of age. I was pushing his arms back, but the hint was not taken. It did not go any further, than the ultimate kiss to which I acquiesced and he left like nothing happened. I feel completely violated, betrayed and shattered. I have been polite and friendly with him, as I am with all my co-workers. He hugs many people at work, including me every day — with a kiss on each cheek. We talk every now and then about our personal lives. He is about to be married and I am dating someone. Now a line has been crossed, and I’m thinking: Did the personal conversations, hugs and kiss on the cheek and occasional groping that I allowed, make him think this was OK? I absolutely do not want to report him. He is a well-respected young man and I don’t want to be the one to...

Hidden debt makes wife want to run and hide Ask Any: Advice for the real world Dear Amy: I’m in a long-term marriage. I and my spouse have hidden debt (in my name only or his). The debt is around $45,000 ($50,000 for him). I incurred this debt through light gambling, buying clothes, makeup, travel, hobbies, gifts to adult children and also moving it around to prevent my husband from finding out about it. His debt comes from primarily student loans and 11 credit cards. I completely manage this debt because my income covers it. The same goes for my husband, I think. Though I'm beginning to think he's the looser herein. In the marriage, part of our income is shared for household needs and the remainder is for each spouse to handle as they wish, with the expectation of much of it going to savings or IRA acconts, as we are nearing retirement. I’m torn between telling my husband about it, which may or may not end the marriage, and just leaving the marriage without telling hi...

See the dog above and his Special Forces handler jump into the sea off the back of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter...  Capitán, a dog who has remained by his deceased owner's graveside for the last six years, proves an animal's love and loyalty transcend the boundaries of life and death. Although he still has a family to go back to, the canine simply refuses to leave his master's side. Dogs' devotion to their human owners never ceases to amaze me. In early 2011, when Brazil was devastated by floods and landslides, we posted the story of Leao, who made international headlines when photos of him lying next to his deceased master's grave went viral. Later that year there was the story of a Chinese dog who wouldn't leave his owner's graveside even when other villagers tried to feed him, and today I came across another heartbreaking tale of canine loyalty. Capitán, a German shepherd from the Argentinian town of Villa Carlos Paz Cordoba, has chosen to remain close ...

Greetings! Welcome to The Djinn Lair, home of authentic and genuine djinn.  I am a 7th generation psychic medium & clairauvoient. Throughout my life, I have sought out every spiritual entity that I could find with a particular interest in djinn as they are commonly used and called upon in my ancestral village in India. I have been studying djinn for almost 60 years.  Please read the Testimonials and the FAQ section to further assist you. When you are ready, visit The Djinn Shop to select your djinn. Using my gifts, I am proud to offer only the most unique and authentic spirits available. The majority of my djinn have been previously owned & time tested by myself, fellow psychics and mediums, or those with spiritual gifts, thru the ages. I also provide psychic readings, spells & blessings on my own website. (coming soon!) I would like to extend a big thank you to my long-time client Pierre, who has updated my website and brought me into the 21st century with m...

Reading King Lear in the Age of Trump Two years ago, “Comrade with the Wolf and Owl,” was written, a short piece arguing that King Lear offers powerful commentary on the conspicuous consumption consumer culture of the twenty-first century. I have continued to read and teach the play to students since then, and last month as the summer semester began, standing in front of a full lecture hall, I was struck by a revelation. I found myself making this comment: “This is the first time I’m reading King Lear in the Age of Trump. I’m not quite sure how that will change the play for me. But I know it will.” Trump the brain virus. Trump the black hole. Trump the psychic vampire feasting on the bloodstream of our minds. (How much time have you spent thinking and talking and fretting about him in the past year? What else could you have accomplished with that time? Even at this very moment, typing these words, I deeply resent having to spend some small part of my finite life trying to organize so...

JInheritance issue unties purse strings Ask Amy: Advice for the real world issues. Dear Amy: I am asking you this question, rather than a lawyer, because I’m not really inquiring about the legality of my problem, but would appreciate your opinion. I’ve been married to my husband for almost 20 years — it was a second marriage for me, and he raised my four young children as though they were his own. His mother passed away a year and a half ago. His father died the year before. His younger brother is married with six kids. His older brother (never married, 62) still lives in the mother’s house, which is now co-owned by my husband and his brothers. The house is in terrible condition, but still worth at least half a million dollars. Repairs are being made. We are not wealthy and live as frugally as possible. I still work full time, and my husband is retired. His brother doesn’t pay for the house, other than his taxes and utilities. He doesn’t have a m...