Celebrate Preservation Month and National Tourism Week at Brucemore with free guided tours of the mansion Saturday, May 5 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 6 from noon to 3:00 p.m. The 21-room Queen Anne style mansion and 26-acre park-like estate, built between 1884 and 1886, provides insight into Cedar Rapids' rich history and Midwestern life in the early twentieth century. Tours will begin approximately every 15 minutes with the last tour beginning at 3:00 p.m.

In 1971, the National Trust created Preservation Week to spotlight grassroots preservation efforts around the country, and has since grown into an annual celebration for local communities to honor their past and help build their future. Brucemore will offer other Preservation Month activities in May, including:

• Brucemore's Historic Neighborhood Walk - May 3, 6:00 p.m. and May 5, 12:00 p.m.
• Brucemore Plant Sale - May 12, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
• Nooks and Crannies Mansion Tours - May 15-18, 6:00 p.m.
• Historic Landscape Tours - May 19, 10:30 a.m. and May 24, 6:00 p.m.

The 2012 Plant Sale will celebrate the newly-restored Lord & Burnham Greenhouse.  This annual event funds preservation projects throughout the estate. For more information about Preservation Month activities during May and throughout the year, visit Brucemore's website at www.brucemore.org or call (319) 362-7375. Visit the National Trust for Historic Preservation website at www.preservationnation.org for more information about Preservation Month.

The Cedar Rapids Convention and Visitors Bureau invites you to "Discover CR: Be a Tourist in Your Town" by celebrating National Tourism Week, May 5 through 13. Other participating businesses and organizations can be found by visiting www.cedar-rapids.com/partners/tourist-in-your-town/.

Brucemore, Iowa's only National Trust Historic Site, is located at 2160 Linden Drive SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The 26-acre park-like estate in the heart of Cedar Rapids boasts a Queen Anne style mansion built between 1884 and 1886. Brucemore has been home to three prominent families who used the estate as a center for culture and the arts. The estate continues to be a hub for cultural, philanthropic, and educational activities. Each year thousands of visitors attend specialty tours, concerts, fine arts performances, children's programs, holiday celebrations, preservation events, and garden workshops on the estate. For more information, call (319) 362-7375 or visit www.brucemore.org.

(April 2012) To keep local customers happy, retailers might want to focus less on the register and more on the clock. In these busy, hectic times, retailers better hop to it and wait on customers quickly, or customers will hop on out of there - because customers HATE TO WAIT!

In a new national survey:
• 76% of respondents say a wait any longer than five to ten minutes at a retail business is unreasonable.
• 94% say a reasonable amount of time to wait at a retail business is 5 - 10 minutes or less.

If a retail business makes them wait fifteen minutes or longer:
• 63% say it shows bad customer service and a lack of respect for their time.
• 52% say they take their business elsewhere
• 48% say they assume the business is not well run and badly managed.

When asked what bothered them the most about a retailer:
Most often ranked as the #1 annoyance (in order):
• A rude staff
• They made me wait
• I paid too much

In other survey findings:
• 87% of respondents say they would use a technology that kept them from waiting in line at a retail stores if it saved them 15 minutes of waiting.
• 2 out of 3 respondents say they would use online check-in or download an app that saved their place in line at a retail business.

The survey also asked respondents for the most annoying time waster in their lives.
Most often ranked as the #1 annoyance (in order):
• Getting Placed on Hold
• Waiting in Line
• Sitting in Traffic

Great Clips, a local hair salon brand and the first ever to introduce time saving online check-in, asked consumers about waiting as part of a campaign to introduce the new online check-in app. The technology, which allows customers to check in from their desktops or smart phones, has trimmed haircut wait times from about fifteen minutes to five minutes, so customers can pretty much walk right in with little or no wait.

"In all our research, in focus group after focus group, we hear that today's busy singles and families alike are stressed out, exhausted and short on time - and today, time is money," says Rhoda Olsen, CEO of Great Clips. "Online check-in gives people back those few extra minutes that can take your day from good to great."

Online check-in is already gaining steam, with more than one million customers checking in online in 2011. In 2012, that number is even greater with an average 200,000 checking in online per month. With more than 80,000 new downloads of the app each month, it's clear customers find it helpful.

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Fans of the Fox TV drama "House," now in its final season, may wonder why New Jersey isn't known as The Mysterious Medical Maladies State -- it seems everyone who lives there has one.

Fortunately, they also have the fictional Dr. Gregory House, who makes up in diagnostic acumen what he lacks in charm and bedside manner.

Hugh Laurie's acting talent isn't the only reason the 2012 Guinness Book of Records ranks "House" the world's most popular TV show. It's as much because the premise is all too real, says Sean Belanger, CEO of CSDVRS, a national video relay services provider for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

"Many illnesses defy diagnosis and ingenious specialists are few and far between," he says. "Which is why recent technological advances in video conferencing are so exciting. Telemedicine is not just about more convenient meetings - it's about saving lives."

Belanger's corporation launched Stratus Video (www.stratusvideo.com) last year to focus on honing that technology. He understands the life-changing potential of high-quality, on-demand video conferencing - his company provides video-relayed deaf interpreting services to government agencies and businesses across the country, including the Social Security Administration, Boeing Corp. and Wal-Mart.

"On-demand, high-definition mobile video conferencing solves life-or-death problems, like the hospital patient in Georgia who needs to be seen by the specialist at the Mayo Clinic - fast," Belanger says. "To that end, we support video technology today for American Sign Language and Spanish, and provide language interpretation access for more than 180 spoken languages, all on a mobile device."

Telemedicine is also used to bring doctors to far-flung rural communities; save travel time and money on consultations and team problem-solving; and even to have more experienced medical professionals offering guidance and instruction during procedures.

Observation and reliable connections are critical when video conferencing is used in these ways, Belanger notes. So continuing to refine and improve the tools will have far-reaching - and very personal - effects.

"Think about what happens when you go to the doctor. He or she looks down your throat, into your eyes and ears. What they see there gives them information about what's wrong with you," he says. "The better the video relay system, the more reliable and trusted telemedicine becomes and, who knows?, that could even lead to lower health insurance premiums."

At the least, it ensures patients get all the medical whiz genius of a Gregory House - without the snark.

"Hey, with video conferencing," Belanger says, "just hang up on him."

About Sean Belanger

Sean Belanger is the chief executive officer of CSDVRS, the parent company of Stratus Video. A graduate of Virginia Technology, he has 30 years' experience in the technology industry. He previously served as CEO of the Paradyne Networks and general manager of 3Coms' network service provider division.

Obesity isn't just an American problem; in Britain, doctors have begun administering the diabetes drug metformin to the unborn babies of morbidly obese mothers-to-be to reduce the fetuses' weight.

The reason: dangerously overweight pregnant women create excessive amounts of insulin, which results in "sumo babies" weighing 11 pounds or more. These extra-large newborns have twice the chance of becoming obese adults, and their numbers have risen by 50 percent in the past four years. Obese pregnant women are at a higher risk of dying while pregnant, and their babies are more likely to be stillborn.

"I don't know how many more signs we need in Western society before we really get serious about our health," says Gordon Filepas, author of Lean And Healthy To 100 (www.adviceformychildren.com), a guide for achieving optimal health based on studying cultures where long lives are the norm.

"Are we really treating unborn babies for obesity?"

In his research, Filepas found many common practices and characteristics in especially healthy cultures. They include :

• Calories: It's not necessary to count calories; people in healthy cultures don't! Once you give your body what it needs, you'll naturally consume fewer calories. This puts significantly less stress on the digestive system and reduces the potential of ingesting toxins.

• Heavy on nutrients: Human beings evolved as hunters and gatherers who took every opportunity for caloric intake. In the process, a wide spectrum of nutrients became the norm, and that is what bodies still crave today.

• Focus on whole and unprocessed foods, fats, and oils: Examples include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and grains. Meat, which is usually the main dish in Western culture, is often treated as a side dish in the cultures Filepas studied.

• Limited toxins: This includes few, if any, pollutants from processed food, water and other beverages, medicine and air.

• A sense of purpose: Individuals from these cultures feel like they are making a difference beyond earning money, and tend to work long days, six days a week.

• Innate exercise: Virtually no additional form of exercise is needed beyond their daily activity.

• Alcohol: Every culture has alcohol. Healthy populations drink regularly, but in moderation. And, they take a greater sense of responsibility for their health.

• Traditional cooking methods: This means low-tech methods, absent of microwaves.

Finding a lifestyle that naturally promotes excellent health became an obsession for Filepas after the deaths of his father and brother in a three-month time span. He wanted to ensure he and his wife and three sons would be together for years to come.

"I tell my friends, family and anyone who will listen: Whatever you hear about health in America, do the exact opposite and you'll be much healthier than the average American," he says. "Americans are bombarded with confusion and misinformation about health; it's a life-or-death situation."

About Gordon Filepas

Gordon Filepas spent 20 years researching Lean And Healthy To 100, interviewing physicians, attending seminars, and reading medical journals and other health-related literature. He is the founder of TGM Partners, a consulting and investment firm. Filepas says he was motivated to learn more about the requirements for optimal health following the deaths of his father and brother within three months of each other. He hopes to ensure the good health of his family, including his wife of 25 years and three sons.