Reading, Writing & Runny Noses

Most schoolchildren tend to get three to six viral illnesses a year -- usually when the seasons change, as with the onset of the monsoon, or of winter. If you and your kids can follow these rules, you'll all have a healthier school year.

1. Soap up. Germs live a hand-to-mouth, -nose, or -eye existence. Keep your kids' hands clean, and they'll stay well. In an American study of 6000 school kids, regular hand washing-cut absenteeism 20 percent. It might seem too simple, but plain soap and water really work!
   
2. Hands off! Back up the frequent-washing plan by reminding your kids to keep their hands off their faces as much as possible.
   
3. Get some fresh air. Encourage your kids to play outside -- even if it's a bit cold. Kids don't "catch cold" from cool weather. Studies suggest even the traditional winter colds may result from people spending more time indoors.
   
4. Get plenty of sleep. Researchers have found that sleep deprivation increases our susceptibility to colds.
   
5. Just say no. If your child's best friend's mum says her son has the sniffles, cancel your child's play time with him.

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True Tales of Job Hunting

Office casual may be in, but etiquette still counts in interviews. Some tips:

Turn off your phone. While he waited, one candidate called his mum to tell her about how the dentist fixed his gums, says Anne Maxfield, president of a Manhattan personnel search firm. When a manager finally greeted him, he said, "I'll be with you in a few minutes."

Proofread letters. A candidate at Food & Wine magazine wrote post-interview thank-yous, but carelessness did her in. "She got the name right on one letter," says editor-in-chief Dana Cowin. "The other said: 'Dear Blah Blah.'"

Do you homework. To break the ice at one large company, candidate Fred Neurohr asked, "Is Ed McMahon around a lot?" He got no response but persisted. "I bet he's exciting at the Christmas party." Finally, his interviewer broke the news: "He works for our competitor."

Check your zipper. Linda Gilleran, a consultant for Hewlett-Packard, once left an interview thinking she had made a good impression. Outside, she says, "I looked down to find my fly open wit just the fluttering silk of my underwear between me and the world." She didn't get the job. » Continue reading

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Get smarter on Sunglasses

Summer. The time when sunglasses are most used. Some glaring facts about them from eye doctors.

• Not everybody needs sunglasses: most of us can tolerate normal sunlight unaided. Wear sunglasses if you constantly encounter dust, glare, wind, or prolonged exposure to intense sunlight. Wearing them at all times can reduce your eyes' tolerance to light, making even normal light seem unpleasant.
  
• Spurious sunglasses can harm your eyes. Select a pair with a brochure or sticker that says "UV400" or "100% UV protection." But manufacturers often falsely make the claim, so it's safest to pay extra for a reputed brand. Shaded behind sunglasses, your pupils dilate. So glasses that are not UV-safe will let in excessive ultraviolet rays which cause cataracts, a gradual clouding of the eye's natural lens.
  
• Glass colour has no bearing on quality or UV protection. But grey, light green or brown do not adversely affect our colour perception -- unlike yellow, red and other colours.
  
• Plastic lenses being unbreakable and light are safer than those made of glass for games or diving, and for kids, Ask for "scratch proof plastic."
  
• To test the optical quality of non-prescription glasses, hold them at half an arm's length and, with one eye closed, look through a lens at any object. If the object seems to move or wobble as you move the glasses, the lens has imperfections and may cause headaches. With a good lens, the object will stay as is.
  
• Polarized sunglasses are best for cutting the glare -- suitable for driving, boating, beaches or snow.
  
• Photo chromatic glasses adjust to UV -- a better choice for those who often wear sunglasses.
  
• Don't encourage small children to wear sunglasses habitually -- they're likely to grow up unable to manage without them.

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Land of Dracula

Panoramic view with the Clock Tower

Sighisoara, 11 hours by train from Bucharest, the Romanian capital is the sleeping Beauty of Romania, a perfectly preserved medieval town in a pristine countryside, all but unknown, visited by only a venturesome handful. Now it seems about to be kissed awake by the unlikeliest Prince Charming -- Dracula. Who says you can't go home again?

For we are in the heart of Transylvania, whence the vampire legends sprang, mountaintop setting of ominous Castle Dracula where, in reels and reels of horror film and mountains of literary gore, fiction's best known ghoul sucked his victims' blood to keep himself alive. This Dracula was the invention of a hyper-imaginative novelist, but he was based on a real-life 15th century swash buckler name Vlad Tepes, also no bundle of charm. They called him Dracula, meaning Son of the Devil, because of his penchant for impaling captured foes and watching them writhe while he ate his dinner.

A street in Sighisoara with Clock Tower in the background

The Romanian government had announced a joint venture with German investors to build a theme park, Dracula Land, in Sighisoara but ultimately rejected, as it would have detracted from the medieval style of the city.

Sighisoara remains off the beaten track offering not plasterboard castles on a make-believe landscape, but an authentic journey into the past. Without elbow-to-elbow tourists.

A thousand years ago it was a Roman citadel high in the gentle Transylvanian hills, circled by a silver coil of river. Western Europeans made it into a commercial center that flourished for three centuries, then slipped into the shadows of history. Now, frozen in time, it looks much as it did then.

It is the only inhabited medieval fortress in Central Europe. Each of its 137 houses is a historical monument, but families live in all of them. Of the nine towers that rise above the spires and battlements, the most magnificent is the 64-meter clock tower with its dazzling tile roof. The clock works.

Wednesday and Saturday are especially good days to visit. Villagers in horse-drawn wagons clatter into market with home-grown fruit and vegetables, and jewelery, scarves and T-shirts of a distinctly Romanian or Gypsy style. Bargains abound.

The supposed birthplace of Vlad Ţepeş

If none of this matters to you more than the Dracula myth, you can visit the place where Vlad Tepes was born, a stout medieval homestead that now houses a beer hall and restaurant. And there, for a reasonable fee, you can have your portrait painted -- in your own blood. » Continue reading

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Think Fast - Test your first-aid skills with this quiz

1. If a child swallows poison, give liquids.
   
2. Put ice on a burn.
   
3. Place a knocked-out tooth in milk.
   
4. Only cuts longer than 2.5cm need stitches.
   
5. Leave a chocking person as is.

Answers

1. False. Call a doctor or hospital emergency instantly. Experts there can tell you whether to induce vomiting, give liquids, or stop worrying.
   
2. False. Ice reduces blood flow, which can slow healing, "It also hurts like hell," says David Vukich at the American College of Emergency Physicians. Instead, run cool water on the burn for at least ten minutes. Then look at the spot: If it's blistered or charred, go to a hospital.
   
3. True. Milk's minerals and consistency closely match the environment in your mouth. To have a good chance of saving the tooth, get to a dentist within 45 minutes.
   
4. False. A cut can be short but deep and still require attention. If you can see into the cut or if bleeding doesn't stop after 15 minutes of applying direct pressure, call a doctor.
   
5. True. But only if the person can speak or is coughing. If he isn't, he's not breathing. Call a doctor and perform the Heimlich manoeuvre: Link your arms slightly above his navel and pull up sharply.

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How to be more commanding

All set to confront, negotiate, or impress? Take care! These top ten distracting behaviours can cost you the upper hand:

• Touching your hair
  
• Licking your lips
  
• Playing with rubber bands or paper clips
  
• Twirling your moustache
  
• Drumming your fingers
  
• Clicking pens
  
• Biting your fingernails
  
• Tapping your feet
  
• Picking your teeth
  
• Repeatedly adjusting your glasses.

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A Real Heel

Women, you're not doing your legs any favours by wearing those fashionable wide-heeled shoes instead of stiletto pumps, according to Harvard researchers. Using a barefoot stride for comparison, the researchers recorded the jump in knee stress as 20 women walked in shoes. Heels at least five centimeters tall -- regardless of width -- boosted pressure by about 24%. The doctors say you're better off sticking with flats. » Continue reading

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