Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Mon, Jun 10, 2013 @ 03:36 PM
What’s on your reading list this summer?
Your kids may already have their list of required reading (and corresponding book reports) to tackle over summer vacation, but what about you?
Hit the (library) books. Check your local library for a list of summer reading recommendations. If you need some structure in your life (who doesn’t?), you can sign up for an adult summer reading program while you’re there. Most public libraries have handy summer reading lists for kids, too, many of which are coordinated with your local public schools.
Walk the talk. Parents often find it challenging to get their children to keep up with their reading during the vacation months. Sometimes just sitting next to your kids while you enjoy your own book is the perfect way to model good reading habits.
Keep kids’ brains sharp over the summer by reading to them or with them. It’s a great way to spend time together while you keep your children’s reading skills from getting flabby. That way, you can discuss what’s happening on the page—and figure out what’ll happen next (which also builds important critical thinking and inference skills).
If you can tweet it, you can read it. A quick peek on our Twitter feed shows summer-reading-related tweets from Brookline and Duxbury’s public libraries (@brklib and @DuxFreeLib, respectively):
Brookline Library @brklib 4 Jun
Going on a road trip this summer? Dreading Cape traffic? Grab an audiobook from our lobby display and keep yourself entertained. Going on a road trip this summer? Dreading Cape traffic? Grab an audiobook from our lobby display and keep yourself entertained.
Duxbury Free Library @DuxFreeLib 3 Jun
"Goodbreaking Reads", The Adult Summer Reading Program has started! Come and sign up today. http://fb.me/ITpLXRbZ
You can do a Twitter search for your library’s favorites to get started; or just head over and have a chat with your local librarian in person. How’s that for a non-digital concept?
Check it out: Summer Reading Links and Resource
Drop us a line and tell us what you’re reading this summer!
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Thu, Jun 06, 2013 @ 09:35 AM
Storm-wise at least, Massachusetts was fortunate last year: Hurricane Sandy spared us the worst of its wrath while devastating areas of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut instead.
The 2013 hurricane season has officially started and meteorologists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center warn that we could be in for a rough time of it.
Batten down the hurricane hatches. NOAA’s forecasting an “active” or “extremely active” hurricane season ahead, with a 70 percent chance of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of that bunch, seven to 11 could turn into hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), and three to six into Category 3, 4 or 5 major hurricanes (with winds of 111 mph or higher) —well above the typical average of 12 named storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes.
Are you inland? You’re not off the hook: tropical storms and hurricanes can carry powerful weather systems with strong winds, torrential rain, flooding, and tornadoes to areas far from the coast.
Evil trifecta. Three climate factors that strongly control Atlantic hurricane activity are expected to come together to produce a rough 2013 hurricane season:
- Stuck in a bad pattern. The atmospheric climate pattern, including African monsoons, is to blame for almost non-stop Atlantic hurricane activity since 1995.
- Warmer water. Tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea waters are warmer than average.
- El Niño is a no-go. This storm system isn’t expected to develop this year. It usually suppresses hurricanes from forming.
Keep calm and prepare on. We checked out Ready.gov for you, and found 3 things we can do now to prepare for hurricanes and other serious storms:
- Get started. Go to Ready.gov/hurricanes. Make an emergency plan with your family that includes how you’ll contact and communicate with each other during and after a storm. Put together an emergency kit now, and avoid pre-storm panic-buying crowds.
- Wireless Emergency AlertsWireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs) are emergency messages sent by authorities through your mobile carrier to notify you of extreme weather, AMBER Alerts and Presidential Alerts during a national emergency. If you have a WEA-enabled phone, you will automatically receive WEAs, which are similar to texts but have their own unique tone and vibration. Check with your wireless carrier
- Get hurricane safety tips via text. Text HURRICANE to 43362 (4FEMA) to get hurricane-related safety tips from FEMA every two weeks. Don’t like getting random texts? Try FEMA’s smartphone app instead, and stay a step ahead.
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Wed, May 29, 2013 @ 09:36 AM
Summertime is your time to hit the beach, lake or poolside. Keep yourself and your family safe with these water safety tips:
1) You’re never too young (or too old) to learn how to swim. Teach your little ones to swim as soon as possible; most qualified swim instruction programs start at the 4- to 5-year old level. Make sure your children know the basics: treading water, holding their breath under water, and basic strokes. Never let your kids swim without you; get in the water and enjoy your time with them.
What about you? Do you know how to swim? If not, you’re not alone. According to Swimmunity, a website for new adult swimmers, as many as 50-65 percent of American adults don’t know how to swim, a statistic we find pretty shocking. Visit http://www.swimlessons.com/ or the U.S. Masters Swimming site http://www.usms.org/placswim/ for resources in your area. Make it a goal to learn to swim this year. It could save your life.
2) Never swim alone, or without lifeguard supervision. Remember the opening scene in Jaws? Don’t swim at night or anyplace without a lifeguard or swim buddy (and that’s only if you’re a strong swimmer). Always play it safe and have someone watching your back in case anything happens.
3) Don’t let it rip. You’ve probably heard about how Heidi Klum saved her 7-year old son and two nannies from a powerful undertow in Hawai’i this past March. If you’re caught in a rip current, don’t panic: it’ll cause you to sink instead of float. Tread water, float on your back and wave for help as you float or swim parallel to the shore until you can swim to safety, out of the grip of the current. Remember, do not attempt to swim against the current (you will just get tired and you won’t get anywhere).
Riptides aren’t really tides at all; the more accurate term is rip currents or undertows. Look for sandbars before you go for a swim—they’re usually an indication of a strong undertow. These unpredictable currents can be deadly for the most experienced swimmers too, so pay attention to beach signs and warnings from lifeguards. See the links below for more information.
4) Boaters/Water Craft: Don’t drink while operating any water craft, ever. Wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation devices. Kids must wear them at all times; adults if you don’t, at least have them handy so you can put them on quickly in an emergency.
5) “When in doubt, don’t go out.” Stay out of the water if you’re too tired/cold/sunburned/overheated/not feeling up to it. Are your kids’ lips turning blue? Get ‘em out of the pool.
Sources/useful links:
2 MUST READS for all-around water safety:
How to escape a rip current:
Swimmunity’s 10 Things Every Adult Learning How to Swim Should Know:
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Tue, May 21, 2013 @ 02:50 PM
People used to smoke cigarettes to pass the time (among other things). Now, the temptation is to whip out our smartphones if we’re stuck waiting at a red light or for a friend who’s late. We’ve got a new (digital) addiction, and it’s arguably just as dangerous as past vices that are now taboo.
We’ve written many times about the dangers of texting while driving (TWD) and even texting while walking (TWW), an epidemic that’s spawned this hilarious video from Improv Everywhere:
It’s personal. Are we a little obsessive? Well, the reason we write about the dangers of texting and driving so much is because it’s so prevalent, and it’s becoming harder and harder to avoid.
In fact, NHTSA data point to TWD being six times more dangerous than drunk driving, and makes you 23 times more likely to have a crash. If the average text takes about 5 seconds to type, at 55 mph that’s the equivalent of traveling with your eyes shut for the length of an entire football field. Yikes.
It’s epidemic. According to a study by the consulting firm McKinsey, 35 percent of people admit to using their smartphones while driving. Do your own informal survey on a busy city street and the number will seem much higher than 35 percent. How scary is that?
It’s underestimated. On a national level, distracted driving deaths are also vastly underreported—leading people to underestimate the scope of Americans’ deadly TWD addiction.
Most police accident reports don’t record or track cellphone use as a cause or result of a crash, and many states require police to get a subpoena to get cellphone records. As a result, national crash statistics about actual cellphone use in accidents are inaccurate.
The no-TWD laws we have on the books now are practically impossible to enforce, especially without a total ban prohibiting handheld cellphone use while driving. Laws that require drivers go “hands-free” and use a head set, speaker phone, or voice dialing would make it much easier to spot lawbreakers, and make it safer for everyone on the road. While a hands-free law passed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives twice, it failed to get enough votes in the Senate.
Multitasking is not a sport. When everyone’s fixated on their smartphone screens instead of the real world unfolding in front of them, accidents happen—and insurance companies hate accidents. We know you do, too.
And even though accidents do occur, why not take one simple precaution to avoid them in the first place? Put your phone away when you’re driving, or when you’re walking, cycling, and unless it’s urgent, when you’re with your kids—they’re watching you! They deserve your full attention—and so do the people around you, especially when you’re driving.
This isn’t the last time we’ll say it, but: Don’t be tempted by that little screen. Put that phone down when you get in the car. Please.
Sources & links:
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Wed, May 15, 2013 @ 09:21 AM
Graduation season is upon us, and we’re getting ready to welcome a flock of newly minted college graduates into the work world...and into the world of adult responsibilities (hint: think insurance).
The first year or so after college can be a bit of a blur. After a lifetime of school, it’s time to put the books away and put the suits on—if you’re headed for the buttoned-up corporate world or anywhere else that requires a uniform of sorts. We’ve put together some quick ideas you may want to think about now that you’ve got that diploma finally in hand:
Insurance is sexy. Now that we’ve got your attention, have you thought about your insurance? Yes, really. Your insurance needs are changing along with your responsibilities: maybe you’re moving to a new place and a new apartment and want to look into renters insurance; or maybe you’re getting a different car and need new insurance coverage. Whatever you’re up to, it makes sense to contact your local insurance agent and find out what coverage you’ll need for this next exciting phase of your life. Yay.
Insurance is your friend. Think insurance doesn’t matter? Check out this cool infographic we put together, and think again. Don’t just wing it with your insurance coverage, especially now that you’re out in the real world (and out from under your parents’ protective wings). You may need more insurance than you think—or not, depending on your needs. Either way, now’s the perfect time to call an insurance agent and make sure you have adequate insurance coverage.
Be prepared. Before you speak to an agent, it will help to have a sense of what your monthly budget will be after you graduate—what you’ll be spending on rent, car payments (if you have them), student loans, food and other basics. You’ll be able to make better-informed decisions about insurance and other “essential” expenses you’ll have coming up.
Congratulations to you!
Some links:
Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth Rock is a member of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the northeast.
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Fri, May 10, 2013 @ 09:03 AM
Transportation plan for Massachusetts. What’s the right way forward?
This week’s Rush Hour Race got us thinking about our commutes to and from work, and how we get around the city in general. A world-class transportation system is vital to any state’s economy and to our well-being. Companies looking to invest in the Bay State rightfully expect excellent mass transit, railways and roads that allow for their employees, services and goods to travel easily and quickly within, to, and from Massachusetts.
The Commonwealth’s infrastructure is in need of upgrading, but in a post-Big Dig world, how will we ultimately pay for it? And how much are residents and businesses willing to cough up for a viable plan, the final results of which we may not see (or appreciate) for years?
The cost of doing nothing may be too costly to contemplate. While people balk at raising a billion dollars a year through 2023 to pay for Governor Patrick’s proposed $13 billion transportation overhaul, we may be past the point of saying “we can’t afford it.” The system’s current rate of disrepair means that maintaining the status quo will lead to further and more costly repairs in the future.
A report prepared by AECOM (PDF) for the Boston Foundation and the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership points out that letting the system continue on the same path will increase “operating costs for cars, trucks and railroads and heighten the likelihood of crashes—translating into costs associated with property damage, injury and loss of life.”
The AECOM report also notes that longer travel times and greater congestion drain “valuable time from productive work or the non-work activities that support a high quality of life.”
Continuing down the same path will cost us dearly, in more ways than you might think. AECOM estimates that by 2030 the price to maintain the current crumbling system will soar between $18.8 billion and $27.6 billion (in today’s dollars), with possibly 12,300-15,600 jobs lost—a cost far higher than the Governor’s proposed $13 billion outlay (even with inevitable overrides).
To stay competitive in a rapidly changing global economy, Massachusetts has to act quickly. What do you think the Commonwealth should do?
The Backstory: slightly longer but equally fascinating reads related to this post
- Read the MassDot report: “The Way Forward: a 21st-Century Transportation Plan,” PDF
- Focus: MA transportation finance, Northeastern University, Dukakis Center for Regional and Urban Policy website, various links & reports
- Read the AECOM report: The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Economic Case for Transportation Investment in Massachusetts, PDF
- NECN Broadside with Jim Braude (video): Mass. Gov.’s transportation plan
- “State Senate Passes $300M Transportation Bond Bill” Bret Silverberg, Patch.com
- “Competing Mass transportation plans vary widely” Bob Salsberg/AP
- “Four Plans to Fund Massachusetts Transportation” Bret Silverberg, Patch.com
- “Pay now or really pay later for transportation” Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe op-ed
- “Letting the T crumble: Why invest so much in building Boston, then underfund transportation?” Paul McMorrow, Boston Globe op-ed
- “Patrick’s plan will fix the transportation mess” David D’Alessandro, Boston Globe op-ed
- “Mass. gets scaled-back transportation plan” Martine Powers/Boston Globe
Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth Rock is a member of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the northeast.
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Wed, May 08, 2013 @ 09:51 AM
And the winner is…Rush Hour Race, Tuesday, May 7th
How much do you like your commute? Thinking creatively about how we get in and around the city took an interesting turn yesterday.
The T-rider was the winner of this year’s second annual Rush Hour Race, followed by the inline skater (?!) and the cyclist. The race started in Davis Square in Somerville at 8:10 a.m. this morning and ended when the driver parked his car near South Station and arrived at the finish line around 8:55 a.m., just after the height of rush hour but just in time for work.
Rush Hour Race is a creation of the Somerville Bicycle Committee and LivableStreets Alliance, an advocacy group working to make Metro Boston more livable through better transportation options. Plymouth Rock sponsored this year’s event.
The 2nd Annual Rush Hour Race winnahs…
- Red line MBTA-rider (25 minutes)
- Inline skater (28 minutes)
- Cyclist (30 minutes)
- Runner (39 minutes)
- Automobile (50 minutes)
Brought to you by Plymouth Rock Assurance, together with the LivableStreets Alliance and the Somerville Bicycle Committee.
Chris Olie, president of Plymouth Rock, spoke briefly at the finish line ceremony:
“Alternate forms of transportation are a great way to reduce traffic congestion, automobile miles driven and automobile accidents. Plymouth Rock is, of course, an advocate for reducing automobile accidents, and has great rates for people who drive less than their peers, so an event promoting alternate transportation is a natural for us to sponsor…
At Plymouth Rock we care very deeply for the city of Boston. We were founded here in 1983 and are a Boston company through and through. That’s why it’s so important to us that our city has the safest, easiest and most efficient transportation options. And let me stress the word safest in that last sentence, because it’s very important for our sponsorship. All the participants in today’s event were required to obey all of their respective traffic laws.
We’re proud to work with LivableStreets to promote the further growth of transportation options here, and we think the Rush Hour Race is a perfect and fun way to do that.”
Back story: similarly fascinating reads related to this story
Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth Rock is a member of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the northeast.
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Fri, May 03, 2013 @ 09:31 AM
Redefining commuting with the Rush Hour Race on Tuesday, May 7th
Besides being super affordable, cycling is fast and fun. Walking is easy and even cheaper—but much slower. What about commuting by car? You’ve got your privacy, but also more stress and expense. Taking the T is great for zoning out with your smartphone or book, if you’re lucky enough to snag a seat during peak travel times.
Plymouth Rock wants to help redefine the debate about getting to work. We’re sponsoring the second annual Rush Hour Race, created by the Somerville Bicycle Committee and LivableStreets Alliance, a group advocating to make metro Boston more livable through better transportation options.
The race will determine the most efficient way to get from Davis Square in Somerville to South Station during rush hour.
Join us at 7:30 a.m. at pre-race party in front of Redbones in Davis Square, or at the finish line post-race party from 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. in Dewey Square across from South Station. We’ll be serving breakfast to hungry commuters at both locations. Want to come along for the ride? A map of the route is right here.
Come along for the ride.
Who do you think will win Rush Hour Race this year? Tweet your prediction to @plymouthrock #rushhourrace, or post it on our Facebook page. And join us for breakfast at the pre-race or post-race parties.
For race details and more info, click here.
"We’re really excited to be working with the Plymouth Rock team on our second annual Rush Hour Race event,” said Kara Oberg, LivableStreets’ program manager. “The race highlights all the safe and convenient ways people can get around a city, making everyone's rush hour commute a bit more enjoyable."
This year, the race is adding an inline skater and a runner to the mix of T-rider, cyclist and car commuter.
Each participant in the race must follow the rules of the road—jumping red lights, jaywalking, or hopping up on sidewalks to get around traffic is NOT allowed.
Last year’s winner, cyclist Josh Zisson, took just 20 minutes to get from David Square to the finish line at Kendall Square. He wore a helmet-cam to prove he won fairly. Second place went to the helmet-less MBTA rider, who came in second at 29 minutes, followed by the driver in third place at 32 minutes.
Back story: (slightly) longer reads related to this blog post topic
Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth Rock is a member of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the northeast.
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Tue, Apr 30, 2013 @ 02:31 PM
Hunting for parking is something of a sport in most major American cities. Boston, with its relatively small size and sometimes confusing maze of one-way streets, can be particularly challenging for parkers.
Praying to the Parking Gods to find a spot sometimes works; most of the time finding a legal metered spot is just sheer luck, especially if you’re in town for a popular event like a Red Sox game.
Stop driving, start parking
If you’re considering driving into the city (and if the T, Commuter Rail or ferry don’t make sense), remember that every car adds to the traffic congestion problem. Much of the traffic in cities is not caused by drivers trying to get somewhere, but trying to stop and park once they’ve arrived at their destination.
Some 30 percent of traffic in urban areas is created by people slowly circling around, hunting for a spot and slowing everyone else down in the process. Cruising for the perfect spot adds up: besides time wasted, looking for parking causes approximately 950,000 miles of excess driving a year over a typical 15 block area (like Newbury Street, for example). That’s the equivalent of burning almost 50,000 gallons of gas and releasing some 730 tons of carbon dioxide into our air.
To help cities get a grip on parking, companies such as California-based Streetline are rolling out “intelligent parking systems” in cities around the country, including Ft. Lauderdale, New York, and Indianapolis. Boston’s smart parking system, created by developers at BU, is in the works.
Wirelessly connected networks of sensors placed at parking spots track when spaces are free or full, quickly matching drivers (armed with the right app) with available spots. The technology also creates more sensible pricing that can change with demand.
Park it like you mean it.
The most expensive city in the world to park is London, where it’ll set you back about $70 to park on a weekday. Blimey! New York and Boston are tied for first place in the U.S., both of which will cost you around $30 per day to park. (source: WiseGEEK)
The Backstory: find out more
Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth Rock is a member of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the northeast.
Posted by Jennifer Bruni on Thu, Apr 25, 2013 @ 01:10 PM
21st Century Chauffeurs
Back in 2010, Google announced it had been developing self-driving cars in line with its efforts to map every road on the planet. Since then, Google’s prototypes have racked up over 300,000 accident-free miles on the road. Google even filmed a blind man in the driver’s seat of one of their cars, running errands without a hitch.
Carmaker Volvo predicts it will be able to offer crash-free driving capabilities in all of its cars by 2020. In fact, many pundits out there now say that cars equipped with technology that drive themselves some or all of the time will be in mass production by the 2020s. Others are more skeptical, saying that widespread use of driverless cars won’t be here for another 50 years or more.
Baby you can drive (and park) my car. Either way, automobiles are increasingly becoming less manual and more driven by technology, including “black box” systems that record pre-accident data, rear cameras that display what’s behind you and side mirrors that indicate when another vehicle is in your blind spot. Many cars already feature automated driving technologies that help you parallel park or maintain safer distances in heavy traffic.
And since heavy traffic congestion is the cause of many accidents, driverless cars could also help reduce both accidents and the resulting traffic jams.
Driverless car technologies such as in-car navigation, wireless broadband and entertainment systems mean that drivers will become more connected on the road and off. This could reduce crimes such as carjacking and vehicle theft.
New driverless technologies raise interesting ethical- and insurance-related questions as well: who’s at fault in an accident, for example? What about our personal privacy?
When human drivers make critical decisions quickly about how to respond to a dangerous situation, for example, whether or not to drive off a bridge in order to avoid crashing into a school bus filled with children, there is an ethical aspect involved. It remains to be seen how that decision-making process be will embedded in an autonomous vehicle.
The Backstory
Longer reads about the driverless car trend:
Headquartered in Boston, Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation provides auto insurance to personal and commercial auto insurance customers in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth Rock is a member of The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies, which together write and manage over $1 billion in auto and homeowner’s insurance throughout the northeast.