Housing Market of Horrors: A 20-Something’s Guide to Buying a Home

Since the housing market began its dramatic landslide last year, I’ve been pushing my fiancé to buy a house under the impression that this may be the most affordable time for first-time buyers. There’s a lot of real estate out there for sale, most of which has been sitting stagnant for several months. The lenders and agents continue to harp that this is a buyer’s market. And they’re right—it’s the best time to be a buyer if you’re not trying to sell a house first and have 20 percent to put down.

Being 20-Something Today

I’ve learned a lot since I started looking at homes, and one of those lessons is that unless you can put 20 percent down on a house, you’re monthly mortgage is going to be painful. There isn’t a lot of incentive for young people just getting started to do anything other than rent, because renting is still much cheaper here in Maryland. Everyone tells me that I’m throwing my money away on the apartment I live in, and I know in the long run it’s true. What those people don’t realize is how hard it is for a young couple to afford a mortgage these days.

More and more kids are attending college, and not all of those kids have rich parents to pay off the debt that builds while in school. I’m pretty lucky, but not lucky enough. I had a $10,000 scholarship, and the rest of my debt was split between my parents and me. I worked part-time between classes, and after I got a decent job with my B.A., I started making payments on the other half of my debt. Five years later and I’m still hurting enough that when I looked at the mortgage estimate the broker gave me, I cringed. Continue reading Housing Market of Horrors: A 20-Something’s Guide to Buying a Home

Breaking Bread and Shedding Blood: The Truth About Thanksgiving

Americans believe that Thanksgiving is about, well, giving thanks for things like food, shelter, liberty, and football, but few people are aware that there may be a dark side to the holiday.

When we think about Thanksgiving, images of children dressed in tall hats and buckles and paper-made feathered headbands come to mind. Most of us were those children in grade school. We remember what we learned from our teachers — Native Americans taught Pilgrims to sew corn, and they shared a big feast to give thanks for the bounty and friendship they had made.

We weren’t taught about the first-hand accounts of thieving puritans, or the evidence of failed crop, and the bloodshed of hundreds of people.

Continue reading Breaking Bread and Shedding Blood: The Truth About Thanksgiving

Can a Thin Population Bear the Hunt?

In four days 51 black bears were killed in Maryland. With little more than 500 American black bears living in the state and a majority of residents preferring a non-lethal alternative to black bear control, the hunting season for black bears took place last week for a third year in a row. But was the decision to reopen the hunt after a 51-year-old ban too soon for this typically peaceful omnivore?

History of the Hunt

The 51-year-old ban on hunting the state’s largest land animal was lifted in 2004 after the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) claimed to have studied hard on the topic. In the mid-1900’s, the black bear was a highly endangered species in Maryland because of logging and hunting. By 1991 there were only 79 black bears found in the wild according to DNR. During the ban, the black bear began a slow growth back up the ladder, but remained mostly in the western counties such as Garrett and Allegany. Scarcely 300 bears later, DNR granted Marylanders the right to hunt the black bear through a lottery. Continue reading Can a Thin Population Bear the Hunt?

America’s Workaholic No Longer Trendy: Take a Nap

You’ve just had lunch. You’re at your desk, ready to steam engine your way through the rest of the afternoon with a lot of hard work, but before you know it that dreaded Sandman sneaks around the corner of your cubical and you’re suddenly nodding off. When you catch yourself a few moments later, you pray that your boss didn’t notice. From this point on, you begin the inevitable battle of keeping your eyes open for the rest of the day. Maybe you get a cup of coffee from the break room or pop some caffeine pills, but your progress is slow going no matter what you do.

You’re not alone. People all across America are experiencing the same thing, and because of globalization, so are many others in countries where the Western workaholic attitude is catching on. The good news is that more companies are starting to recognize the positive results of giving their employees their much needed nap time.

Nap Centers:

Believe it or not, there are Wellness Centers looking to make a buck off your mini siesta. In Manhattan, Yelo and MetroNaps are two such organizations. As featured in such articles as MSNBC and Portfolio, Yelo offers customers a nap and spa setting for $24 for 20 minutes. MetroNaps charges $14 for the same amount of time, but without the fancy treatment of a day spa.

The idea is slowly becoming a trend, despite old taboos about napping and laziness. Some centers are even offering customers portable beds that they can rent and take to work. Continue reading America’s Workaholic No Longer Trendy: Take a Nap