Where do you go to escape the day-to-day? What do you consider your refuge? Is a quiet park near your house? A bustling neighborhood pub where you meet up with loads of people? One's answer will depend on a bevy of factors, including personality, financial resources, hobbies, and so forth. I'm getting ready to go to the library in a couple of minutes, which I consider my hideaway -- my home away from home, if you will. At the library, I become one with books. I love devouring, smelling, and taking notes on them. In this age of Kindles and other electronic devices, I remain firmly ensconced in the traditional book camp. I have an office at home that includes myriad books, magazines, my computer, filing cabinet, and all the other essentials. As much as I try to do a lot of reading at home, I never seem to get very far. There are simply too many distractions in the vicinity, from my wife watching TV to dogs barking to my comfy bed calling out my name. Beyond that, ...

It's that time of the year again -- kids across the nation are commencing what they -- and their teachers and parents alike -- hope will be a fabulous school year. Now that school is back in session, we can certainly count on two things happening, especially in the next couple of weeks: 1. Traffic will get worse: If you happen to live and work near school zones -- as I do -- your commute most definitely will get longer.  In my case, during the school year it takes me roughly 10-15 minutes longer to get to work in the morning and home in the evening.  I try to leave extra early in the morning to beat the traffic, which often results in my getting to work an hour early. That's when I recline my chair in the chair and pull out a book -- or, I get a few extra Zzs.  As for the evening, if I see traffic slowing to a crawl, I stop by a nearby Starbucks or library -- book in hand -- and wait it out. If I leave an hour or two later, I usually get home in abou...

Although everyone knows Starbucks for its delicious coffee and expresso drinks, it's the company's charitable efforts that are getting more attention of late. Starbucks announced that it aims to contribute 100% of unsold food in the U.S. to Feeding America, a hunger relief organization. The idea didn't come from the top brass at the company, but from batistas behind the counter who felt the leftover food should go to the hungry. Companies like Cheesecake Factory, KFC, Taco Bell, and Chipotle already donate surplus food. Still, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 30% to 40% of America's food supply is wasted. Starbucks plans to have distributed 5 million meals -- including everything from paninis to salads -- by year's end. I applaud CEO Howard Schultz for this initiative and sincerely hope that many other restaurants including McDonald's and Burger King will soon follow suit. Poverty is a serious problem in America and around the world....

Today is National Coffee Day in the U.S., meaning you can get your coffee fix at several coffeehouse chains without shelling out a dime. Among the ones giving out freebies is Dunkin' Donuts, where you can snag a free medium cup of hot or iced dark roast coffee. Peet's Coffee & Tea is giving consumers a free small cup of Peet's Major Dickason Blend with any purchase of a baked good, outmeal, or fresh food item. At Wawa, you can get free coffee in the size of your choosing. And Krispy Kreme is giving out free small coffees and glazed doughnuts, as well as $1 discounts on other drinks. Interestingly, Starbucks -- the largest coffeehouse company in the world -- isn't giving out any freebies. Instead, it will donate 70 cents -- the price of one coffee tree -- to coffee farmers for every bag of coffee purchased by customers in U.S. stores. The effort strives to alleviate two problems facing coffee farmers: aging trees, as well as a fungus called coffee rust that...

...you were told that you had to rid yourself of all your possessions (excluding food, drink, water, medicine, clothing, and other essentials) -- except for only one . Which one item would you keep? Remember, we're talking about things that would be considered non-essentials -- wants rather than needs. You could only stay with one. I'll break the ice. As hard as it would be to kiss my beloved books goodbye, I think I would choose either my cell phone or laptop. Keeping one not only ensures I have the means to contact others, but I can use either the phone or laptop to avail of free Wi-Fi at a nearby Starbucks or McDonald's. Such gadgets also offer great entertainment value in the sense you can use them to play games and listen to music. As if that weren't enough, they have more practical applications, e.g., you can create Word documents on them. I realize there's no easy answer here. For example, men would have to forego things like porn and condoms; wom...