By HELEN ANNE TRAVIS, St. Petersburg Times

Picture it: Somewhere in a red state, an unhappy woman sits down at her computer and starts brainstorming for her latest chain e-mail against the country's 44th president.
She bangs out ideas on her keyboard: "Barack Obama used stimulus money to tear down a bald eagle sanctuary." "Barack Obama wants to tax grocery-coupon savings."

This time of year brings new faces to the weekly bereavement support groups at various hospices.
"People review their lives during the holidays. Whenever you review your life, you're going to review your losses," said Sonia Quinones, bereavement services director at Gulfside Regional Hospice in Pasco County, Fla.

The economy is in the dumps. You're working hard to impress the higher-ups, and polishing your resume in case of layoffs. But what else can you do to stay employed (and sane) amid the reports of economic doom and gloom?Feng-shui expert Kathy Mann said the ancient Chinese art of space arrangement and energy flow can help you ride the recession storm.

Duct tape.It holds the batteries in when you lose the cover on the back of the remote. It seals leaky hoses. It patches torn tents.It also helped a woman in Dade City, Fla., find her calling.It all started six years ago when a Google search for crafts showed a bored Grace Grover how to make wallets and fake flowers out of the silver sticky stuff.

SPRING HILL, Fla. -- John Consoli wants to get rid of drugs in the workplace, one telephone handset at a time.Consoli, 67, is the president of On Site, a Spring Hill, Fla. company marketing DrugWipe, a handheld narcotic detector.

Stephen Murray, 27, is the vice president of operations and one of two full-time employees at Kazoobie Inc., a kazoo factory in Port Richey, Fla. He discussed the industry -- and revealed what goes into making one of the musical instruments.

Cheryl Salyer's face appeared life-size and grainy on the pixilated screen of a Toshiba laptop.Around the computer, four women huddled over notebooks and discussed learning disabilities with Salyer's head bobbing on the screen.It's common these days for college students to tote a laptop to class. But Salyer goes to class in a laptop.