News lifestyle 2008-05-10 Andanh.com

We want to hear tales from your travels Thu, 08 May 2008 13:34 EDT

Have you ever had a travel experience that you thought was horrible at the time but can now laugh about?

Maybe the lovely Mediterranean inn you saw online and booked for your honeymoon turned out to be a tiny hovel without air conditioning on a stinky pig farm? Or maybe you were swimming among the lovely sting rays in the tropics, and one bit a very sensitive part of your body?

That's the case for one poor fellow in A Stingray Bit My Nipple: True Stories From Real Travelers . The new book from the editors of Budget Travel (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $12.99) recounts dozens of stories . some strange, some hilarious, some .horrendous.

But none of the stories is from a .Kentuckian.

DAILY CHECKUP Sat, 10 May 2008 02:04 EDT
VACCINE MAKERS PLAN HUGE BATCH FOR FLU SEASON

Flu vaccine manufacturers expect to make a record number of doses for next flu season despite concerns that demand might drop because this year's vaccine was largely ineffective.

The five companies that make flu vaccine for the U.S. market are planning to make at least 143 million doses for the 2008-09 season. They made 140 million doses for the current season -- the worst in four years for adult deaths from flu and pneumonia.

Part of the problem was the vaccine didn't work well against the viruses that ended up circulating. Each year, health officials essentially make an educated guess and formulate a vaccine against three viruses. Their guess usually works well.

But two of the three strains for the season were not good matches, and the vaccine was only 44 percent effective overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rain gardens are focus of Lexington tour Sat, 10 May 2008 07:23 EDT

Just three years ago, Betty Hall didn't even know what a rain garden was.

Next Saturday, she will be held up as one of several examples of the cool new thing to do in your yard to make it prettier while helping the environment.

A new group called the Bluegrass Rain Garden Alliance is having what apparently is Lexington's first rain garden tour.

It will start at The Arboretum on Alumni Drive, where a giant rain garden-retention basin structure has been built to keep runoff from flooding houses on Glendover Road.

Web sites help in difficult times Sat, 10 May 2008 07:41 EDT

It's great to have friends when you are sick. But it's not so great for the phone to ring all day long when you feel lousy.

As a friend, you want to help, but don't know how. Call? Drop off a casserole? Send a card?

In stressful times, caregivers must figure out how to share information with lots of people and friends must figure out how best to help without being invasive. One possible solution: Check the internet.

Web sites are available to offer those in need a manageable and convenient way to communicate with those who want to help.

Short story contest rules listed
Appalachian Heritage Writers is accepting entries for its 2008 contest.

Golf scramble to aid Pathways' prevention program
The second annual Pathways to Bright Futures golf scramble will be May 16 at Bellefonte Country Club Golf Course.

Chinese Dir