Life As We Know It with Tom Walton

Here's the good news: texting while driving is becoming a primary offense in Toledo. The bad news: it won’t make much difference.

We have all heard the expression “let the buyer beware.” In the original Latin, it was “caveat emptor,” which until recently I thought meant “give me your wallet,” as in “empty your pockets.” I was reminded recently that a buyer who is NOT wary can sometimes fall victim to a scam, or if not a scam, at least a misrepresentation.

Fifty two years ago today, I married the love of my life. Earlier this year I lost her. I don’t know how many more August 28s I have left, but I do know that this date on the calendar will never be the same.

Today I come before you with an essay certain to arouse your senses and send you into your evening full of good cheer. I think it should be obvious that I am speaking of -- are you ready for this? -- the comma.

Summer is going full blast, and you know what that means. Barbecue grills. Family vacations. Cedar Point. Algae blooms.

Once a year folks in Bowling Green head over to their favorite ice cream shop to show a little "sundae kind of love." Their reward: a purple t-shirt, some free ice cream, and the warm feeling that comes from knowing they've smacked cancer in its ugly face.

We're deep into the county fair season in Ohio, one of my favorite times of the year because of all the nostalgic entertainment it provides.

I’ve always been fascinated by history, especially as recorded in America’s newspapers long, long ago.

Maybe you've wondered how certain popular phrases came to be popular.

How and why did that expression become the benchmark against which we measure greatness?

Another baseball season is at the halfway point, and if ever we needed a reminder of saner times, it is now.

Most days the mailbox at my house yields a mix of mail that probably looks a lot like yours.

Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. I’ve got news for nature. So do I.

Take a look at your car keys. I’ll bet you’ve got several key tags identifying you as a lucky rewards program participant for a whole bunch of merchants.

HARDLY A week goes by that I don’t receive a survey request from a merchant or company I’ve done business with.

THIS MEMORIAL Day is the day the nation sets aside to remember our fallen heroes in wars and conflicts past.

If you spend any time on the Internet, you’ve been subjected to marketing tactics that can make it almost impossible to ignore the bait.

A Blade obituary a while back noted that the deceased had taken a rather unusual occupation late in his life: funeral greeter.

One of the most popular features of The Blade is the daily trivia challenge compiled by a friend and former colleague, Mike Kelly.

Guided by the philosophy that good people doing strange things makes a great story, I was steered to Steve Agler’s quest for a million pennies.

Nobody has to tell Zak Vassar the challenges he signed up for at the Toledo Symphony Orchestra.

The calendar says spring has arrived, but I’ll bet you still could use a reminder that warmer days are ahead.

The supermarket where we often shop, the Bowling Green Kroger’s, is nearly finished with a major expansion. Now you need a GPS to find your way around.

Your snowbird friends have all been enjoying warmer weather in Florida for months.

One of the outcomes of the presidential election is the return of vigorous public speech. The good old political protest.