Nails

No time to assemble the contents for your own travel tool kit? You can get one ready-made. Travel tool kits -- "a collection of approved products, services and information resources to prepare you for travel anywhere in the world," as the Web site etraveljournal.com explains it -- are handy to have. The suggestions below might not have all the contents you may want, but they represent a basic, good starter set for you to build on. Many such sites exist, and while we highly recommend a customized toolbox -- no one knows your travel choices better than you do -- visit these sites to see if they'll do the trick, at least for now. savvytraveler.

Looking to nail down a place you can count on for a terrific manicure or pedicure? Here's a list of five we'd recommend around the Baltimore area. The prices and services vary, but each has something special to offer. About Faces Salon & Day Spa, 110 W. Timonium Road, Timonium A classic mani/pedi will run you $54, but for an additional $21, you can get the spa treatment, which includes a 10-minute massage and a refreshing cool mint mask. The hit: This is Kelly Ripken's manicure spot.

My father used to say that you need the right tools to do the job right, but he was talking about screwdrivers. The same is true in the kitchen, where cookbook author and housewares consultant Jamee Ruth makes it her mission to get cooks comfortable with their tools. What exactly is a braiser? Or the difference between a saucepan and a saucier? Didn't the cast-iron skillet go out with washing clothes in the river? In her new book, The Cookware Cookbook (Chronicle Books, 2005, $18.95)

SOME OF the new music I've enjoyed the most boasts lean, quirky productions -- uncluttered soundscapes with slick, undeniable hooks. I'm thinking about Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl," which sits atop Billboard's Hot 100, and the Ying Yang Twins' "Wait (The Whisper Song)." It's not always about the lyrics, which, in pop especially, can be painfully trite -- even if they are catchy. (The Game and 50 Cent's "How We Do" and Brooke Valentine's "Girlfight" come to mind.) It's all about the production, really: the placement of guitar lines, the beat, the overall sound of the record that pulls us in. The production of the new releases on this week's playlist ranges from a bit familiar but adventurous to nauseatingly predictable with a few OK moments here and there: Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth: That jarring industrial rock sound spearheaded by NIN was hot in the mid-'90s, around the same time Nirvana blew up. Trent Reznor, the man who records as Nine Inch Nails, is back with an album that echoes The Downward Spiral, his hit 1994 set. With Teeth retains the lyrical bleakness and misery associated with the Ohio native's music.

At first glance, the rambling old barn seems unremarkable in a countryside dotted with aging farm buildings. But the sturdy interior of this building at Coldsprings Farms in western Carroll County merits another look. Its log construction is an engineering feat that stands as a testament to 18th-century workmanship. Its 50-foot beams, made of chestnut logs sawed, hewn and set by hand, have weathered centuries of wind and storms. The logs were notched together to form the walls and ceiling and floor.

KITCHENER, Ontario - Twenty-four hours after giving one of the worst performances of her career, Kimmie Meissner bounced back with a rock-solid routine last night at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships. Skating to Debussy's Reverie, the defending silver medalist executed everything on her eight-element short program, including the triple lutz that had vexed her, to finish in third place. "I wasn't as nervous as I was at qualifiers. I was excited," she said. "Everything felt really good."

John P. "No Nails" Costello, a retired Bethlehem Steel Corp. carpenter and active church member, died of cancer Sunday at his home in Baltimore's Eastwood neighborhood. He was 84. Mr. Costello was born and raised in Mount Carmel, Pa., the son of Italian immigrant parents from Naples. After graduation from high school, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and was assigned to camps throughout the Northeast. During World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and was a cook aboard trains transporting naval personnel to the West Coast.

My feet are a mess. I was diagnosed with onychomycosis (nail fungus). The doctor prescribed Sporanox, which I took for weeks. It did not work very well considering the high cost. I do not want to go through another round of expensive treatment, but I would like a good way to deal with nail fungus and bad foot odor. I would like to try a home remedy but need directions. Readers have shared a variety of strategies for both problems. The most recent involves soaking the feet daily in Listerine (original formula)

So you have yet to get away for that spa vacation you've been craving. No worries. With a handful of products, you can create a spa in your own home. Sure, there won't be any 25-mile pre-dawn hikes. And we won't be trying to pass off two blueberries and a no-fat tortilla as dinner. But it will give you an opportunity to sit down, relax and give your bod the TLC it needs. Did someone say dimples? Your vows to work out 12 times a week and swear off potato chips forever didn't work. And as a result, your thighs are looking a tad too dimply for your taste.

My teenage son has really smelly feet. He can't take off his shoes when we're in the car or the house, or he stinks us all out. His feet must be covered. (Fresh socks, a blanket or a hazmat-response suit all work equally well.) He bathes every day, so this is not due to bad hygiene. No one else in the family suffers from this ailment. (We suffer enough just from his.) He wears a variety of shoes, but they all smell bad. The ones that he wears more often just smell worse. We've heard of home remedies that involve soaking in a weak tea or boric-acid solution.