Posts Tagged With ‘ Rita Robinson ’

Today, I’m thankful for family and friends. I’m also appreciative of jobs and careers that have enabled me to have a home and enough food. I’m thinking about the Thanksgiving family gatherings I had with my family when I was growing up, then later celebrations when I became an adult and had children of my own. The photo above was taken at my Aunt Mable Kenyon’s home in Cashmere, Washington, circa 1956. My Aunt Mable was the matriarch of my dad’s family. We’d gather in Cashmere, about a two hour drive from our home, for the holidays. Due to the pandemic, I’ve been celebrating Thanksgiving... Continue Reading

My memories of Thanksgiving include family trips to Cashmere, Washington, to my great aunt Mable Kenyon’s home for a fabulous meal, how to go to both parents’ homes for the celebration after I was married, and my mom enjoying the Thanksgiving dinners I cooked after she was no longer able to make them. Several times, I put a big turkey in a cooler to take it over the mountains to Wenatchee when I cooked for my mom. I finally figured out I could just go to the supermarket when I got there and see what it had the day before Thanksgiving: turkey, duck, or goose. One time I was making cranberries... Continue Reading

This year at Thanksgiving, I’m thinking about my mom and dad. They met on a wheat ranch during the Great Depression and had virtually nothing with which to start their married lives. When I was married in the 1960s, my former husband and I also had nothing. However, we did get college degrees. I’m thankful for the careers I’ve had as a result that first college experience and several others including a master’s degree. This year for Thanksgiving, the average person’s spending over the five-day Thanksgiving period is estimated to be $301, with 97 percent of Americans planning to celebrate... Continue Reading

It’s important for parents, grandparents, and child care providers to keep up on the latest about infant loungers. Just because a product, especially one for baby sleep, is being sold doesn’t mean it’s safe. Dock-A-Tot recently received a violation notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for importing an infant sleeper that didn’t meet the agency’s new rule. “It is unsafe for your baby to sleep in a DockATot Deluxe+; immediately discontinue its use,” CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumak said in a statement. “There are publicly available reports of infant deaths associated... Continue Reading

If you’re going to shop for deals on Black Friday – the sales are available earlier, stick around longer, and are increasingly moving online – be sure to keep comparing prices. Sometimes prices are marked way up then marked way down. Several times during my journalism career, I’ve written an article on what are the items are likely to be on sale each month throughout the year. When I was a reporter for Senior Voice newspaper in Alaska, I called store managers throughout the state to see if the calendar of monthly sales I’d seen in a newsletter fit Alaska. I happened to interview a classmate... Continue Reading

If you read my newsletter (sign up here if you haven’t seen it yet), you know I advised consumers to start their Black Friday shopping for several weeks ago. My advice today is to keep comparison shopping and add some of the stores that WalletHub.com recommends as the best, and of course, leave those at the bottom of its list until last. Last year’s Black Friday sales drew 66.5 million Americans to shop in person and 88 million to shop online. With the crush of shoppers, I’ll be shopping online. I’m hoping to get some money off on a new Apple desktop. However, Apple doesn’t often discount... Continue Reading

Photo: Vauxford Buying a car is such a complicated process. I always appreciate information from Consumer Reports on the topic. Each year Consumer Reports issues a report on car reliability. It’s latest report showed hybrid vehicles and midsized or large sedans are among the most reliable, while electric vehicles and full-size pickup trucks are the two most problematic categories. Seven of the top 10 most reliable brands are Japanese and Korean. Lincoln is the only domestic brand in this year’s top 10.  Here are how the brands ranked, along with information about whether they went up or... Continue Reading

Photo: The Pancake of Heaven! It’s great progress that 40 state attorneys general have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices. The Big Four – Google, Amazon, Apple, and Facebook – have tremendous power over our personal information and more needs to be done to rein them in. Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when Google actually continued to collect their location information, according to the settlement. In addition to paying money, Google has agreed to improve its location... Continue Reading

Among the biggest news from last week’s recalls is a portable generator that can amputate fingers. Generac and DR 6500 Watt and 8000 Watt portable generators have caused 37 injuries, 24 resulting in finger amputations and five in finger crushing, according to reports to Generac. The problem is an unlocked handle can pinch consumers’ fingers against the generator frame when the generator is moved, posing finger amputation and crushing risks. About 321,160 of the generators were previously recalled in July 2021 in the United States with an additional 4,575 recalled in Canada. The recall involves... Continue Reading

Veterans Day, which became a national holiday in 1938, is a day to recognize the contributions of the nation’s veterans. My uncle Frank Gilliam died in World Word II in the Battle of the Bulge. My aunt Irene had difficulties in her life after his death. That’s a photo of him to the left with my aunt. When I went to the doctor’s office Thursday, I was talking with the nurse who did my EKG about much we liked visiting Europe. She asked if I was stationed there. I told her I visited often because my daughter and her family live in Madrid. She told me about how she and her husband were stationed... Continue Reading