Blog Posts by Reader s Digest Magazine

By Michelle Crouch

Safe, scenic, sensible. We asked experts to nominate their favorite stretches of road in some of our top-ranked states.

Plus:
The 7 Worst Roads in America
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1. I-35 through Kansas (and Kansas roads in general)
"It's well maintained and open and offers an extremely smooth ride. They have rest areas that are easy in, easy out. It has wide-open spaces, and you don't feel the pressure of constant interaction with traffic. Actually, in Kansas, all the highways are very good. Even the two-lane roads are great: smooth, with shoulders." - Walmart driver Gary Leu, Shelbina, Missouri

2. Montana interstates
"They don't call it Big Sky Country for nothing. You can see for miles. You've got trees and mountains and different terrain. You see lakes and a lot of wildlife, like elk and antelope. Plus, they keep their roads pretty decent considering the harsh weather they have out there." - Trucker Clarence

By Melissa DeMeo and Paul Silverman

Here's a refresher course in those rules for talking and writing--the ones you missed in high school.

You almost never mean: Hopefully
You almost always mean: I hope
Why: Hopefully means "in a hopeful manner." "I hope the boss lets us out early" and "Hopefully, the boss lets us out early" aren't the same thing.

PLUS: 20 Secrets Your Waiter Won't Tell You

©2010 Jupiterimages CorporationYou almost never mean: More importantly
You almost always mean: More important
Why: More or most important is probably what you want. Only if you're a pompous blowhard do you say things importantly.

You never mean: Between you and I
You always mean: Between you and me
Why: Between you and I sounds fancy, and therefore right, but don't be so quick to belittle Cookie Monster ("Me want cookies!"). In this case, me is correct because it's the object of the preposition between.

PLUS: 13 Things Your Child's Teacher Won't Tell You

You almost never mean: Assessable
You

New social dilemmas mean a new code of etiquette. Some common Facebook problems and solutions:

In some ways, Facebook is like a real-world get-together-friends passing photos around, laughing at one another's jokes. But it's also like getting everyone you ever knew (your seventh-grade youth pastor, your next-door neighbor, your teenage niece) into one room for a 24-hour-a-day cocktail party with no host and few boundaries. New social dilemmas mean a new code of etiquette. Some common Facebook problems and solutions:

1. I don't want to accept a friend request. Then don't. "There's really no one you're obligated to friend," says Robin Abrahams, Boston Globe etiquette columnist and author of Miss Conduct's Mind Over Manners. If you don't want to friend someone, it's usually for a legitimate reason:

• You don't know him. "Somebody who has more than 1,000 friends is probably collecting them like merit badges," says Greg Atwan, coauthor of The Facebook Book.
  
• You've grown apart. You

From The 7 Stages of Marriage

Follow these steps slowly and carefully to heal your relationship.

Your marriage can survive an affair. Healing from infidelity is hard, painful work; both of you must be committed to repairing the damage, rebuilding trust, and reconnecting. On the agenda: The unfaithful spouse must be willing to stop the affair, provide all details honestly and completely, and take the steps necessary to prove his or her trustworthiness. The betrayed spouse must take the job of healing seriously -- by not minimizing or trying to speed up the process and, at times, by setting aside overwhelming anger and despair in order to learn more about what's happened. Stopping secrecy and building a more honest union are the keys.

PLUS: Top 10 Aphrodisiacs

If you make a commitment to follow these strategies with your whole heart, your marriage has a good chance of surviving the affair -- and emerging stronger on the other side.

6 Steps for the Unfaithful Spouse
1. Promise to

From Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things

Discover the popular fruit's clever uses.

Enter for a chance to win an iPod Touch and download our Life IQ trivia game for your iPhone.

1. Neutralize cat-box odor
You don't have to use an aerosol spray to neutralize foul-smelling cat-box odors or freshen the air in your bathroom. Just cut a couple of lemons in half. Then place them, cut side up, in a dish in the room, and the air will soon smell lemon-fresh.

2. Polish chrome
Get rid of mineral deposits and polish chrome faucets and other tarnished chrome. Simply rub lemon rind over the chrome and watch it shine! Rinse well and dry with a soft cloth.

Plus: 10 Medicinal Herbs You Can Grow at Home

3. Prevent potatoes from turning brown
Potatoes and cauliflower tend to turn brown when boiling, especially when you're having company for dinner. You can make sure the white vegetables stay white by squeezing a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice into the cooking water.

4. Make soggy lettuce crisp

By Joe Kita

Obesity has gone global. Our poll reveals the world's riskiest habits, crankiest spouses, dumbest excuses-and best ways to send the pounds packing.

Reader's Digest commissioned a global diet poll, interviewing approximately 16,000 people in 16 countries about their attitudes and behaviors regarding weight. Our tour reveals the country where being fat is no big deal and the spot where thin is the most in. It makes clear which nation blames America for this obesity epidemic and which points the finger at itself. It shows who's dieting, who's doing surgery, and who's positively reckless in paring the pounds. Come with us as we explore how people around the world view obesity-and what they're doing about it.

PLUS: 19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World

The Country Most Aware of the Dangers of Obesity
FINLAND
In the 1970s, Finland had the world's highest incidence of deaths from heart disease. Not anymore. A public health campaign to educate people about diet,

By Mark Bittman

The anti-girth, pro-Earth eating plan for busy, real people.

My route to saner eating was more or less accidental. Two years ago, I was 57 and weighed more than I ever had. When I graduated from college, I weighed 165 pounds; when I stopped smoking, about five years after that, I weighed 180. Then, when my first daughter was born and I had started writing about food and doing some serious eating and drinking, I hit 190. Over the next 20 years, I managed to gain more weight, reaching 214.

I'm not a small person, so I didn't look that heavy (I thought), but I was overweight and developed health problems. My cholesterol was up, as was my blood sugar (there's diabetes as well as serious obesity in my family). I had a hernia, my knees were giving out, and I'd developed sleep apnea.

PLUS: 19 Weight Loss Secrets From Around the World

© iStockphoto/ThinkstockAs a reporter and researcher for many years, I was writing a food column called "The Minimalist" for the New York Times and a book called How

By Meaghan Cameron

Our friends on Facebook shared their weirdest eating habits. Read some of these wacky combinations.

Banana Combos
1. "Banana and mayo sandwich." -- David L. Chautin

2. "I eat bananas topped with ketchup." -- Ma Bernice Carmela Liquigan

3. "Pineapple, banana, and cucumber pieces." -- Hina Seemeen

PLUS: Discover why a banana could be considered an aphrodisiac.

Odd Pizza Topping
4. "Pizza with Nutella." -- Đana Tičinović

Burger Topping
5. "I put jelly on my cheeseburgers."-- Misti Lott

PLUS: Get tips to ordering healthy food in fast food restaurants.

Sandwich Order
6. "I eat a sandwich starting from the corners/edges towards the middle part; I make sure that my last bite will be the part with the most/thickest sandwich filling/spread."

© Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Thinkstock

Download our Life IQ trivia game for your iPhone.

Fun With French Fries
7. "Dipping French fries in chocolate sundae from McDs. Yummy!" -- Claudia Vilela

8. "Salt-n-pepper french fries