vol. 1 issue 14
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Vol. 1 Issue 14TRANSCRIPT
The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read
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Nov. 29 - Dec. 5, 2012
The Interstate Highway system is the longest engineered structure ever built. There are some 43,000 miles of interstate highways in the U.S. built as a result of the largest public works project ever undertak-en by humankind. Join Tidbits as we take a ride down the highway!
• In 1903 it took a doctor from Vermont and his mechanic 63 days to drive from San Francisco to New York in their two-cylinder Winston. (At the time, the same trip by railroad took about four days.) Six years later it took 21-year-old Alice Huyler Ramsey and her three girlfriends 41 days to do the same trip in their Maxwell, as a publicity stunt. Around the turn of the century, roads were nothing more than dirt tracks. When it rained or snowed, they became mud tracks. There was no orga-nized system of roads connecting places. America needed better roads.
• In 1919 young Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower joined the military’s very first transcontinental trip. A three-mile long caravan of vehicles carrying 260 enlisted men, 35 officers, and a 15-piece band set off from the White House in Washington, D.C. for San Francisco, 3,251 miles away. It took them 62 grueling days to cross the country. They averaged five miles per hour on roads that ranged from fair to horrible. • During World War II, Eisenhower toured Germany after V-E day, driving on the marvelously efficient Autobahn highway system that the German war machine built. He noted that although the railroads could be taken out with a single well-placed
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Vol. 1 Issue 14
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bomb, the Autobahns were far more dif-ficult to destroy, even if they were pocked with bomb craters. Good highways, he con-cluded, were essential for national defense. It was a lesson he never forgot.
• On June 29, 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act. The interstate system was born. To help fund the project, the bill increased the federal tax on gas by a penny per gallon. The proj-ect was to build 41,000 miles of divided limited-access highways including 16,000 interchanges and 55,000 bridges and over-passes. The average distance between exits was three miles.
• Deciding on a color for interstate signs was not an easy matter. Bertram Tallamy, the federal highway administrator, insisted on blue signs with white lettering, but a committee with the American Association of State Highway Officials wanted green signs with white letters. To settle the issue, the Bureau of Public Roads built a special three-mile test road in Maryland and hired hundreds of drivers to travel it at 65 m.p.h. On the way they passed three test signs in blue, green, and black. At the end of the road they were to vote on their favorite col-or. Green got 58 percent of the vote; blue 27 percent; and black got just 15 percent of the votes. Tallamy reluctantly conceded, and all highway signs are now green. Only later was it revealed that he suffered from color blindness. To him, the green signs appeared to be pale yellow.
• Interstate highways running north and south are assigned odd numbers starting on the west coast and moving east, with Interstate 5 following the Pacific coast and Interstate 95 following the Atlantic coast. Routes going across the country east and west have even numbers starting with Interstate 10 in the south and moving up to I-94 in the north. Primary interstate high-ways use either a one-digit or a two-digit number. Auxiliary interstate highways that link up with the primary highways all have three digits, composed of the number of the interstate ‘parent’ highway, plus a multiple of the number 100. Generally, three-digit interstates that both start and end at a pri-mary interstate, such as a beltway, will all begin with an even number, such as I-418. Auxiliary interstates which dangle without ending at another interstate will usually begin with an odd number. Three-digit highway numbers are unique within a state, but can be duplicated across the country. For instance, there are seven different highways called I-295 ranging from Maine to Florida.
• Kansas was the first state to begin con-structing their interstate highway. Eight days after Eisenhower was re-elected in 1956, the nation’s first stretch of Interstate opened near Topeka, only 70 miles from Eisenhower’s hometown of Abilene. That prompted work in states all over the nation, and construction proceeded at the average rate of 1,000 miles per year. Suddenly a big conveyor belt was moving: the more high-ways there were, the more cars traveled; the more cars traveled, the more gas they used and the more gas tax they paid; the more taxes paid, the more money for new highways; the more highways built, the more cars traveled.
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Hello Tidbits readers!
I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday week! We are loving all of the Christmas cheer filling the shelves, covering the streets and on the radio!
In honor of the holiday season, be sure to check out page 4 for our giving guide throughout the community. Do you know of any other food drives or fundraisers happening during the holidays? We would love to add yours to our list. Be sure to send us an email or give us a call. This is a free service we offer to help benefit our community.
We hope you enjoy the usual puzzles, quizzes, trivia and more in this weeks edition of Tidbits of Sno-King Counties.
Until next week,
Harrison and Jennifer BurkeOwners/PublishersJBurke Publishing
(206) 902-7557
A Note from the EditorsINTERSTATE HIGHWAYS
(continued):
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• The arrival of interstate highways of-ten had detrimental effects on surround-ing communities which continue today. Highways made it easier for people who work in the cities to live in the suburbs, so those who could afford to move did so, leaving behind only those who couldn’t afford to move, generally minorities. The businesses followed, finding better loca-tions where they catered to wealthy subur-banites instead of poor city dwellers. The result was the constant and continuing erosion of the tax base in cities. Slums spread. Another effect was that interstate interchanges attracted businesses that catered to highway travelers: gas stations, motels, restaurants, malls. As more and more businesses relocated to the high-ways, fewer and fewer people shopped in downtown districts, which often became derelict. In most cities around the world, real estate close to the city center is the most valuable property. In the U.S., the opposite is often true.
• The highway system was supposed to be done in a mere thirteen years. Instead, it took forty years. $25 billion in federal funds were designated to pay for the proj-ect; it ended up costing $560 billion.
• To construct the interstate highway system, enough concrete was poured to make a sidewalk extending from Earth to a point five times the distance to the moon. Enough earth was moved to cover the state of Connecticut knee deep in dirt.
• The Century Freeway in L.A. was opened in 1993, completing one of the final sections of interstate. By that time, over 90 percent of American households owned at least one vehicle.
• Although it composes only 1.2 percent of the nation’s roadways, the interstate system carries nearly 23 percent of the traffic.
INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS(continued):
INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS(continued):
Baked in a decorative tree Bundt pan, this chocolate gingerbread cake spruces up holiday parties with ease.
2 cups all-purpose flour3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter (no substi-tutions), softened3/4 cup packed brown sugar3/4 cup granulated sugar1 tablespoon grated, peeled fresh ginger3 large eggs1/4 cup blackstrap molasses1 cup low-fat buttermilk2 cups semisweet chocolate chips1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Coat 12-cup decorative tree Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.2. On sheet of waxed paper, sift togeth-er flour, cocoa, ground ginger, baking powder, baking soda and salt.3. In large bowl, with mixer on medi-um-high speed, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Beat in fresh ginger. Re-duce speed to medium; beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then molasses, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula.4. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat just until combined, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula. Fold in chocolate chips.5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in cen-ter of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack and carefully remove pan. Cool completely on wire rack.6. Before serving, dust with confection-ers’ sugar. Serves 12.
• Each serving: About 475 calories, 22g total fat (13g saturated), 78mg choles-terol, 225mg sodium, 70g total carbs, 4g dietary fiber, 7g protein.
For thousands of triple-tested recipes, visit our website at www.goodhouse-keeping.com/recipefinder/.
(c) 2012 Hearst Communications, Inc.All rights reserved
Chocolate GingerbreadCake
• It was British biologist and author Richard Dawkins who made the following sage obser-vation: “When two opposite points of view are expressed with equal intensity, the truth does not necessarily lie exactly halfway be-tween them. It is possible for one side to be simply wrong.”
• If you’re like 20 percent of American wom-en, you think your feet are too big.
• Did you ever wonder why we say, “I smell a rat” when we sense that something is amiss? The phrase dates back to a time before effec-tive means of pest control, when it was not uncommon for a home to be infested by ro-dents. If a rat died inside a wall, the residents wouldn’t be aware of it until the smell of the decaying body became noticeable.
• If you’d like to have a festive New Year’s Eve but don’t want to deal with the crowds in New York City for the iconic ball drop, consider heading to Mount Olive, N.C. Every year the town hosts a celebration in which a 3-foot lighted pickle is dropped into a barrel at midnight.
• Ancient Romans believed that a sneeze was the body’s way of expelling evil spirits that caused disease. Thus, if one tried to suppress a sneeze, it was regarded as an invitation to illness and death.
• The 14-foot model of the Starship Enter-prise that was used during shooting of the original “Star Trek” series is now displayed in the Smithsonian.
• If you are over the age of 40, you’ve lived longer than the average gorilla.
• The first woman to appear on the cover of Business Week magazine, in 1954, was Brownie Wise, the originator of the Tupper-ware Party.
***
Thought for the Day: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” -- Lewis Carroll
© 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
by Samantha Weaver
Tidbits® of Dallas County Page 4 Tidbits® of Sno-King Counties
Whether your holiday stress is caused by Christ-mas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year’s Eve, there are ways to ease the pressure so you can actually enjoy the holiday. Here are 10 tips for Happier Holidays. (P.S. They also work all year round).
1. Hide: It works nearly every time. If you need a little break, admit it and seek refuge. Go to a pri-vate place and take a few long deep breaths and sing your favorite holiday tune to regroup.
2. Rehearse the worst, then, if it happens, you’ve already made advance preparations. And since the worst seldom happens, you can make a game out of what does.
3. Get organized early. List all your holiday chores: cards if you send them, decorating the house, gifts, special cooking, wrapping, mailing and shopping. Just listing everything you have to do will help you to feel less harried. Set a schedule, and do a little every day. Check items off your list as you complete them. This will show you your progress. Address a card or two per day. Wrap a present while you watch a favorite TV show. Re-member, procrastination is the real “Grinch” who stole Christmas.
4. Reinstate the draft; get everyone in the house
From Tidbits® of Sno-King Counties
to help. Share the fun, share the duties. Children, too ... just confine them to one room so if they make a mess you only have one room to redeco-rate come spring.
5. Use modern innovations to make your tradi-tions easier. Say you have five dozen cookies to send in with Johnny or Mary for the school party. Throw away the “from scratch” recipe. Buy a tube of ready mix cookie dough, and cook them two minutes less than the directions say (it makes them chewy). Put some sprinkles on the cookies and swear the children to secrecy. This creates little mess and is fast.
6. Moderation, and “this too will pass.” No matter what we think to the contrary, there will only be 31 days in December this year. If things get rough, start the count down. Look forward to something in January, like December being over. Use moder-ation in eating, drinking and spending. You don’t want a head, belt or debt hangover.
7. Empathy works when you think the world is out to get you. Look around. There are undoubt-edly others who are worse off. If you see some-one struggling, offer to help, if appropriate. Focus on what you do have, and count your blessings. Remember, love is free to share. And, it comes in unlimited supply to those who use it.
8. QTIP: The next time you’re in a holiday traffic jam, stuck in a slow checkout line, or your online order doesn’t go through, remember QTIP, and quit taking it personally. The checkout line isn’t there to drive you crazy. The stoplight is not a part of a plan to ruin your day. Don’t get upset about what is beyond your control.
9. Contrarian shoppers start early and end early. Take an early lunch and shop on off-days at the mall. Shop online, the prices are often good, and
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many online stores now include free shipping. What can’t you find at Amazon? Have a detailed list of gifts with alternates if your first choice isn’t available. Consider shopping year round for the holidays. Often, summer sales mean better gifts at a lower price next year.
10. The Chemistry of Joy will see you through. There is an actual chemistry of joy and hap-piness that occurs within us. It is a chemical reaction caused by signals our brain gives to our autonomic nervous system. A positive, happy outlook triggers immune strengthening responses in our body. Laugh, enjoy humor, sing and think about the joy you give to others and the joy that others give you.
(c) 2012 King Fea-tures Synd., Inc.
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Seattle Seahawks Schedule
Dec. 2 Seahawks vs. BearsDec. 9 Seahawks vs. CardinalsDec. 16 Seahawks vs. BillsDec. 23 Seahawks vs. 49ers
To Your Good Health By Paul G. Donohue, M.D.
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What advice can you give to senior citizens with type 2 diabetes? -- W.S.
ANSWER: People with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes have similar goals and are given fairly similar advice. Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult onset diabetes and often can be controlled with oral medicines and diet. Type 1 diabetes used to be called juvenile diabetes, and it requires insulin treatment. Those older designations are misleading. Many type 2 diabetics have to take insulin.People with diabetes ought to have a meter that provides the blood sugar (plasma glucose) reading. It’s impossible to adjust medicine or diet without such information. The first reading in the morning, before taking food, ought to be in the range of 70 to 130 mg/dL (3.9 to 7.2 mmol/L). The blood sugar meter is not expensive, and is easy to use. In addition, hemoglobin A1C, another measure of sugar control, should be less than 7 percent. This value is obtained only a couple of times a year.Since diabetes is a risk for developing heart attacks and strokes, diabetics are obliged to control the other risks for those two common conditions. Those are blood pressure, which should be less than 140/90 and preferably under 130/80. Cholesterol ought to be lower than 200 mg/dl (5.2 mmol/L). LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) is best kept under 100 (2.6) and the optimum reading for triglycerides (blood fats) is now set at 100 mg/dL (1.13 mmol/L). Diabetics ought to have yearly eye exams.Since obesity is common in type 2 diabetes and since modest weight loss (a 5 percent to 7 percent reduction in body weight) can help, calorie reduction is important.Increased activity controls blood sugar and body weight. The goal is 30 minutes of moderate exercise on most days of the week.Diabetics should get instructions in diet control from a dietitian. In general, 50 percent to 55 percent of calories come from carbohydrates, 15 percent to 20 percent from protein and 30 percent from fats.The booklet on diabetes presents this illness and its treatments in detail. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue -- No. 402W, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.75 U.S./$6 Canada with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.***
DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My husband was discovered to have sleep apnea. He is now on CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) at night. The problem is that he sometimes gets up as many as 14 times a night to void. I have him on a nonprescription sleep preparation, but he still gets up. Lack of sleep makes him angry. -- L.C.
ANSWER: You’re directing your efforts in the wrong direction. His prostate gland is making him get up during the night. His gland doesn’t allow his urinary bladder to completely empty. He urinates only in dribs and drabs.Medicines can enhance bladder emptying. And there are many office procedures that don’t entail long surgery or long recovery that can open up his drainage system.Take your husband to a urologist.***
Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.
(c) 2012 North America Synd., Inc.All Rights Reserved
Diabetes Advice and Goals
OVERCOMING THE ODDS:
CHARLES STRATTON• When Charles Stratton was born in Con-necticut in 1838, he weighed a healthy nine pounds, eight ounces. However, his parents soon noted that he wasn’t growing like other children. A malfunctioning pituitary gland slowed his growth, so at age four, he was only 25 inches long. He never grew much beyond that height. At the age of five he weighed exactly as much as he had at the age of 15 months. He was perfectly normal except for his size. He was not misshapen or ugly, but instead was perfectly proportioned, very at-tractive, and extremely intelligent. At the age of five Charles was first introduced to Phineas T. Barnum, and Barnum knew his fortune was made.
• Charles’ name was changed to General Tom Thumb, and he was billed as being 11 years old and from England, when in reality he was only 5 and from Connecticut. (When they travelled to Europe, he was billed as being American, and when he grew older his age was revised downward.) After being put on stage in a comedy routine with two 8-foot giants, Tom Thumb became the darling of the world. 15,000 people a day flocked to see him, each paying a quarter entrance fee.
• World tours were extremely successful. On a trip to England Barnum very much wanted the publicity that would result from an audi-ence with the Queen. But the Queen was in
mourning and refused to see any visitors. So Barnum merely announced that he was leav-ing England and traveling to France in or-der to introduce Tom Thumb to the King of France. A fierce social rivalry existed between the Queen of England and the King of France. As Barnum expected, an invitation to visit the Queen was not long in coming.
• Once when Tom Thumb was robbed, Bar-num himself spread the rumor that Tom had been kidnapped and was being held for ran-som. The public furor increased interest all over Europe.
• Tom Thumb had a delightful sense of humor and impeccable manners. He had a gift for im-provisation while on the stage. His specialty was imitating Napoleon Bonaparte, an act that won him world-wide renown. After travel-ing the world with Barnum, he returned to his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he had a home built to scale, with furniture and furnishings constructed in exactly the cor-rect proportions.
• When Barnum hired a 32-inch-tall female performer named Lavinia Warren Bump, Tom Thumb instantly fell in love, and the two were married. Their wedding was featured in every newspaper and magazine in the nation. The newlyweds toured the world together, per-forming in nearly 600 cities around the globe. By the time they returned to Connecticut, they had performed in front of more people than any other person in history – a record they held until the invention of the television. They
were also rich beyond their wildest dreams. When Barnum went bankrupt after investing unwisely, it was Tom Thumb’s earning power that put him back on his feet.
• When Charles Stratton died of a stroke at the age of 45, he stood 3 feet, four inches tall and weighed just 71 pounds. More than 10,000 mourners attended his funeral, and newspa-pers around the world carried news of his death and descriptions of the funeral service. His wife lived to the age of 77, and is buried beside him in Connecticut.
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PICKS OF THE WEEK“The Bourne Legacy” (R) -- The last secret agent to go by the codename Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) set in motion a series of convoluted events that cre-ate a firestorm for another rogue operative wearing the Bourne identity (Jeremy Renner). In this case, replacing the star of the series with a different ac-tor is not an indicator of rapidly declining quality standards.Tony Gilroy, screenwriter for the first three Bourne movie, takes over as director for this one. In previ-ous Bourne movies, it wasn’t too hard to keep a handle on what was going on and why it was com-pelling. In this one, I gave up mid-way through and just started taking in the spectacle. That’s not the worst thing, but it’s not a good sign.
“Ice Age: Continental Drift” (PG) -- It seems the “Ice Age” franchise is set on teaching children that extinction is long, repetitive, formulaic process. Manny the mammoth, Diego the sabretooth, Sid the sloth (Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguiza-mo, respectively) and many more reappear for this fourth installment about an unlikely team of prehis-toric talking critters.The movie uses all of the easiest, most cliched puns and pop-culture gags on an audience too young to be sick of them. Perhaps bombarding the kiddos with lazy material will help them build an early im-munity to lameness. I know that’s a stretch, but it’s the best thing I can say about “Ice Age 4” besides, “It was mediocre.”
“Ted” (R) -- Seth MacFarlane, the creator of TV’s “Family Guy,” brings us this raunchy comedy that goes above and beyond what he can do on televi-sion. Ted (voiced by MacFarlane) is a stuffed bear brought to life by a lonely child’s wish. Years later, that child is a man (Mark Wahlberg), and his magic talking teddy is a beer-chugging, profanity-spewing bro who enables immature behavior. It’s obscene and exquisitely lowbrow. If you can stomach the volume of blue humor, Ted has surprising heart and belly laughs.
“Why Stop Now” (R) -- Eli (Jesse Eisenberg) has a gift for piano that he’s always been too messed up to pursue. He’s the chief caretaker for his little sister and their drug-addicted mother (Melissa Leo.) He tries to drop his mom off at rehab on the day of his big audition, but she’s not strung-out enough to be admitted. Eli has to go on a wacky adventure with Sprinkles the drug dealer (Tracy Morgan) in order to get his mom high so she can finally get clean. Not funny enough to be a comedy; not serious or thoughtful enough to be a drama.
TV RELEASES“Girls: The Complete First Season”
“Futurama: Volume 7”“Hazel: The Complete Fourth Season”
“Ultra Seven: The Complete Series”“Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Year Nine”
(c) 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
1. Where is Tim Wakefield on the list of most career victories by a Boston Red Sox pitcher?
2. In 2012, Toronto and Cleveland played the longest Opening Day game in history (16 innings). Which teams played in the previously longest game?
3. Who is the only player in NFL history to have eight seasons of at least 290 rushing attempts and 50 receptions?
4. Name the first men’s basketball coach to be named both an ACC and a Big East Coach of the Year.
5. Beginning in 1917 with the Seattle Metropolitans, how many times has a U.S.-based team won the Stanley Cup?
6. Who was the last American male runner before Leonel Manzano (silver medal) in 2012 to medal in the Olympic 1500 meter race?
7. In how many of the past 16 Ryder Cups (1981-2012) has the team trailing after the first day of golf play gone on to with the event?
1. TELEVISION: What famous politician did Alex P. Keaton idolize on the show “Family Ties”?
2. MUSIC: Which 1970s song featured the line, “Jeremiah was a bullfrog”?
3. LITERATURE: What literary figure had a loyal companion named Sancho Panza?
4. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of Iowa?
5. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What are omnivores?
6. LANGUAGE: How many letters are in the Greek alphabet?
7. ANATOMY: How many pairs of ribs does a human body normally have?
8. HISTORY: In which year did the U.S. space shuttle first fly into orbit?
9. FOOD: What kind of food is mortadella?
10. GAMES: What is the movable device used in the game Ouija to spell out mes-sages?
1. Richard Nixon2. “Joy to the World,” by Three Dog Night3. Don Quixote4. Des Moines5. Animals that eat meat and vegetables6. 247. 128. 19819. Italian sausage10. A planchette
Page 8 Tidbits® of Dallas CountyTidbits® of Sno-King Counties
1. Third with 186 victories, behind Cy Young and Roger Clemens (192 each).2. Cleveland and Detroit (1960) and Washington and Philadelphia (1926) each played 15 innings. 3. LaDainian Tomlinson (2001-08, with San Diego).4. Leonard Hamilton (Big East: 1995, ‘99; ACC: 2009, ‘12).5. Forty-five times.6. Jim Ryun won the silver medal in 1968.7. Eight times.
© 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
• Use silicone caulk to make non-skid beads on the bottom of your pet’s dishes. They will stay in one place instead of get-ting scooted all around the kitchen.
• Need a quick ironing job but don’t have time to iron? Spray a clean kitchen towel with a mixture of water and a little fabric softener until damp. Pop it in the dryer with the item that’s wrinkled. It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to get all the wrin-kles out, and it will smell great to boot!
• While we’re on ironing tips, here’s a great one from T.C. in Alabama: “If you have mineral deposits on your iron, use a tooth-brush and toothpaste (mild abrasive) to polish them off your iron’s face. Rinse with water, and next time, use distilled water for steaming.”
• “When driving a nail into a plaster wall, first put down a piece of tape at the spot where you’ll insert the nail. Tap the nail in right through the tape, then pull away the tape to discard. It often will keep the sur-rounding plaster from crumbling at the site of the nail.” -- W.L. in Oregon
• When your cabinet door magnet locks are too strong, try putting a piece of tape over the magnet. It decreases the strength of the magnet.
• If you paint your radiators, make sure that the paint you use is heat-resistant. To get the best finish, paint while the radiator is warm.
Send your tips to Now Here’s a Tip, c/o King Features Weekly Service, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475 or e-mail JoAnn at [email protected].
The last thing you want at this time of the year is to fall victim to a scam, one that either takes your hard-earned shopping money or destroys your credit through identify theft. This year is going to be even worse for holiday scams and thefts. Here are some tips to avoid becom-ing a victim: --Watch how you dress if you’re shopping in crowds. The bumping and chaos is a perfect scenario for a thief to take your wallet or purse. Wear pants and put your wallet and car keys in a front pocket, the deeper the better. Or leave your wallet locked in the car trunk and only carry the credit or debit cards you’ll use. --If you use a credit card, don’t let it out of your sight when you give it to a clerk to swipe. If some-one near you is using a cell phone, they could take a picture of your credit card. Be alert. They could be long gone and make online purchases with your card
number before you even get home. --If carrying cash, chose which pocket the money will go in. Put all same-denomination bills in your front left pocket, such as $10s or $20s. When you get change, put it all in the right front pocket. That way you only have to pull out one bill at a time from your left pocket and will know exactly what it is without showing all your money in a crowd. If you need to re-sort your money, use the privacy of a restroom stall so no one sees the cash you’re carrying. --At home, don’t put presents under the tree too ear-ly in the season. When you go out, leave a light and television on to make it look like someone’s home. --Collect the mail out of your box as quickly as you can after it’s delivered. Thieves want your informa-tion. --Don’t order online unless it’s from a site you’ve successfully dealt with in the past. New sites are highly suspect. They might be just data collection points for your name and credit-card number. Before shopping online, go to http://blogs.mcafee.com and put “12 Scams of Christmas” in the search box. Read about the highly creative ways the thieves hope to re-lieve you of your cash. --An unfortunate caveat this year: Beware online greetings e-cards. Check carefully before you down-load the card.
© 2012 King Features Synd., Inc.
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