Table of contents for July/August 2018 in Reader's Digest

10 things you did not ask me about my dog but that I’ll tell you anyway: 1) Her name is Steph Curry. Long story. Don’t ask. 2) Well, now that you’ve asked, my teenage son fell in love with her as a puppy in a classmate’s litter. We didn’t need a dog, but he said, “I promise I’ll take care of her.” And his favorite athlete’s name is … 3) How hard are you laughing at us right now? Our 16-year-old told us “I promise,” and so we said yes? 4) When she was a few months old, she ate a squirrel. Cost in vet bills to extract said squirrel from her stomach: $3,000. 5) The squirrel was a toy squirrel (though pretty much life-size when seen in outline on…

IT’S A FRIDAY morning in Boston, which means Dr. Jim O’Connell is making his rounds. He might be more comfortable inside an exam room, but that’s not where his patients are. O’Connell is one of a handful of physicians making house calls to the homeless in the city. More than 550,000 Americans are homeless, and many have health problems but no access to care. O’Connell and his team, made up of psychiatrists, internists, a nurse practitioner, a case manager, and a recovery coach, are doing something about it. They spend their days walking around where the homeless live—in parks, under bridges, and on the outskirts of town. They treat about 700 regular patients. During these rounds, O’Connell himself usually sees about 20 patients. He knows where most of them sleep…

◗ Put space between things. Don’t schedule items on your itinerary close together. A vacation isn’t a race, and you can leave some breathing room in your schedule. That will help everyone relax, especially if one stop on your tour takes longer than expected. ◗ Spend at least five minutes each day doing nothing. Just sit in silence. Become aware of your thoughts. Notice the world around you without worrying about moving through it and on to the next thing. One good place: in a chair by the window in a hotel room. ◗ Eat slowly. Food can be crammed down your throat, but where’s the joy in that? Savor each bite, and take in the surroundings while you’re at it. You’ll even eat less. (Imagine that: a vacation where…

I grew up in a small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Anniston, Alabama. Much of the town worked at the cotton mill, the Fort McClellan Army base, or the Monsanto chemical plant. The town stank like rotten eggs. It was a poor town where girls got married at 14. They were usually pregnant by 15. My mama had five kids by the age of 22, and six of her eight husbands came from Fort McClellan. My siblings and I grew up in a housing project. At school, we had to eat last because we were the welfare kids. By the time I was eight years old, I was cleaning houses and babysitting. But you know, I didn’t mind. I felt safer working than being at home with…

“An old actor said to me once, ‘Learn how to nap.’”LIAM NEESON ▶ J. K. Rowling “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default. Now, I am not going to tell you that failure is fun. [But] the knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive.” ▶ Richard Branson “My mother always taught me never to look back in regret but to move on to the next thing. The amount of time people waste dwelling on failures rather than putting that energy into another project always amazes me.” ▶ George Clooney “The best advice…

GRAND PRIZE “My cat Minerva enjoying the sunset on Moses Lake in Texas City. Minerva loves putting her paws in the water and sunning herself by the shore.” ABDULKAREEM HARUNANI, Rockford, Illinois RUNNER-UP “The day after we got seven-week-old Tootsie Lou, she fell asleep on my slipper. I snapped this just as she woke up.” ERIN VILLELLA, Peachtree City, Georgia RUNNER-UP “My friend and I went on a walk in Vermont and met this friendly horse who wanted attention.” BARBARA ADAMSON, Littleton, Colorado RUNNER-UP “Our cat Steve always sits like a person. He also thinks he’s a model because we’re always photographing him.” KRISTIINA WILSON, New York, New York…

The ingredient in marijuana that produces the high is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It’s also a medicinal ingredient, responsible for muting the effects of chronic pain, nausea, mood disorders, and other ailments. Over the decades, some marijuana strains have been bred to contain more THC and less of the substance that lessens the high, called cannabidiol (CBD). Because THC concentrations have grown stronger, today’s “weed” might well be 40 times more potent than the “grass” of the 1970s.…

You can make waves or be a wave rider. You can never do both at the same time.MARK MOTONAGA, designer MAKE A BUCKET LIST; DO EVERYTHING ON THAT BUCKET LIST; MAKE ANOTHER BUCKET LIST.KATE HUDSON, actor Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.BILL GATES, business leader WHEN I SAY “MY HUSBAND,” I FEEL LIKE I’M DOING THE IMPRESSION OF A MARRIED PERSON.JAMIE LEE, comedian If you have three people in your life that you can trust, you can consider yourself the luckiest person in the whole world.SELENA GOMEZ, singer MAN’S MOST VALUABLE TRAIT IS A JUDICIOUS SENSE OF WHAT NOT TO BELIEVE.EURIPIDES, playwright Reader’s Digest (ISSN 0034-0375) (USPS 865-820), (CPM Agreement# 40031457), Vol. 192, No. 1142, July/August 2018. © 2018. Published monthly, except bimonthly in July/August and December/January (subject…

50 Ways to Survive the Hospital I am a registered nurse and found your tips well defined. However, I take issue with your “How to Say It” recommendations, such as “I’m sorry, but I’m really nervous about infections. I know you are very careful, but would you mind washing your hands for me?” Why should the patient be sorry? Just say “I’m really nervous about infections. Please wash your hands, use hand sanitizer, or put on gloves.” One can make straightforward requests without being confrontational. SUE ELLEN COLLINS, Monrovia, Indiana Everyday Heroes Finally a Heroes story that wasn’t gory! Reading “Design for Living,” about how Nancy Ballard got some fellow artists to brighten up the chemotherapy rooms in her San Francisco doctor’s office, I was thrilled to see her idea…

No, it was not. A jury in the District Court of DeWitt County did find that Union Pacific was negligent and deserved 80 percent of the blame for William Nami’s illness. (It ruled that William himself was 20 percent to blame because he didn’t try to mitigate the problem with bug spray or long-sleeved shirts.) William was awarded $752,000 in damages, and Texas’s 13th Court of Appeals upheld that ruling. But the Supreme Court of Texas overturned those rulings. It cited a common law doctrine called ferae naturae, which states that a landowner is not liable for the acts of wild animals on the owner’s property if the owner hasn’t attracted the animals on purpose. The court decided that the law applied to business owners as well. “There is no…

Name actual responses to prompts on Family Feud that are so ludicrous they no doubt started real family feuds. Answer: These. Q: Name a type of foreign money. A: Monopoly. Q: Name a farm animal that the farmer may grow so fond of, he might not want to eat it. A: Dog. Q: Name a place where you might see another person take off all their clothes. A: The mall. Q: Name something a duck and a chicken have in common. A: They both quack. Q: Name a place where it’s smart to know where the exits are. A: Church. Q: If someone tells you a secret, how many people do you tell? A: Five. Q: Name something you eat too much of. A: Food. Source: stupidgsa.com Got a funny…

FROM THE FAMILY HANDYMAN “Premium fuel helps performance.” Premium gas won’t make a difference in any normal vehicle. Only cars built for less combustible fuel need it. Your manual will tell you if premium is required or just “recommended,” in which case you can skip it and save. “I’ll get more gas if I fill up in the morning.” The temperature of gasoline doesn’t change much when the air is cooler, so you aren’t saving any money by filling up in the cold. “Electric cars are more likely than conventional cars to catch fire.” While there had been some concern that the battery in hybrid and electric cars might catch fire after a crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a report stating these vehicles do not pose a…

Microwave Container shape is key when it comes to reheating food. The corners of rectangular containers usually attract more energy than other areas, leaving the food in those spots overcooked. A round container, on the other hand, allows food to reheat more uniformly. And don’t add seasonings until you’re done nuking the meal. Microwave energy is drawn to salt, so a seasoned top will collect heat and leave the outer layer of your food dry. If you’d rather add salt first, stir it in thoroughly. Oven Broiler Keeping the door of your oven closed allows heat and steam to build up, which is ideal for baking—but not for broiling. Venting the steam helps broiled food develop the crustiness you’re going for; the escape of hot air also means you’ll be…

“You have a choice in life. You can either put your stuff in your pockets and take it to your grave, or you can help someone.”HODA KOTB 1. Make it your goal to live at peace with others. Is it possible to do this with everyone in our lives? Unfortunately, no; even our best efforts may not change another person’s attitude. The key is to ask God if we’re at fault, and if so, to confess it and seek his help to overcome it. Life is temporary and fleeting. We’re here for just a short time. We shouldn’t waste our days but live them for God’s glory. 2. Avoid revenge. Don’t be a captive of the past. If someone has harmed us by breaking the law, we have the right…

SCUTTLE CHARLA VIRKLER, Kissimmee, Florida CASSI SANDI FRITCHLEY, Loudon, Tennessee MEEP NADINE SCHNEIDER, New City, New York CAESAR TISH DAY, Mossyrock, Washington STERLING JOANNE GOULDIN, Tucson, Arizona MAVERICK KENDRA RICHARD, Daly City, California QUINCY MADISON MONTANARI, Dallas, Texas BUGSY ANDREA KOONCE, Mirando City, Texas HOOCH DON ALBRIGHT, Clayton, Washington CUBBINS COLLEEN VAUGHN, Greer, South Carolina FINLEY KAITLIN KENNEY, Crownsville, Maryland MANGO ANDREA NARCISO, Chico, California GUS VIRGIL SWANSON, Greenfield, Iowa MICKEY JIM BROWN, Bettendorf, Iowa KITTY KAT LISA HOSTETTER, Waverly, Missouri JACKSON JACKI DAY, El Cajon, California TUCKER KAREN FIGEL, Butler, Pennsylvania…

CRACK NUTS In 1991, a Chinese man received a mallet-like gift that, over the following 25 years, he used to smash open walnuts. That is, until he happened to receive a leaflet passed out by local police regarding explosive devices. His nutcracker was in fact a 1960s-era hand grenade. Source: crienglish.com GET A DRIVER’S LICENSE With the examiner in the car, a Buffalo, Minnesota, teen began her driver’s test by turning on the ignition, taking the car out of park, tapping the accelerator, and driving her Chevy Equinox into—and through—the brick wall of the examination station. Source: Star Tribune HOOK UP A TV To find out where the cable needed to go through the wall to connect to his TV, a DIYer set the alarm on a battery-powered clock to…

This hot fudge sundae hasn’t killed me, so it must be making me stronger. @ONLYFASTEDDIE I like to remind my kids who’s boss by putting a cherry tomato on top of their ice cream sundaes every once in a while. @AWESOME_TODD I’m a parent, so the only warm meal I get around here is ice cream. @MARLEBEAN I can’t turn water into wine, but I can turn ice cream into breakfast. @LOUISPEITZMAN If anyone can remember the jokes from Popsicle sticks, I’ll be exposed for the fraud I am. @MR_KAPOWSKI I dropped my ice cream cone on the ground, and it landed pointy end up, which made the earth, at least for a moment, one giant topping. @BRIANBOWMAN73…

The Doctor Recommended TV•EARS® headset has helped millions of people hear television dialog clearly while eliminating concerns about loud volume or the need to buy expensive hearing aids. Put on your TV•Ears headset and turn it up as loud as you want while others listen to the television at a comfortable volume. You can even put the TV on mute and listen through the headset only. Others in the room won’t hear a thing, but we guarantee you will. As thousands of our customers have said, “TV•Ears has changed our lives!” Voice Clarifying Circuitry® The TV•Ears headset contains proprietary Voice Clarifying Circuitry that automatically adjusts the audio curve to increase the clarity of television dialog while decreasing the volume of background sounds such as music and sound effects. The words…

FOR YEARS, people have been naming their pets—and their kids, in some cases—after pop icons they love. In 2016, 370 people in the United States named their baby girls Khaleesi in honor of a Game of Thrones character. Scientists, too, are constantly naming newly discovered species after celebs. But these names might carry a little bit more weight: While a baby named Khaleesi can get older and decide to legally change her name, scientific names go down in the history books. There’s the Agra schwarzeneggeri beetle, named after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s biceps; the Aleiodes shakirae wasp, named after Shakira’s hip and belly dance movements; and the list goes on. Identifying a species with a recognizable person is a way to raise awareness. Turns out, there is a method to this seemingly…

“How to Create an Aha! Moment” sparked many of you to share your own. Driving to my third day on a Houston jury, I realized I was truly looking forward to it and wishing I didn’t have to return to work. That night I decided I would quit my bank job, get a PhD (previously only a passing fancy), and become a professor. And so I did. MARGARET LANGFORD, New Braunfels, Texas Whenever I can’t think of something, I try for a while, then leave it to my unconscious mind. I’m 89 years old and figure I have a lot of debris in the attic of my brain, so it takes time to go through all those years of accumulation. Sure enough, maybe a day later, the name will just…

A NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR (by her granddaughter, network news producer Allison Arlene Hansen): Not long before she died, I sneaked away for a Grandma sleepover. A character who was always full of surprises, she motioned me to her beloved writing desk—black with gold chinoiserie and a white leather top. “That’s yours,” she said. “You’re a writer, like me. You get the purple box inside too.” I opened the box to find stacks of her stories, some sweet, some adventurous, some droll—just like her. This one, an amusing look back written when she was in her 70s, shows her fondness for the unexpected path. Dear Children, As you know, for years I’ve planned to write up the memories I’ve been saving on scraps of paper since you were young. I’ve…

GOD’S BUBBLE BATH Pacific Northwest beaches occasionally have unusual quantities of sea-foam, which forms because of large algal blooms, storms, and dissolved matter from marine plant life. On one foamy day, my husband and I left Portland with our two kids, then ages six and four, to go to the beach. As soon as our car crested a dune, we got our first glimpse of the shoreline. “Look, Mommy,” our four-year-old shouted excitedly. “God put bubble bath in the ocean!” AVERIL MCALLISTER, Wilsonville, Oregon THE FRIENDLIEST SKIES I flew standby on a cross-country flight piloted by my older brother. Of course, my seat was way in the back of the plane, and I managed to whack every elbow on my slow hike up the aisle. People glared. Soon my brother’s…

Your life should be full of stories. Sometimes they’re funny, and sometimes they’re outrageous. Sometimes you can’t comprehend them, and sometimes they’re painful … But the more you get hit, the more fun it’s going to be. NICK NOLTE, actor, in Men’s Journal ONE OF THE BEST feelings is when you know that luck didn’t play a role in your success. Doing work eliminates the need for luck. I’m not lucky; I just took the stairs. LILLY SINGH, YouTube performer, in her book, How to Be a Bawse NOT MUCH HAPPENS when we’re in our comfort zone. I hear people say, “But I’m concerned about security.” My response to that is simple: “Security is for cadavers.” BOB PARSONS, entrepreneur, on bobparsons.com WE SCIENTISTS have found that doing a kindness produces…

TRAVELING WITH KIDS is 90 percent reminding yourself to live in the moment and 10 percent vowing to never again leave your house. I have an uncanny ability to forget this as soon as we return home from a trip and I’ve finished washing our 74 loads of laundry (guys, did we bring home other people’s suitcases too?) and we’ve settled back into a routine and looked through our vacation photos and started feeling nostalgic for the place we just left. Family travel is like childbirth, I suppose. Painful, loud, messy, sort of awful, actually, but also spectacular. And you remember only the spectacular—until you’re back on a plane bound for someplace new and your kids are fighting over who gets the aisle seat while irate passengers bore actual holes…

IF YOU BELIEVED everything you read about your credit score, you’d think it was the most important component of your financial health. Without a good credit score and history, the experts say, it’s more difficult to qualify for a mortgage or a car loan—and more expensive if you’re approved for a loan, too, because you won’t get the best interest rates. In many states, bad credit can even raise your insurance premiums, cost you a rental apartment, or make it harder to get hired. While all of that is true, it doesn’t tell the whole story. First off, there are several credit scores out there. While it’s important to nurture your credit scores by using credit responsibly, your FICO credit score may not be the same as what VantageScore reports,…

1 Breast The American Cancer Society recommends that women get mammograms every year, but not until age 45. You may need to start screenings earlier if you have a family history of breast cancer or genetic mutations that hinder the function of genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, which repair damaged DNA and help suppress tumors. 2 Colon You probably don’t need a colonoscopy or other colon cancer screening tests until you’re 50, unless you have a parent, sibling, or child who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps before age 60. 3 Lung Unless you smoke or quit less than 15 years ago and you are between the ages of 55 and 80, you likely don’t need a lung cancer screening. 4 Prostate The U.S. Preventive Services Task…

Hospital patients are understandably distracted, which might explain these odd statements heard by nurses: ■ Patient, when asked about her chief complaints: “Well, my hair hurts.” ■ “There was a little hard pellet inside my mouth, and I think maybe it was my ovary.” ■ “I didn’t actually fall. It was a controlled landing.” ■ “Oh, I’m just so constipated! Please bring me some eye drops!” ■ Patient with seizures: “I had to come to the ER because I quit taking my peanut butterball.” (He meant phenobarbital.) ■ “My father had thyroids, and I think I do too.” Source: nursebuff.com Anything funny happen to you at work lately? It could be worth $$$. For details, see page 3 or go to rd.com/submit.…

MY FRIENDS ASKED ME to go camping, so I made a list of the things I would need: “1. New friends.” @ROBINMCCAULEY A PRIEST BUYS a lawn mower at a yard sale. Back home, he pulls on the starter rope a few times with no results. He storms back to the yard sale and tells the previous owner, “I can’t get the mower to start!” “That’s because you have to curse to get it started,” says the man. “I’m a man of the cloth. I don’t even remember how to curse.” “You keep pulling on that rope, and it’ll come back to you.” Submitted by ROSE MATTIX, Decatur, Illinois MY DAD IS SO CHEAP that when he dies, he’s going to walk toward the light and turn it off. Comedian MATIN…

“If I ask kids, ‘Is marijuana harmful?’ not a hand goes up,” says Jodi Gilman, PhD, of Harvard. These days, it’s decidedly uncool to criticize marijuana and the rush toward legalization. So far, 29 states and the District of Columbia allow medical marijuana, while nine states and DC permit recreational use. Sixty-one percent of Americans say they believe the drug should be legal, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. But underscoring this incredible momentum for legalization is the misconception that marijuana can’t hurt anybody. It can—especially young people. The myth that cannabis, another name for the plant, is not habit-forming is constantly challenged by physicians. “There’s no question at all that marijuana is addictive,” Sharon Levy, MD, tells me. She is the director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse…

Have you ever entered a restaurant craving a spinach salad, only to end up ordering the pig roast special? Chances are, the proprietors had a hand in that outcome. Be it a high-end eatery or a fast-food joint, a restaurant’s owners have clever ways to influence your choice. That soft background melody? A Scottish study found that diners spent 23 percent more when slow-tempo music was played. The red walls? That color stimulates appetite. And then there’s the menu. With its mouthwatering prose and ample use of consumer psychology, of course you want to sample every dish. We’ve annotated a menu you might find at a typical medium-priced eatery. Which of these tricks have you fallen for? APPETIZERS Crispy Fried Mozzarella Sticks 12 THE FINE PRINT For some consumers, the…

“MISSY,” I CALLED to my wife, “did you smear Vaseline on my desk?” “No, honey. Meghan probably did.” Just like that. Calm. As I’d feared, she had missed the carefully honed, double-edged irony of the question. I knew she hadn’t put it there. The question was rhetorical; its only function was to make clear to her that she hadn’t done her job: defend my desk against the aggressor. I abandoned the conversation. I would deal with Meghan, our 22-month-old daughter, later. All of that was yesterday. Today I sit here at that same rolltop desk, which I salvaged from a friend’s attic two years ago, and stare at the blank sheet inserted in the typewriter. I wait patiently for ideas to come to me, exam questions on Herman Melville for…

DISCOVERY 1. Bunny from the Florida Keys 2. Bright orange mushroom that can soak up and wring out water 3. Hippo-like prehistoric animal with massive lips 4. Ancient marine creature with an hourglass shape on its head 5. Horsefly with a gold-colored rear (shown at right) 6. Extinct sea creature with claws Edward Scissor-hands would be proud of 7. Fly whose legs go bowlegged when it dies 8. Slime-mold beetle with a helmetlike head 9. Shrimp with bright pink-red claws SPECIES NAME A. Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae (Beyoncé) B. Agathidium vaderi (Darth Vader) C. Spongiforma squarepantsii (SpongeBob SquarePants) D. Campsicnemus charliechaplini (Charlie Chaplin) E. Synalpheus pinkfloydi (Pink Floyd) F. Sylvilagus palustris hefneri (Hugh Hefner) G. Norasaphus (Norasaphites) monroeae (Marilyn Monroe) H. Jaggermeryx naida (Mick Jagger) I. Kootenichela deppi (Johnny Depp) Answers: 1-F; 2-C; 3-H; 4-G; 5-A; 6-I; 7-D; 8-B; 9-E…

1. torrid ('tohr-ihd) adj.—A: blooming. B: scorching. C: perspiring. 2. deluge ('dehl-yooj) n.—A: heavy downpour. B: squirt gun. C: greenhouse. 3. verdant ('vurh-dint) adj.—A: sandy. B: green. C: buggy. 4. tack (tak) v.—A: hook a fish. B: upend a raft. C: change direction when sailing. 5. pyrotechnics (py-ruh-'tek-niks) n.—A: sunspots. B: fireworks. C: heat waves. 6. chigger ('chih-ger) n.—A: fastball. B: biting mite. C: beer garden. 7. estivate ('eh-stuh-vayt) v.—A: lounge outdoors. B: nurture until grown. C: spend the summer. 8. pattypan ('pa-tee-pan) n.—A: playground. B: heat rash. C: summer squash. 9. alfresco (al-'freh-skoh) adv.—A: with cheese sauce. B: outdoors. C: in a fresh state. 10. hibachi (hih-'bah-chee) n.—A: raincoat. B: charcoal griller. C: Asian eggplant. 11. pergola ('per-guh-luh) n.—A: umbrella. B: trellis. C: paid vacation. 12. glamping ('glam-ping) n.—A:…

MY GRANDDAUGHTER’S husband was complaining about how spellcheck changes the meaning of e-mails when an Air Force officer told him this story: He’d sent a message to 300 of his personnel addressed to “Dear Sirs and Ma’ams.” It was received as “Dear Sirs and Mamas.” PHYLLIS HOWARD, Lincoln, Missouri AS MY SUPERVISOR and I left the headquarters building, the lawn sprinklers, which had been showering the walkway, stopped. After he realized that he had forgotten something, we went back inside. With that, the sprinklers started again. “There must be a motion sensor controlling the spray,” we said, and decided to test it by walking in and out the front door. After several laps, I began looking around for the sensor. By the side of the building, instead of a sensor, I…