Neither rain nor snow nor the dark of night can separate Tennessee postal carrier “Mailman Mike” from his 4-and-a-half-year-old friend Carter Lawson – or keep them from their appointments.

    For the past nine months, the two have teamed up every day in the preschooler's Knoxville neighborhood for a few minutes of delivering mail together and chatting with fellow neighbors. Lawson wants to be a mail carrier when he grows up, and in an inspiring story, his mom told us how mailman Mike Crenshaw has been a role model to her son. “Anyone could just be like 'Go away, kid', but Mike has really gone out of his way to talk with Carter,” said Cassie Lawson of the United States Postal Service carrier. Little Carter even got his own uniform to match Mike's. “It's been really cute. I just couldn't believe he got a full mailman's costume,” the postal service employee said.

    “Every letter carrier has stops he looks forward to and this is the one I look forward to every day,” said Mike. “He's the end of my day, and the best part of my day. Not because it's the end, but because he's such a cute little guy.”

    The man and the little boy's connection isn't a surprise to Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “Kids respond to mailmen because letter carriers are a friendly, uniformed part of the neighborhood who bring something to their house every day, and are someone they come to recognize and trust,” Rolando said. “It's the same for the elderly, but in addition, letter carriers may be the only person they communicate with all day.”

    A Spanish company Siesta &Go has opened the first public napping (小睡) space in Madrid. It promises people a quiet rest in the middle of the city's business center.

    Napping spaces are nothing new; places to rest are already set up in other big cities in the world. But the idea would appear to work well with the culture of Spain, where people traditionally take an afternoon nap, called siesta.

    The Madrid nap space recently opened with 19 beds. People can use them by the minute or by the hour, and they can also choose either a private or shared room. An hour of napping inside a private room costs about $ l5.

    Siesta &GO provides all bedding, clean nightshirts and other materials. Nippers can request to be woken up when their time is up. It also offers areas to work, with armchairs, newspapers and coffee for those not wishing to sleep.

    Philip &Go is one happy customer. Marco says he gets tired during the day because of hard work. He says a siesta is the perfect way to build up energy. “I come for about 30 minutes or something like that. That is usually enough for me to be full of energy.”

    While many Spanish people love their naps, others like Carlos Villarroja say they are just too busy to keep the tradition. “It's a Spanish tradition, but I think it's more of a legend (传说) than a tradition. Because of the lifestyle and the working hours, we have very little free time for a siesta at least during the week.”

    But many health experts believe there is evidence that taking a short nap can be very good for the body and mind. Scientific studies show that taking a siesta can also prevent illness and lower blood pressure.

    Are you an optimist? Do you look at your glass and see it as half full? Do you believe that every cloud has a silver lining and that generally things turn out for the best? Do you believe that if something is meant to be, it will be? If you reply "yes" to all of these questions, then you are an optimist. You probably are enthusiastic, cheerful and outgoing. You may well be successful at work and in love.

    But you may be misguided because things don't turn out for the best. You may believe that when one door closes another one opens (For example, you may fail to land a new job, but another chance will come around soon). Wrong. When one door closes, another door slams in your face. That's bitter reality.

    Now a book has been published which confirms what we pessimists(悲观者) have suspected all along. It's called The Positive Power of Defensive Pessimism. Its author argues that defensive pessimism can lead to positive results. Defensive pessimism is a strategy used to manage fear, anxiety and worry. Defensive pessimists prepare for things by setting low outcomes for themselves. They carefully consider everything that may go wrong and plan for ways to handle these problems. And this gives them a sense of control. Lawrence Sanno, a psychology professor, says, "What's interesting about defensive pessimists is that they tend to be very successful people, so their low opinion of the situation's outcomes is not realistic. They use it to motivate themselves to perform better."

    So far, so good. This is not rocket science. Defensive pessimists prepare carefully and consider what might go wrong, whether at work, on a date or even in a sports game. It makes sense to have a backup plan. There are many sayings in English urging caution. For example, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket", and "Don't count your chickens until they hatch." To have a confident and optimistic approach to life's problems is good. But listen to what Woody Alien, the American comedian says, "Confidence is what you have before you understand the problem."

    There are pros and cons to being an optimist and a pessimist. Don't feel bad if you see the glass half empty. You are a realist. But lighten up and hook up with someone who sees the same glass half full.

    In a big room on the second floor of the New York City Department of Sanitation's East 99th Street garage, 63-year-old Manhattan native Nelson Molina was listening to a Frank Sinatra CD he found in the trash. "The Way You Look Tonight" was playing through a music player. In fact, the entire space was filled with items strangers threw away. "My family kept everything," said Molina. "Nowadays, people throw it all away." Molina, during his 34 years as a sanitation worker （环卫工人）, gave these items a second life.

    Molina grew up in a housing project with his parents and five other kids in the family and had a habit of picking up unused items at a young age. "My family was poor, so we didn't get much for Christmas," he said. "I'd go out to look for a toy for my sisters, maybe a truck for my brothers." He kept his early morning habit secret from his friends, but not out of embarrassment: "I didn't want the competition."

    On the job, Molina had his sixth sense for finding items. "I could tell, sometimes just by the sound, whether a bag was filled with bottles or a different kind of glass," he said. He kept special finds on the truck, and then put them in out-of-the-way places in the sanitation garage. After almost 10 years, he began showing his discoveries. "It's not a normal practice." said NYC Department of Sanitation assistant chief Keith Mellis. Recently, a team of New York University students has taken on the task of cataloging （分类） the tens of thousands of objects, in hopes that the collection, which has hardly been open to the public, might one day be shown in an official sanitation museum.

Welcome to Reading Museum's Hands­on Learning Service

    During the past 100 years, Reading Museum has always been offering learning opportunities to schools, and we hope to continue this tradition for the next 100 years with your support.

    Victorian Schoolroom

    The session takes place in a grand reconstruction of a schoolroom in a late nineteenth century Board School. The children will experience a wide range of Victorian style lessons and use slate boards and dip pens. The session leader will play the role of a Victorian teacher but will come out of the role during the session to comfort the children. We provide costume for all children.

    Victorian Toys

    Our Victorian nanny delivers this interesting session. The nanny will help children to explore the differences between rich and poor children's toys from the past. During the session the children have the opportunity to make a toy to take home.

    Victorian Christmas

    In a specially decorated room the children will find out how the Victorians introduced many of our Christmas customs. They will make a simple card or present to take home.

    For up­to­date prices and session details, please visit our website www.. Reading museum, org. For all session bookings please phone us on 01189373400. Reservation at least 4 weeks in advance is advised. Please be ready to tell us when you wish to come, the session(s) you wish to book and the year group of pupils. Our sessions take place between 10:00 and 12: 00 or 12: 30 and 14: 30. The maximum group size is 35 pupils. We recommend that you bring 5 adults for each group.

    Susan couldn't help it. She and her friends began lunch with cheese. Then they ate cheeseburgers and drank milk. Things seemed fine, but then suddenly Susan's stomach started making noise. Her stomach hurt, and, racing to the restroom, she had terrible gas! She was so ashamed. She had been so excited to go to lunch with her friends that she totally forgot to watch how many dairy products (奶制品) she ate! Susan is lactose intolerant (乳糖不耐受的), and eating too many dairy foods can make her feel really sick.

    Lactose intolerance means that the body can't easily digest (消化) a special sugar called lactose. Unfortunately for Susan and millions of other people with this problem, lactose is found in almost all dairy products — cheese, milk and ice cream.

    Our body uses lactase (乳糖酵素) to break lactose into a simpler form of sugar. Once lactose is broken down, it's easy to digest and it provides great energy for the body. But people like Susan don't have enough lactase to break down all the lactose they take in. So, about half an hour to two hours after eating dairy­rich foods, their stomachs begin to hurt and they have gas, making their stomachs get bigger. Sometimes they even get diarrhea (腹泻) when they eat too many dairy foods.

    So how can someone living with this problem still eat out with his or her friends? Here are some tips. If you're going to eat a dairy­rich food like ice cream, eat something that doesn't have any dairy with it, like a salad or a sandwich without cheese. This will help slow digestion, and your body will have time to create more lactase.