Writer, lawyer and consultant with over thirty years of writing and photography experience.
While my areas of writing expertise include history, travel, politics, foreign affairs, aviation, the environment and law, I believe a good writer should, with enough research, be able to write about anything.
Good writing is good writing.
Todd D. Epp, LL.M.
News Law Foreign Affairs Aviation History Travel
Harrisburg, SD (Sioux Falls metro area)
Writer, lawyer and consultant with over thirty years of writing and photography experience.
While my areas of writing expertise include history, travel, politics, foreign affairs, aviation, the environment and law, I believe a good writer should, with enough research, be able to write about anything.
Good writing is good writing.
To paraphrase the late, great George Carlin, our houses are basically just places to put all our stuff. In fact, according to the comedian, “The whole meaning of life is looking for a place to put our stuff.”. However, what some empty nesters, those headed to retirement homes and even some young people are finding out is that they can do without a lot of their stuff and downsize—and simplify—their lives.
Dodge City is one of the windiest cities in the nation, averaging nearly 14 miles per hour, according to Kansas State University. Goodland, Concordia and Wichita are in the top 30 windiest cities, each with winds averaging 12 mph or more, according to KSU. Then there’s the name of the state. Some historians and ethnologists says means “people of the south wind” in the Lakota language for the Kansa people who moved to the area after 1700s from the Ohio Valley.
Junior has finally graduated from college after six years of living at Elsewhere State University. He’s finally “fledged,” leaving Mom and Dad with an opportunity to finally repurpose the bedroom. For some, before Junior’s or Missy’s bed can even cool from here they slept, they’ll be selling or donating the bunk beds and the dresser.
Remember in the old Star Trek episodes where Scotty would order from the food processor and the grub would magically show up? The Urban Cultivator may not go quite that far and make you scrambled eggs and bacon. Still, it can give you a in-home source of fresh greens and herbs. Brand new to the Topeka market, the easiest way to describe an Urban Cultivator is that it looks like a dish washing machine or a wine cooler.
And you stare back, mumbling under your breath, “Someday, I’ll show you!”. The opening scenes from a Wes Craven horror movie? No, just your bathroom mirror or medicine cabinet. Chances are, you haven’t touched your bathroom mirror or medicine cabinet—other than to clean it, let’s hope–since you moved into your house.
As Baby Boomers and their parents age, they face a dilemma: Spend money on the family home to make it more “elder” friendly, buy a new house that already has the amenities or make the move to a retirement community. “I work with people every single day with who are in the throes of making the decision,” states Connie Michaelis, marketing director at McCrite Plaza, an adult retirement community in Topeka.
What’s the difference between a big hole in the backyard and a swimming pool? Yes, even a swimming pool—one of a homeowner’s biggest luxury add-ons—doesn’t last forever. And swimming pool technology has gone high-tech, meaning lower energy costs, less impact on the environment, fancy water elements and the ability to run the pool from anywhere in the world.
Grandpa had the barn or the shed. Dad had a woodshop or a study. But today’s man—if you go by online sites and home remodeling magazines—wants to go back in time—way back in time—and have his own cave. The wealthy might be able to afford a man cave with their Ferraris and Lamborghinis as centerpieces along with Grand Prix memorabilia and a massive oak wet bar stocked with 20-year-old single malt scotch.
The yard is blah.
It needs a certain something to give it “curb appeal”—and make it more useful and enjoyable. But don’t expect to grab shovels, trees and paving bricks at the local “big box,” spend a weekend afternoon horsing stuff around and then getting a satisfactory result. To get a good result—whether a “do it yourself” project or letting the landscaping professionals do it—it takes a number of steps, but one in particular: Planning.
I’m not sure there is, but here are five items that I think are uniquely South Dakotan, or at least Upper Midwestern. I’ve only seen them in this region or if I’ve been somewhere else and asked for them, gotten only blank stares. See Tomato Beer. Beer purists don’t think you should put anything in beer.
For just double or triple the cost of an extended warranty on your new computer from Best Buy, you could get a one-year warranty on your home’s—or next home’s—appliances, heating and cooling system and more. Home warranties work much the same way as your extended warranty on your computer from the Big Box store.
What we may not need are vitamins and minerals that come in a bottle. According to the National Institutes of health, about a third of all Americans age 1 and older take a multi-vitamin/mineral (MVM) supplement. NIH says that MVMs are a nearly $5.5 billion industry, making up more than a third of the over $13 billion in vitamin/supplement sales annually.
The sun is free; the problem is converting it to energy for your house isn’t. Solar-powered electricity isn’t unique in the Topeka area. The Colmery-O’Neill VA Hospital recently installed over 2,600 solar panels on its grounds to help generate green power. And if you travel in Italy, you’ll see solar panels on almost any long, flat surface, such as parking garages or even stand-alone panels along their equivalent of their Interstate highways.
The 1960s promised us flying cars by now. Alas, we don’t have them. But the ‘60s also gave us the way cool old school yet futuristic see-through bubble chair—and that you can get. Finnish designer Eero Aarnio—yes, even his name is cool—invented the acrylic bubble chair in 1968 for his first new house.
Ladies and gentlemen! With nothing more than this cloth and a glass of water, I will clean the stubbornest stains, the filthiest flatware, the baddest bacteria and the confoundingest crud! With cleaning cloths from sellers like the Norwegian-based company Norwex and other chemical-free cleaners, it is possible to clean many items with nothing more than a microfiber cloth and tap water.
Forgot to lock a door before going on vacation? No need to call the neighbors: there’s an app for that. In just a few years, home security systems have gone from complicated keypads that might lock the doors to comprehensive systems that monitor all types of functions. A number of local and national companies in the Topeka area offer home security services, equipment and smartphone apps.