Word: summers
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...talk about cold-weather-related inventions. Like the bicycle, for instance. That's my favorite one. That grew out of the Year Without Summer [1816]. There was quite a lot of volcanic activity for several years prior to that, and it created a cloud of dust high up in the atmosphere. The earth cooled very quickly, at least in the northern hemisphere. And crops started to fail. So [German inventor Karl Drais] saw that it was more and more expensive to feed a horse, and he came up with what was originally called a Draisine. It was really a scooter...
...other hope on the horizon is 2010. Right now, companies are anticipating raising salaries an average of 2.7% next year. Of course, if the fledgling economic recovery doesn't stick, that could change quickly. When Hewitt ran its survey in the summer of 2008, companies thought 2009 raises would come in at 3.8% - a far cry from the 1.8% we were left with...
Kids won't be the only miserable people during these waning days of summer, when the first day of school lurks like a dour detention officer. The retailers selling students back-to-school clothing, supplies and gadgets will be pretty sad souls too. According the National Retail Federation, the average family with K-12 students will spend $548.72 on school merchandise, a 7.7% decline from 2008. Britt Beemer, founder and chairman of America's Research Group, a retail consulting firm, predicts spending will drop from 8.5% to 12.5% this year, compared with a 5% fall last year...
Back to school is the second most important season for retailers, behind the December holidays. According to a survey conducted by Beemer, more than half of American parents are trying to get their children to recycle the clothing they wore last year, summer growth spurts not withstanding. More parents are also controlling the purse strings and moving down-market for pants and shoes. Nearly 45% more consumers say they will shop at Wal-Mart for back-to-school items this year, according to Beemer's survey, and Sears picked up 33.3% more shoppers. "A lot of moms and dads...
...single day. By the end of the first full week, dozens of kids were sleeping on state-issued cots in a specially quarantined cabin, waiting out a pandemic flu virus that is barnstorming its way across the globe. Camp Modin was not alone; so far this summer, at least 80 camps in 40 American states, including a full quarter of Maine's residential summer camps, have reportedly been hit by the bug known worldwide as H1N1. Across the Atlantic, Britain's National Health Service spent most of July recording 100,000 new cases a week. Health officials in both countries...