Tom Lashnits

     I just read that Florida is the most popular state where retired Americans moved in 2022. No surprise there, I guess, although you’d think that the hurricanes might slow things down a bit. Apparently not.      According to a study that came out in December, Florida was number one. North Carolina took second spot. After that came Michigan (Michigan?!?), Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania?!?), and Washington state.      Well, I can explain Pennsylvania, if not Michigan.      Pennsylvania provides a refuge from its high-tax, high-cost neighbors of New York, New Jersey... Continue Reading

      I was born when Harry Truman was president. I don’t remember him. But I do remember Ike and Elvis, and Ann Landers and and Billy Graham, and Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart.      A lot has changed since those days of the 1950s and ’60s. A lot has stayed the same.      For example, toilet paper today is no different from the toilet paper I grew up with. The house I live in is no different, either. My house was built in 1965, and despite some renovations through its various owners, it remains pretty much the same. My wife and I did redo the kitchen after we moved in. But we... Continue Reading

     Another year over and done with. The years seem to go by faster and faster as we get older, don’t they? So it’s time to pause and reflect back on the important, memorable items of 2022.      January.  For several years my wife B and I have been spending February in South Carolina. This year we decided to go early. We left on January 22. And what did we learn? South Carolina is freezing in January. We both came down with nasty colds (not Covid, we tested) but according to B our colds were especially bad because we’d been isolating due to Covid. Our immune systems were... Continue Reading

     Here’s my Christmas list for this year:      Large bottle of Tylenol.      Ice pack.      Tube of CBD cream.      Two knee braces.      One ankle brace.      New pickleball racket.      Yes, pickleball racket. A few years ago I started playing pickleball. I took a series of introductory group lessons and played a half a dozen pickup games. Then I blew out my left knee. I haven’t played since — until a few weeks ago. Now, throwing caution to the winds, I’ve started playing again. My old pickleball racket      Pickleball is the latest... Continue Reading

     I consider myself a reader. I wasn’t always that way. I remember as a kid, my dad and my teachers tried to get me to read books all the time. I read what I had to in middle and high school. But truthfully, I’d always rather be outside playing with friends.      I became a reader in college — after all, I majored in English literature. But I think what turned the corner for me was being able to read outside. I remember those bracing fall days and soft spring afternoons, sitting on the stoop of a college building, reading through Hardy and Hemingway, Wordsworth and Yeats,... Continue Reading

      When I was younger, living in New York, I had a good dentist. He had a terrible bedside manner — he was gruff, he scowled, he was almost scary-looking — but he knew his stuff. He kept my teeth bright and shiny for 25 years.      Then he retired.      After that, I had trouble finding a decent dentist. I got one who messed up my root canal. Didn’t go back to him. I tried another who charged a lot of money, but the cavity she filled fell apart in less than a year.      After I left work I found a dental office that was “in network” of my new dental... Continue Reading

      Many of us say we don’t care how long we live, only that we live well while we’re around. But the two are intertwined. Those of us who are healthy and feel good are likely to live longer.      So how do we stay healthy? I wish I had the answer. There probably isn’t just one thing, but a package of habits and activities that, put together, help us get out of bed in the morning and keep us moving and living.      Here are some ideas . . . and how I measure up. How do you measure up? More importantly, do you have any other suggestions? Because I’m always looking... Continue Reading

      There are several lists of U. S. states where people are the happiest . . . and the unhappiest. According to one list, the most miserable people live in California and New Jersey. But another survey cites Alaska and Maine.      Some of the happiest people live in states like Colorado, Wisconsin, Washington and Idaho. Everyone else, presumably, is normal — not depressed but not euphoric either.      Of course, this assumes that where we live can make us happy. Do you think it does?      Surely, people who hate the cold shouldn’t retire to Michigan or Minnesota. People... Continue Reading

     I just found out that I have some surprisingly valuable art hanging on the walls of my house. I am also in possession of a remarkably prized collection of rare, antique shoes. But more on those in a minute.      I live a modest lifestyle, but you should know that many of America’s wealthiest people live fairly modest lifestyles as well. Investor Warren Buffett famously lives in a house in Omaha, NE, that he bought in 1958 for $31,500. Now it’s worth a little over $1 million, but that’s pocket change for someone worth more than $100 billion.      I paid much more... Continue Reading

      I just finished doing today’s Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. Later, I’ll do the New York Times crossword. I do it online. I started doing crossword puzzles during Covid as a way to pass the time. But somehow I’ve become addicted, and I’ve continued doing them pretty much every day, long after our lives have returned to some semblance of normal.      My wife turned to jigsaw puzzles during Covid. She started with a few 500-piece puzzles, then graduated to 1000-piece puzzles. When she completed one it sat on the dining room table for a few weeks to show off... Continue Reading