Bathroom floor tiles that weigh you, analyze your gait and evaluate your fall risk. Bathroom mirrors that initiate telehealth conferences based on your complexion or facial tics. Toilet seats that...

During my career as a late-in-life columnist, I have been blessed with the opportunity to chronicle three birthdays ending in zero. (My so-called “good” cholesterol has not exactly overperformed in he...

A recent Wall Street Journal article provided food for thought about the decibel levels in restaurants. According to the article, in 2023, audio data from the app SoundPrint found that 63 percent of...

You probably have quite a few co-workers with whom you exchange chitchat, banter and superficial observations on current events. (“I fervently believe both Hamas and Putin could be nullified simply b...

Well, THOSE eagerly anticipated revelations certainly crashed and burned. You may recall that last summer a former intelligence officer told Congress that Uncle Sam maintains a covert stockpile of...

You probably crave a break from my patented “sour grapes” routine, but we must face facts: spring break (a.k.a. Easter break, a.k.a. mid-term break, a.k.a. “unwind, rejuvenate, have fun, but don’t...

As a writer, I can’t deny harboring an appreciation for the richness of slang, metaphors, similes and colloquialisms. And yet…there’s something not quite rational about the agitators who force our l...

“I accept full responsibility.”’ In your lifetime you’ve doubtless heard umpteen public figures (elected officials, bureaucrats, corporate executives, celebrities) promise, “I accept full responsib...

I’m guessing my brother-in-law was underwhelmed by the recent earth-shattering announcement from ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. I mean, he’s the family member who posted a Facebook meme of Sno...

What an amazing coincidence! Two days after Apple released its much-ballyhooed Vision Pro contraption, Joni Mitchell gave her first Grammy Awards performance. It’s a coincidence because someday h...

While struggling to find a suitable angle for this Valentine’s Day essay, I lucked upon some “Reader’s Digest” clickbait. The article talked about psychologist Arthur Aron’s 1997 study, in which he br...

Are truancy officers about to get help in fighting absenteeism? According to the New York Post, the Ohio legislature is considering a bipartisan pilot program that would make cash transfers to select...

Despite my best preventive measures, I have spent decades enduring “the stillgottas.” If you are unfamiliar with the medical terminology, it’s the why-can’t-it-be-terminal-and-give-me-the-sweet-releas...

Without much fanfare (okay, I did write and voice a radio commercial noting the milestone), I recently marked 25 years of my “day job” working for a farmers cooperative. I realize lots of other peo...

Oh, for simpler times with fewer adult responsibilities and fewer high-tech distractions! Then I might manage to finish reading two excellent autobiographies (Henry Winkler’s “Being Henry: The Fonz --...

Okay, maybe I’m approaching this from a position of privilege. One of my earliest memories is of tagging along to my mother’s former grammar school when she voted. Social Studies was one of my fav...

“Just when you think it’s safe to be a jerk on the roadway…” Motorists in many cities have grown accustomed to the likelihood of having their license plate photographed if they exceed the posted...

“The right place at the right time.” I realize that not everyone recognizes Jesus Christ as the Son of God (or even a real person); but for Christians, his birth, ministry, death and triumph over dea...

A course is a course, of course of course … Or is it? According to those madcap bean-counters at the National Golf Foundation, the number of off-course golfers (those going to simulators, driving r...

I understand some commentators are accusing Target of scoring less than a bullseye in dealing with shoplifters. The retailer encourages the police to help fight inventory “shrinkage,” but insists on...

Well, that quarter-century went by faster than the weaver’s shuttle! (Almost as fast as younger readers Googling, “What the %$#@& is a weaver’s shuttle?”) As of late October, I have been poundin...

One of my co-workers has an autumnal tradition of spending a week of quality time with her dog Alfie around his birthday. Some may find that eccentric, but even she is skeptical of a trend I saw...

I had forgotten about it, but my father once reminisced about finding elementary-school-aged me habitually “watching” TV with my back turned to the set. He said I explained that I could imagine more i...

Kicking and screaming were not involved, but it did take our 19-year-old son Gideon an interminably long time to show an interest in soloing with the drivers license he obtained at age 16. Finally,...

When I searched online for potential Halloween-column topics, I encountered innumerable headlines screaming about fun, easy, last-minute homemade Halloween costumes. Who are all the people in...