Off The Hook

Several years ago, we traveled through the Netherlands for about 10 days with our friends, Henk and Marianne Berbee, who grew up there. They were wonderful travel guides showing us their hometowns, wh...

Whoever said history was boring? Now don’t be grossed out - these sayings are history at its best. In the olden days, baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the p...

I have a whole new respect for people who are left-handed. In this column in the past, I have written about left-handedness and actually chided left-handed people about the things they can’t do and ho...

My friends have recently shared with me some things that really make me smile, so I thought you might enjoy them, too. This might be a good way to laugh at yourself and maybe improve your mind. If you...

As I am writing this, we are on day four of a mouse-watch in my kitchen! Of all places! It’s a smart mouse because it knows where the food is. And we have set traps three nights in a row and all this ...

In the past, I’ve written about several friends who do wacky things. This is not one of them. This friend has had a terrible car accident and I want you to know how these things can go … sometimes. My...

Words and the craziness of the English language are a part of our everyday lives and even more so for those of us who write for a living. I’ve always been fascinated with the way some words actually s...

It’s still January and at this point many of us have made New Year resolutions. Some of them we’ve already forgotten about or found them too difficult to keep. I don’t do that anymore ... it’s just to...

You know what they say - January is the worst month of the year. You’re fat and broke from the holidays, paler than ever and it’s so cold you can’t feel your face when you walk outside. All that said,...

Saint Anthony of Padua was a Portuguese, Roman Catholic priest and part of the Franciscan order. He lived from the year 1195 to 1231 and is known as the patron saint of lost things. Our story begins w...

The earliest recorded festivities to honor a New Year’s arrival dates back to 4,000 years ago in ancient Babylon. At that time, it was celebrated in late March at the time of the vernal equinox when t...

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year for many reasons. Most importantly, we are celebrating the birth of Jesus and all it means to those who are Christians. During this time of the year, there se...

With just 10 percent of the population being left-handed, it can be easy for everyone else to forget we’re living in a right-handed world. But aside from making it tough to cut a straight line with a ...

We are quickly approaching the time of year when many of us will be on airplanes, going to visit family members or staying some place warm. I have flown several times in the past years, and I never re...

The year 1956 was a special time for me. I was in the sixth grade, a time of growing up. That year, I moved to a new school, met my first boyfriend and made friendships that last to this day. It was a...

Tomorrow is one of the most important days of the year for Ohio State football. It is the Ohio State-Michigan game! Even more important, the game is at home and OSU hasn’t lost to Michigan in many yea...

I recently came across a list of facts purported to be true. After I did some research, I found out what I suspected to be the case - you can’t believe everything you read … that is, unless you read i...

In the past, I’ve shared some of the crazy things that my friends do, but this may top them all. For reasons that will become very obvious, I will not identify my friend, but I can tell you that she w...

A Life Hack refers to any trick, shortcut, skill or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency in all walks of life. It is also a tool that makes one’s life easier or a clever tip or te...

It’s a place which has melodic names for its towns like Killybigs, Galway and Tullamore, and for centuries nearly all the buildings were built with the grey stone, native to their beautiful country. S...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about items that were commonly used in the 1950s and ‘60s - some you probably wouldn’t recognize today. After it was published, a reader, Bob Whitman, commented to me about th...

Several times in this column I have discussed customer service. It seems to be a fleeting thing. My latest experience goes like this: We recently purchased a new system in our home to provide televisi...

It seems that cars have always had radios, but that’s not the case. I can remember when there was an option or extra charge for a car with a radio and heater. Certainly air conditioning wasn’t availab...

Every day, all of us deal with the English language. In fact, you are doing that while reading this column. It is said to be one of the most difficult to learn and thankfully, we grew up with it. Engl...

I know these people call your house, as they do mine, several times a day. Sometimes the calls are in the morning, but most are between 4 and 7 p.m. They say that they want to help you with your credi...

As I grew up in the 1950s and ‘60s, the world was a totally different place. It was proper, it was conservative and it was safe for children to play outside alone. In fact, we could be gone all day an...

Last week, we looked into the lives of the Daileys of Marysville. John W Dailey Sr. was born in 1896 in West Virginia. He was wounded in World War I and couldn’t continue his career in the military. A...

The story of the Dailey family began in 1896 when John W. Dailey Sr. was born in West Virginia. He would later be known as Judge Dailey in Marysville, serving as the probate-juvenile judge in Union Co...

Every once in a while it seems someone has to remind me that we’re all getting older. In fact, I recently received an “older than dirt” quiz. It included memorabilia from the 1950s and ‘60s and even m...

Bret Michaels, former lead singer of the group, “Poison,” that gained fame in the late 1980s, put on a tremendous show at the All Ohio Balloon Fest last Thursday night. I had the privilege of meeting ...