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She seeks reimbursement, he files for alimony

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Q. I earn more than my ex.  At the time of our divorce, we agreed to no child support because I have our children most of the time – he travels for work extensively and only sees them every other weekend.  We also agreed to no alimony – he got plenty of assets.  Over time he has gotten worse and worse about reimbursing me for the kids’ uninsured medicals.  I have a high deductible insurance plan and two kids with anxiety and ADHD and one with diabetes so we have a ton of uninsured medical expenses.I have had to scale back my hours at work because he is never around and the children have so many appointments and needs.  I am now earning about 60% of what I earned last year which is still more than he is earning.  I decided to file a contempt complaint to make him pay the thousands of uninsured medical bills he has failed to reimburse in the last five years.He filed a complaint for modification requesting alimony because I earn more than him. Should I withdraw my contempt so that he w...

Coordinate discipline with co-parent

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Q. My son’s father and I share custody of our son, a week with me, then a week with him. We get along well and try our best to coordinate discipline. So when our son got caught cutting school, I let him know how much trouble he was going to be in when his father found out. When he walked in the house, I called his father right then and there and I let his dad yell at him. How’s that for good ex-etiquette?A. Well, it sounds like you and dad are on the same page. You did coordinate efforts and asked for help with the situation, but you gave up all your parental power in the process. Is dad the primary disciplinarian even at your house?Your son lives in two homes. The “wait until your dad/mom gets home” type of discipline may have worked in a two-parent household. But now, when so many children go back and forth between their parents’ homes, both parents must take responsibility for discipline when the children are with them.Of course, anticipating problems and coming to a mutual agree...

Editorial: Students need better, healthier meals at school

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Less sugar, lower sodium and more whole grains are among the new guidelines for school meals under consideration by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These are reasonable, necessary changes considering that about 1 in 5 U.S. children are obese, a condition that can lead to serious lifelong health consequences if it continues into adulthood.The USDA’s goal is to more closely align school meal standards with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which details ingredients for a healthy diet. For example, these guidelines call for limiting added sugars to less than 10% of daily calories. In comparison, added sugars provide about 17% of calories in school breakfasts and about 11% in school lunches. Currently, the USDA does not have guidelines limiting sugar in school meals.Meeting the new nutritional standards will mean that schools will have to cut some products, replacing them with ones that meet the new sugar and sodium guidelines. The International Dairy Foods Association earlier t...

Author goes behind the scenes of iconic WWII movie ‘The Dirty Dozen’

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

“The Dirty Dozen,” first released in 1967, stands as an enduring – if still controversial – game-changing WWII movie.In a starry movie year that included “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The Graduate,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Cool Hand Luke” and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” it ranked as the Number One film at the box-office.Dwayne Epstein’s “Killin’ Generals: The Making of The Dirty Dozen” (Citadel Press, $28) takes its title from the last line in Robert Aldrich’s now-classic film and considers its roots in a bestselling 1965 book, the ensemble cast led by Oscar-winner Lee Marvin and its legacy.Was it based on an actual assignment – or not?  No one really knows whether a group of American soldiers imprisoned in the UK, some slated for execution, were given a suicide mission: To parachute behind enemy lines in France just prior to D-Day. Any who survived would be pardoned.Beyond Marvin, the diverse dozen included Charles Bronson, Ernest Borgnine, TV’s hulking Clint Walker, pro footballer...

Lack of a job description a red flag for interviewees

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Q. The company I’m interviewing with doesn’t have a job description. They did when I applied, but now it’s basically a blank sheet — they say the job is what I make of it. But shouldn’t I know what the job is about? When I ask them, they talk about the company perks and stuff, but not the job itself. Help!A. Run, do not walk, away from this company. They’re vague with you now, so I can’t even imagine what the job would be like. Considering they had a job description and it’s now completely changed into everything-yet-nothing, that also feels like a bait-and-switch situation. Be thankful this glaring red flag emerged sooner rather than later.Companies should always have a job description and the ability to talk articulately about the job. If you don’t even know what the role is you’re interviewing for and ultimately potentially working in, how would they be able to determine what your annual salary increase should be? And th...

Hotel Commonwealth makes a great base camp for Boston sports fans

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

If you feel like Boston is the center of the sports world right now, you’re on point. While we’re still waiting for our Rex Sox to amp it up, the Boston Marathon just wowed the world, the Celtics are making the post season look great and the Bruins? Well, we don’t want to jinx things, so we’ll just talk in the now: No one can deny their current greatness.They may be no better time to head to Boston, set up base camp and spend a night – or more— to be in the thick of things.The Hotel Commonwealth (https://www.hotelcommonwealth.com) is just the place to put yourself in position with the winners.From its location – in the shadow of the Citco sign on Commonwealth Avenue (steps from Fenway and a quick Uber or train to the Garden – to its beautiful rooms (including suites with a distinct Boston POV), the Hotel Commonwealth delivers.I arrived at the Hotel Commonwealth for an epic sports day – Marathon Monday – early. The streets to get there would be closed, since they are smack dab on the...

Cat’s test results could just be a fluke

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Dear Dr. John,My husband and I own three cats that are all in good health. Recently they had their annual exams and two were determined to need dental cleanings and an extraction or two. Bloodwork was done to assess their suitability for anesthesia, and it turned out that one of the cats had a high total bilirubin. What is bilirubin and what does the high value mean? I asked my vet, and he talked about doing something called bile acids and some other diagnostic tests if a recheck in a few weeks’ time did not show a normalization of the increased value. My vet said that all the other bloodwork seemed relatively normal and since my cat showed no sign of being jaundiced then it may have been a fluke finding. Should I be concerned? S.M.Dear S.M.,Bilirubin is something that the body makes upon the breakdown or destruction of red blood cells. Red blood cells in cats have a life of about two to three months before they stop functioning and are broken down for elimination by the body as a c...

Bel Powley illuminates story of Holocaust hero in ‘A Small Light’

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Bel Powley “didn’t know anything” when she was cast as Dutch Resistance heroine Miep Gies in “A Small Light,” the new 6-episode NatGeo and Disney + series.In 1942 Amsterdam when the Nazis took began rounding up Jews to send to death camps, Otto Frank’s family went into hiding in a hidden attic above his business they called the Annex.  Their story became known after the war when Otto, the family’s sole survivor after they were discovered, published his daughter’s “The Diary of Anne Frank.”Anne’s diary was found and saved by Miep Gies (pronounced Meep Geez) who had worked for Otto and kept them fed when they hid in the Annex. If discovered, she would have been executed on the spot.“Obviously I had read the ‘Diary of Anne Frank’ when I was younger, kind of educationally,” Powley said in a Zoom interview. “And I know a lot about this part of history. But I didn’t really know anything about Miep Gies. So I had a lot of learning to do.“And the more I discovered what she accom...

King: From plumbers to mechanics, U.S. gasping for skilled workers

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

There is a terrible shortage of people who fix things. I am thinking of electricians, plumbers, glaziers, auto mechanics and many more skilled workers who keep life livable and society running.It is frustrating if you can’t get a plumber when you need one. But the skilled worker shortage has much more significant consequences than the inconvenience to the homeowner. The very rate of national progress on many fronts is being affected.More housing is desperately needed, but architects tell me some new construction isn’t happening because of the skilled worker shortage. Projects are being shelved.The problem in electric utilities is critical — and interesting because the utilities offer excellent pay, retirement and healthcare, and still, they are falling short of recruits. They are aware that many of their workers will be retiring in the next several years, adding to the problem.Auto dealerships are scrounging for mechanics, now euphemistically called “technicians.” Skilled workers ar...

Active Xavier wants to be a construction worker

Published Mon, 24 Feb 2025 12:20:51 GMT

Xavier is a charming teen boy.  Xavier has a very curious and kind personality. His many interests include art, electronics, LEGOs or anything having to do with building, SpongeBob and Disney movies. Xavier loves spending time outdoors, especially if that means shooting hoops at a local basketball court, swimming, building sandcastles, riding his bike, or playing “Dr. Dodge.” His dream job is to be a construction worker.Xavier is described as very caring, a hard worker who is eager to succeed, with a great sense of humor. When you first meet Xavier, there is a good chance he will share a smile and make you laugh.Xavier loves learning, especially if it’s interactive. He’s a very inquisitive child who is very happy to have conversations and ask questions about how different things work. Xavier is described as very bright academically.Xavier holds great hopes about growing up in a loving family with similar interests. He has remained very patient and open-minded about the k...