Are you prepared to drive on wet roads after our dry summer? It's time to shift mental gears and be ready for another season of less than ideal driving conditions. Many drivers try to blame their crashes on the weather, but a more truthful answer might be that the reason for the crash is failing to take the weather into account.

Canadians agree that financial planning pays off by delivering real value. In two recent studies 鈥� The Value of Financial Planning and The Value of Advice: Report 鈥� a majority of Canadians agreed that by choosing financial advice, they accumulated more assets and were better prepared, financially, for retirement.

Comox Valley Record editor Mark Allan has dreaded being featured by the Tonight Show's Jay Leno in his Monday night Headlines section for almost a quarter of a century. Two weeks ago, his nightmare became a reality 鈥� and now, he can't stop worrying that Leno is watching him as he works.

A recent visit to Mount Washington reacquainted me with a unique bird that is busily preparing for the harsh winter ahead; it also reminded me how we often innocently interfere with this process. Fearless, adventuresome and inquisitive, the gray jay or 鈥渨hiskey jack鈥� is well known to hikers, skiers and visitors to the mountain.

Part Three of the Motor Vehicle Act contains the driving rules like speeding, stopping at stop signs and which side of the road to drive on. There are exemptions, and Industrial Health and Safety Regulations can play a role.

You can get it if you want it 鈥� everywhere! Information, that is. And these days, many consumers turn to social media and other electronic sources for information and guidance. But are Twitter, Facebook, blogs and websites the best places to get what you need?

As every diehard Star Trek fan knows, Bozeman was the site of the first contact between humans and Vulcans, but you don鈥檛 have to be a Trekkie to find a reason to visit this charming college town on the high plains of the American West. If you have ever used a telephone, played a video game, used a PC or even a typewriter, read a book, or simply been intrigued by the remarkable history of the information age, you鈥檒l want to make time for a visit to the American Computer Museum.

Continuing with the education theme, September鈥檚 columns by Wendy Johnstone are going to focus on Alzheimer鈥檚 disease awareness and resources for family caregivers and those living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

My teenaged son is having some problems, and our doctor has recommended counselling. The problem is that my son is refusing to go and says that he doesn鈥檛 need a 鈥渟hrink.鈥� Do you have any suggestion for how I can get him to go?

Day-to-day living is costly. Gas, groceries, home expenses, the kids, taxes, a workday coffee or lunch 鈥� it all costs and it all adds up, making it very difficult to set aside money for investing.