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Main Street Matters -- Five things you need to know about Norway Downtown
Oct 18, 2012 12:00 am1. What is it?
Norway Downtown is a non-profit organization funded and supported by the Town of Norway, local businesses, civic organizations, and citizens. Its program is based on the Main Street Four Point approach developed by the National Trust of Historic Preservation and is overseen by the Maine Downtown Center, a program of the Maine Development Foundation.
2. How did it start?
What I've Learned
Oct 18, 2012 12:00 amLet's say you live one mile from work and that the speed limit along that route is 45 miles per hour.
One day you oversleep and are in danger of being late to work. To get there on time, you drive 70 miles per hour. Before you arrive, however, you are pulled over by the police and given a hefty ticket. Also, as a result of being stopped, you are 20 minutes late for work.
In life, it's not possible to turn back the clock, but in this column, it is, so let's back up.
What I've Learned
Oct 11, 2012 12:00 amWhen driving on the turnpike at 65 miles per hour, I often think about the cheetah, which can run 70 miles per hour. Were my Toyota edible, it would be lunch.
The reason a cheetah can run faster than the I-95 speed limit has to do with fast twitch muscle fibers.
Most mammals (perhaps all, I don't know) have two types of muscle fibers, slow twitch and fast twitch. Humans tend to have about an equal number of each type.
Slow twitch fibers don't generate much force, but they don't tire easily, either. These allow us to stand upright and to walk.
What I've Learned
Oct 04, 2012 12:00 amI met this week with a troop of Girl Scouts who are working on their media badge. One of the requirements is that they interview someone who works in media. The troop leader is a friend of mine, and asked if I'd talk to the troop and answer their questions.
I enjoyed being interviewed by these young women. They were energetic, yet respectful, asked intelligent questions, and seemed genuinely interested in my answers.
Who will care for you?
Oct 04, 2012 12:00 amWhen my mother Shirley's assisted living facility in Ohio said, “She needs dementia care and we don’t do that,” we, as a family, decided to move her to Maine. After several false-starts in Auburn, we found the right place closer by, and they accepted her (not a given, by the way). So did the State of Maine, immediately and unequivocally.
Shirley’s expenses are $200 per day, about $6,000 per month. Her income ($192 per month Social Security for working as a nurse from 1940-1944 plus my father’s army pension) covers half.
What I've Learned
Sep 27, 2012 12:00 amIn the 1980s I was 20 years ahead of my time. The tale has to do with information management, a common term today, but less so then.
What I've Learned
Sep 20, 2012 12:00 amLast weekend, I built a book scanner using a digital camera. In 20 minutes, I scanned a 200-page book so I could have the digital copy on my iPod Touch and not have to tote the actual book around.
Before telling you how I did it – it's so easy, you could do it, too – let's talk copyright. If I own a physical copy of a book and I make a digital copy of it for my own use, not for distribution, lawyers in expensive suits may still clamor that I'm violating copyright. Really? Don't get me started.
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