Columnists

Just when you think you've seen everything, it's guaranteed that a ginormous high-tech/societal tidal wave will roll in, squashing you like a little sand crab.

After you turn 70 1/2, the IRS requires you to withdraw some of the money in your retirement savings accounts each year. These withdrawals are officially called Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs). While you never have to make withdrawals from a Roth IRA, you must take...

When it comes to responsible money management, caring for the city's utilities is a lot like running a household. Many families might identify three main aspects to their household budgets. Primary are the daily costs like groceries, household supplies and gas for the car.

It doesn't take much in a scary movie to make me jump, which is probably why I don't watch too many scary movies. And a well-crafted scary movie doesn't need a lot of gory moments to be scary. Some of the best movies I've seen are the ones that keep me on the edge of my seat - and guessing about the twists and turns - without the blood. One of the scary movies to hit the screen recently is reminiscent of such movies as "The Others" and "The Haunting."

The Catholic Diocese of San Jose, encompassing all of Santa Clara County, was inaugurated in 1981. It has grown steadily since then, to an estimated 650,000 members now. Yet, only three new parishes have been formed, the latest in 1994.

The magnificent music of Broadway for a Broadway musical lover is mesmerizing and enthralling. Brilliant music and clever lyrics tell a story that can stir the senses and take you to another place.

Abraham Lincoln never visited Silicon Valley, but he would no doubt appreciate the spirit of innovation and ingenuity that exists in our global high-tech epicenter. Lincoln, whose birth date is Sunday, happens to be the only U.S. president who ever received an invention patent. That fact leads me to believe he would have a word or two to say to many of today's politicians who are now thwarting efforts to upgrade America's patenting system .

To the best of my ability, I avoid negative feelings like envy. That being said, I have long dreamt of a day that I can buy pants off the rack. Regardless of waist size (I say that for the benefit of you who, like my daughter, think dieting would give me more options in length), the shortest inseam on the rack is 29 inches which, unfortunately, is one and a half inches too long for me. Sadly, my pants go from the rack, to a tailor, and finally,to my closet. I continue to hope that the market will respond to my needs and the needs of my vertically challenged brethren, but to date that is little more than a pipe dream.