Lake Tahoe is located on the California-Nevada border and is a crystal clear
alpine lake. Although the lake is losing it’s clarity at an alarming rate, you
can still see to a depth of 30 feet which makes for some fantastic views of
the huge boulders and fish that are in the water. Don’t wait too long because
in the last 30 years the lake has lost 30 feet of clarity.

The elevation of the lake is around 6200 feet so it’s definitely a mountain
resort. During the winters there are ski resorts too numerous to mention and
the 1960 winter Olympics were held at Squaw Valley, California, just a 15 minute
drive away.

During the summer, the lake is alive with things to do. Sandy beaches draw
vacationers from around the world and sport fishing charters abound. You can
rent kayaks, jet skis, boats and all the other stuff you need in order to enjoy
the water. Parasailing is another activity that get’s a lot of attention at
Lake Tahoe.

One of the other great things to do is to take one of the three paddle wheelers
that tour the lake. They offer morning, afternoon and evening cruises. The evening
cruises offer dinner dance parties on Saturday evenings and you can even charter
the boats if you want for a wedding or corporate event.

The Nevada side of the lake offers a variety of casinos and gambling. In August,
there is a Shakespeare event at one of the nicer beaches, called Sand Harbor.
The locals can point you to some of the best eating spots in the United States.
No matter what your tastes are, you’ll find everything from German to Mexican
to traditional American dining at Lake Tahoe.

The dress, at the lake is always casual so don’t press your white shirt and
suit, you’ll need plenty of shorts and Hawaiian shirts along with sandals or
tennis shoes.

Come see Lake Tahoe and bring your favorite camera because it’s spectacular.

Wedding vows should come with liability insurance. If you ever want to see
a grown man cry, just come to my house the second and fourth Saturdays of every
month. There you can hide amongst the clutter of my dining room and watch the
3:30PM tableau of horror that unfolds like clock-work.

What happens is the love of my life (and bane of my bank balance) comes sweeping
into the house fresh from her 11 o’clock manicure. Upon seeing me reconciling
the accounts at the dining room table, she sits across from me and utters the
most terrifying sentence a man can hear from his wife.

“Guess how much money I saved today?”

She always says it with a smile, as if she doesn’t comprehend the horror that
she has just inflicted upon me. Then again, perhaps she really doesn’t understand
that the only way she could have saved me money is by not spending it…of
course that’s crazy talk. I’m not saying my wife is a stupid woman (far
from it actually, because if she is stupid, how dumb is the idiot who married
her), but she makes the same mistake as most folks by thinking in terms of cost.
Rather than cost, a better way of thinking about money is in terms of assets
and liabilities.

Everything has its own cost and opposing benefit, but when you think of it
in terms of assets and liabilities, it becomes clear what counts as a “savings”
and what counts as a gaping wound in your budget. Let me give you an example.

My wife spends about $100 dollars a month getting her nails done. As far as
cost-benefit goes…well besides seeing her smile (which means I haven’t
done anything wrong yet), there are no monetary benefits. However, when I try
to determine whether her manicures are an asset or a liability, I have to take
into account that manicure weekends she only spends a few hundred dollars, as
opposed to non-manicure weekends where she spends thousands. If you don’t believe
just take a look at my tear-stained credit card bills.

So here’s the fifty dollar question:
Should I tell my wife to get a manicure every week?

There is always much controversy about whether senior citizens should receive discounts on items such as food, clothing, household supplies, and even traveling expenses. Many argue that providing seniors with a discount is appropriate because they are older and most live on a fixed income. Many others argue when it comes to air line travel that senior citizens should be charged more. Main reason many cite for higher prices is the elevated risk that occurs with an older adult on a plane.

Many older adults also have serious heart problems, or other medical conditions that can make air travel a serious safety risk to themselves. If an emergency occurs in the air, it could be potentially fatal, or cause harm to other passengers as well. For these reasons, many argue that increased prices for senior citizens is more than fair. However, from a compassionate point of view, charging less is more appropriate.

Many do not realize just how tight many seniors are when it comes to budgets. There are so many seniors who are 55 and older who do not have a job and are forced to live on very limited incomes. This limited income forces many to avoid traveling much because of the often unaffordable rates that are charged for airline travel.

Working with senior citizens to find a reasonably priced and affordable airline option is something that many struggle with. Stretched budgets, limited incomes and other problems often make trying to work out a good solution for air travel almost impossible to many. However, with a bit of preplanning some airlines currently do offer discounts on certain days and times for seniors. While there are a few offering the discounts, not all airlines do offer this discount and it is a matter of searching for the airlines that do provide the discount if you are interested in it. What are your thoughts?

As we get along in years, walking a dog can be a great way to be sure that we
will get a minimum of exercise that we need. Many people also have a dog for the
first time now, either for company when the kids have left home or after a divorce
or bereavement, or just because this is the first time in their adult lives that
they have had the time to care for a dog properly.

When you walk a dog for the first time it is very important to set some ground
rules and be sure that he understands and will keep to them before you let him
off the leash. If you cannot control him in the following ways then you probably
need to consider some dog training advice.

1. When he is on the leash, your dog should be under control, staying near
   to your feet without running ahead or pulling.
2. He should not be allowed to chew on his leash at all, or he may chew through
   it and get into trouble when you leave him tied somewhere.
3. Off or on the leash he should not jump up at you or other people or attack
   any other animal, unless he is attacked first.
4. He should not follow his hunting instincts by running after bicycles, cars
   or people who are running.
5. Off the leash, he should run back to you quickly when called.
6. He should not eat food that he finds. If you let him do this he could easily
   be poisoned some day.
7. At a picnic or in the park, he should not go into other family groups except
   for yours, or eat anybody else’s food.

Of course there is the final rule for you - to clean up after him. When you
have all of this covered, walking a dog will be a pleasure that both of you
can enjoy.

I travel a lot and I’m sick and tired of people trying to carry on 100 pounds of luggage and trying to cram it into a 5 pound overhead storage compartment. And the funny part about it is most of the offenders are baby boomers.

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