Feather pets’ nest upon your demise
Polly want a living will?
Your feathered friend may need legal protection to guarantee her quality of life should you pass on, according to Denver wealth manager Jordan Dechtman.
Wah? You think your luck is never going to run out? A badly confused seagull could collide with your windshield, beginning a chain reaction that ends when your ashes are mixed with plant food and poured over the geraniums in your living room. When you are dead, whom will Fluffy, Polly or Scales, your ever-faithful iguana, turn to? Think about it. Polly in a coma surrounded by an array of uncaring machines that blink and beep as she gasps out her final days on life support.
So Dechtman suggests that pet owners remember to name a caretaker and write a living will telling the vet how far to go to keep the animal alive. And what is an estate plan without a durable power of attorney? Someone has to make decisions for the beast.
Then there is the matter of a trust fund with a trustee named contingent beneficiary. Don’t forget to name a third party who will make sure the trustee doesn’t spend Spot’s assets on lap dances and Fritos. It’s a lot to remember.
So Dechtman suggests hiring a competent and experienced professional to help arrange it all.
Make her heart soar on Valentine’s Day
If you’re looking to impress your special someone this Valentine’s Day, take to the skies of Denver with Blue Mesa Adventures’ “Love Is in the Air” package.
With prices ranging from $1,375 to $2,030, the romantic night includes accommodations for two at the Golden Hotel and a helicopter ride by Rotors of the Rockies to The Fort Restaurant for a gourmet dinner. After dinner, you’ll reboard the helicopter for a “Denver-by-Night” downtown skyline tour, when you and your sweetie can snuggle up bathed in the bright blue light of the Qwest sign. For more information, go to www.bluemesaadventures.com.
Yum makes fast-food Run for the Roses
Ever-vigilant in its quest against what it deems invasive advertising, the folks at Commercial Alert in Portland, Ore., took some serious umbrage at an announcement that Yum Brands Inc. would become the first-ever presenting sponsor of the Kentucky Derby.
Louisville, Ky.-based Yum owns Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver’s and A&W Restaurants.
Commerical Alert, co-founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, issued a harshly worded press release condemning the deal. In it, executive director Gary Ruskin lashed out at the idea of a fast-food company plastering its name all over the venerated race.
“It’s a shame that the ‘Run for the Roses’ has been degraded into a run for junk food,” Ruskin railed in the release. “Next year, will the thoroughbreds run at Taco Bell Downs? Maybe they’ll require that each of the horses must be named after a menu item. Here comes Chalupa down the homestretch, with Gordita one length behind.”
Whole wheat, white sandwiched together
Whole wheat or white? Millions of bread buyers have apparently chosen to put an end to their bread segregation.
Sara Lee says its whole-grain white bread, made in Commerce City and at other plants around the country, was the best-selling loaf of bread in the United States from its launch in July until Dec. 25, according to sales data from Information Resources Inc. The bread was developed for “white- bread-loving Americans,” according to Sara Lee.
The Commerce City plant, which has about 220 employees, makes Sara Lee, IronKids, Rainbo and Earth Grains bread.
“Whole-wheat bread that’s white?” you say. “How can that be?” The answer: It’s actually a blend of 30 percent “whole- grain white-wheat flour” and 70 percent enriched white flour. The data shows that grocery stores around the country sold 16.7 million 20-ounce loaves of Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Made With Whole Grain White Bread between July 18 and Dec. 25. The statistics do not cover mass-merchandise outlets and supercenters.
Sara Lee recently launched breakfast breads in brown-sugar cinnamon, cinnamon with raisins and blueberry-crumble flavors, and English muffins that combine white and whole-grain flour. And competitor Wonder makes Wonder White Bread Fans 100 percent Whole Grain Bread.
Dog’s trained nose leading him to Bosnia
Hot dog! Arizona is now one very well-trained dog, and he’s taking a trip to Bosnia soon to use what he has learned.
Sponsored by Denver-based Qwest and Arizona school kids, the dog will sniff out deadly land mines, which were spread across the country during the Bosnian War in the early 1990s.
Sponsorship money goes to the nonprofit Marshall Legacy Institute’s Children Against Mines Program, or CHAMPS. Humans spend about $20,000 per dog to teach them how to find mines without getting blown up, according to the group’s website.
For love and money: Financial acumen hot
Money can’t buy you love, but poor money skills can cause people to lose that loving feeling.
A lack of financial responsibility puts more stress on romantic relationships than a lack of fidelity, a lack of affection or a poor sense of humor, according to a survey from MyFico, the consumer division of credit-score provider Fair Isaac Corp.
More than three out of four people surveyed by MyFico said they would advise a friend to make sure any potential love interest has a good credit history, but just under half of single respondents said they would share their credit score with a potential mate.
Women and respondents over age 50 placed the highest value on good money-management skills, while men advising their friends on love rated things such as a sense of humor and kissing ability high on their list.
Castle Rock dog gets treated to AAA cover
They don’t call him “top dog” for nothing.
Mackenzie, a West Highland white terrier owned by Genie Kettrl of Castle Rock, beat out more than 1,000 other pooches from around the country to be named one of two “cover dogs” for the annual edition of “Traveling With Your Pet: The AAA PetBook.”
The winning photo features Mackenzie hanging out in a field of Texas bluebonnets in Granbury, Texas.
For Colorado pet lovers who just can’t leave home without Fido or Fluffy, the eighth annual “AAA PetBook” will be released in May. The $17.95 volume contains listings for more than 12,000 pet-friendly hotels and 400 campgrounds nationwide, along with information on local animal hospitals and dog parks.
