Take Aim At Sand Traps

A timely reminder from Men’s Health (it applies to women, too): If you must smoke a cigar while golfing, heed a report from Purdue University that warns against placing cigars on the ground while you take a shot. Weed killer on the grass, smart guy.

How we live: One quarter of the U.S. households consist of one person living alone. And, according to writer Robert Putnam in his forthcoming book “Bowling Alone,” our social connections are also withering. In 1976, Americans attended an average of 12 club meetings a year; now the average is 5 a year. Card games, dinner parties and shared family meals have followed the same downward arc. (From March 16 Newsweek)

How we eat: Forecasters predict this is how we’ll eat at the turn of the century: out.

Trendwatchers say nearly 60 percent of us will eat breakfast out at least once a week, and about 90 percent of us will eat lunch and dinner at a restaurant at least once a week.

At the beginning of this decade, fewer than 20 percent ate breakfast out, and fewer than 70 percent ate lunch and dinner out. (From March 9 Newsweek)

How we work: Nearly 8 million companies in America are owned by women; these account for a third of all businesses, and generate $2.3 trillion in sales.

While 84 percent of the Fortune 500 companies have at least one woman on the board of directors, women make up a mere 2.5 percent of the nation’s top earners. In America, women earn about 75 cents for every $1 men earn. (From April Marie Claire)

How (some) get promoted: Percentage of women in a recent survey who admitted having sex with their supervisor: 10.8. Percentage of those women who said the affair resulted in career advancement: 64. (From March 16 Time)

Get into the ‘90s, guys: Average percentage of men between age 18 and 22 who admit they didn’t use a condom the last time they had sex: 48. (From April Men’s Health)

It’s only a start: Three relationship coaches quoted in the April Men’s Health magazine offered these tips for married guys to improve their relationships: Stop watching the game. Listen to what she’s saying. Repeat what she’s just said. Tell her that what she’s said makes sense to you. Resume watching the game.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: Susan English is the Weekend Editor at The Spokesman-Review, contact her by mail at 999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201; by e-mail at susane@spokesman.com; or by phone at 459-5488.