When the going gets tough, the tough go on ‘staycation’

Re Aug. 10 Mark Wilson’s Viewpoint, “Enjoying the slide”: I laughed hard at the column about “staycations.”

Aren’t all our prissy, overindulged noses totally out of joint now that we have to stay home and pay our bills, instead of running up a fortune in charges on credit cards wandering around in another state or a foreign country at fancy hotels and restaurants, and that we have to pay off until Christmas or beyond?

So what if you can’t afford to go anywhere on your two weeks off from work? Stay home and catch up on repairing your house (if you didn’t lose it to foreclosure by borrowing against it for your previous vacations)! Start a home-based fitness program and cancel that expensive gym membership. Instead of paying the landscaper $150 to $200 to trim your shrubs and mow your lawn, do it yourself; it’s good exercise!

Clean out that basement of the 10 years’ worth of junk you threw down there “planning to get rid of someday.” Here is your opportunity! Repaint those rooms you’ve been talking about redecorating for years, and learn how to kick in new carpet or drop in a floating floor. You don’t have to sit home sleeping on the couch and feeling sorry for yourself because you can’t afford to do Italy this year.

Look at the benefits: At the end of a vacation, you have dirty laundry to wash and stupid souvenirs you regret purchasing. At the end of a “staycation,” you can be fit and have a fresh-painted and well-repaired house that your friends will “ooh and ahh” over for years to come.

If you don’t own a home, always rented, or lost it to foreclosure by buying more than you could afford or borrowed too much against it, you can use your vacation weeks to do the volunteer work you always said you wanted to do. You can also spend your time going through and getting rid of all that stuff you’ve dragged with you for years that just takes up space. At the end of your “staycation,” you may be able to deduct your miles for charity work and the value of your donations from your taxes, and will have a whole lot less junk to haul from house to house.

Quit whining. The economy [stinks], but get over it. We set ourselves up for it by driving gas-guzzling SUVs, buying houses we couldn’t afford, and shipping all our jobs overseas. Life was fat and now it is not; get over it. So you have to toast marshmallows on your backyard grill instead of buying $1,000 of chips to gamble with in Las Vegas, or sitting on a beach in Maui. Get used to it.

Reacquaint yourself with your spouse and your children and other family, and learn to appreciate the simple things in life. The things that matter. The things that will always be there for you if you will always be there for them, no matter what comes. Vacations away aren’t all that much.

Terri Martin

Glen Falls

Roots and Wisdom program hard to beat

It was great to read the Aug. 6 editorial about the “The roots and wisdom of eating ‘local.’”

The Roots and Wisdom organization is indeed remarkable. Three dedicated women — Debbie Forester, Christine Horigan and Leslie Weidmann-Herd — have volunteered their time and talents to make a positive impact on our community. My daughter, Melinda, has worked this summer and last, and has gained the experience of a lifetime. It is rewarding to see urban, suburban and rural youth working, learning and having fun together while providing healthy food to their neighbors.

Inspiring is the word — check it out at www.rootswisdom.org and be inspired yourself to eat delicious local produce and support a cause where everyone wins.

Melissa Bartlett

Niskayuna

Who needs big Erie Boulevard roundabout?

I drive in both directions frequently on Erie Boulevard, and don’t understand why we need a big rotary in the middle of the boulevard between State Street and Edison Avenue.

I see many cars heading away from State Street making left turns near the old Wolberg store and the old union building, and evening GE traffic makes many left turns onto the street just past the gas station. Why do we need such a big rotary that doesn’t get you to the end of the boulevard?

Traffic engineers should be able to design a safe rotary and/or a safe left/U-turn lane in the wide expanse of the existing boulevard that should solve most of the complaints being registered by businesses and others.

Gerard F. Havasy

Scotia

‘Meat market’ claim insulting to Ellis nurse

I would like to respond to the Aug. 7 letter, “Nurses can’t bear to see what’s happening at Ellis.”

I have been a nurse at Ellis Hospital for 35 years, currently working in the gastroenterology unit. I have never worked in any unit in the hospital where patients were referred to as being in a “meat market.” I am offended by her accusations that it’s all about moving patients in and out, and that it is dangerous. On the contrary, our unit is staffed with the utmost dedicated professional nurses, physicians, unit techs and secretaries.

Patients should not feel that “someone is going to get seriously hurt or die” while having a procedure in our unit. The staff is caring and has a firm commitment to the quality of care for each patient, protocols are in place to run an efficient gastro suite, and safety of our patients is our main concern.

Maureen L. Boniewski

Scotia