OGDEN, Utah — So here I sit, eyes watering, in a smoking hotel room very much not of my own choice. That’s ok. Stuff happens. But it’s how it happened that has me angry. It’s the toxic mixture of Internet-age consumer screwing and crappy customer service that has me really [Keep reading]
You look at a map, makes your plans to drive across country, and they stare at you right in the face. The Dakotas. Nebraska. Kansas. Head anywhere west and north in America, and you’ve got to cross them. They are flat. They are long. They are slow. And they are [Keep reading]
Denise and Jim Carbone are that lovely young couple you really hope buy the home next door when your neighbors sell. I met them and their golden Beaker (named after the Muppet character) on Tuesday. Both had previous goldens in their lives, before they were married. Both were named Rusty. [Keep reading]
MIDDLEFIELD,OHIO — Merela Carrido works every day in the great outdoors, surrounded by the healthiest of healthy foods. It’s hard work — there’s plenty of 5 a.m. days — but it always puts “money in my pocket.” She lives in Northwest Pennsylvania and helps run a family-owned traveling farmers’ market. [Keep reading]
There’s only one way to find out what’s going on in America. Go there. Starting this weekend, that’s what I’m doing. Want to call shotgun? (You’ll have to share the seat with Rusty) I’m not talking about the America of the coasts, where the money is printed or the movies [Keep reading]
The countdown is on: Next weekend, Rusty and I leave for parts West with camera, notebook, and laptop in hand. I’d love to see some of you along the way. And I’d love to talk about money, if you are willing. Together with Credit.com, I want to get a sense [Keep reading]
Hands-free cell phone driving laws are widely ignored, almost entirely unenforceable, and illogical. Now they are also archaic, a California court has ruled. A California driver given a summons for using his phone with his hands while driving beat the ticket by saying he was using his phone’s map application, [Keep reading]
The arrival of Labor Day is like the playing of “Last Dance,” at a wedding. What, it’s over already? But we just started dancing… Endings are hard, and always sneak up us, but they must be marked. Consider this my farewell to readers of MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles…and the announcement [Keep reading]
In Laramie, Wyo., at the Crowbar & Grill. Summer Steak Salad, with grilled strawberries…yes, strawberries. Owner Andy Glines tells me he soaks the berries in a simple syrup first, and adds goat cheese from a one-woman operation called Victory Hill Farms in Nebraska. Flat iron cut. Can taste it from [Keep reading]
Why does it feel better to go West than East? I’ve driven across country as an adult perhaps a dozen times, in both directions, and I’ve tried most of the obvious routes. One thing I know: it always feels better going West than East. Maybe it’s the time zones. It’s [Keep reading]
Bob Sullivan