People often talk about "scientific progress" as if it falls from the sky. Progress in science requires long term funding. It requires hiring scientists and paying them to work on the problem over years. It doesn't just "appear".

Unfortunately, we're not that great at funding science. Even when we have federally funded research, it's often short term - if it doesn't show results in a year or two, it's yanked away and given to someone else. A lot of research requires long term commitments. Companies used to do more long term research, but now it's all about short term profits, raising the stock price. It's just not profitable to invest in long term research that might or might not pay off.

(And I'll briefly mention the myth that Americans don't study science. There are lots of American scientists, but a lot of them are giving up, because they're tired of being laid off so often.)

If we want scientific progress, we've got to fund it.

I saw a few straggling kids at my workplace today. I work in a lab, and normally kids wouldn't be allowed to visit, so I think it's a good idea. I think more kids should have a chance to come into the workplace and see what people are doing.

I'd like to expand it so kids (and especially teens) could see not just what their parents are doing at work, but explore all kinds of jobs. I was too old for the original "Take Your Daughters" day, but I remember wanting to visit a science lab when I was a high school student (since I was considering a career in science) and being told "no, we don't allow that" everywhere I asked.

(Boys, girls - everyone should be welcome. But I understand why the original focus was on daughters - when I was growing up, even into the early 80's, there was definitely a feeling that you might take your son to work, but not your daughter because "the only girls in the office are the secretaries".)

Did your aunt have other family - children, spouse, someone close to her? Write a thoughtful letter to one of them, telling them why your aunt mattered to you, maybe with a story or two about times you shared with your aunt. It doesn't matter if you don't know them well.

My mother died when I was fairly young (still in college). There was a memorial service, and people said nice, generic things. But some of my Mom's friends sent me letters or notes, just telling me why they missed my Mom and what she meant to them. Stories about things they did together. I'd never even met most of these friends, but those notes meant a great deal to me. I still have them and read them every now and then.

It's not the same as going to the funeral, but it's a way to feel connected to her and to other people who were close to her.

You might also do something in honor of your aunt. My Dad died recently and I had a memorial service for him - which was fine, but not as meaningful to me as doing something that meant something to us and our relationship - going to a favorite place, or singing a favorite song, etc. You mentioned that your aunt always gave you great Christmas presents. Christmas is a long way away, but maybe you could give awesome Christmas presents to someone in need, and think of her when you do.

I also wonder what kind of housing is unoccupied (and where). When the housing market was booming, I saw a lot of houses going up, but they were almost all monstrous McMansions. Smaller, more affordable houses were being ripped down to build huge homes. This was particularly bad in the Northeast, where half a million dollar "teardowns" were everywhere, but I saw it in other areas, too. (Not to mention the rental apartments that were being torn down or zoned out of existence so that more "luxury units" could be built.)

It was always questionable whether there were enough wealthy home buyers to afford all those luxury homes, but I'd guess that the numbers are dwindling even more, now. However, a 6000 square foot McMansion is never going to drop in price enough to make it affordable to a struggling family, no matter how far the market falls. Especially if that family isn't paying for it with a subprime mortgage and counting on 25% yearly appreciation to make the payments.

Maybe I'm missing something by not being able to see the videos on my old computer. But I looked at the picture of Miley and her Dad, and all I could think was "so what?" I never had photo shoots when I was young, but I was close to my Dad, and I'm sure there are vacation shots of me in a bikini, posing with my Dad. There are certainly lots of pictures of him with his arms around me, and I'm probably wearing skimpy teenage outfits in some of them. I have no idea what the actual relationship is between Miley and her father, but I think people are reading more into this picture than might be warranted.

I'm sure these relationships are complicated by fame and celebrity and press attention. But when I was a teen, I was more likely to confide in my Dad when it came to sex, rather than my Mom - and I don't think there's anything icky about that.