What to do on your summer break

	MINDING THE STORE This summer, we’ll be finishing the testing for our kitchen and computing packages, digital-cameras report, and a lot more for future issues.

When I was a kid, summer meant more than freedom from school. Limits my parents set for my sisters and me the rest of the year sailed out the wide-open window just as the bell of the ice-cream truck drifted in. As an adult, indulging in a daily dose of fudge ripple would cost me in more ways than one. But there’s plenty of other fun to be had in the warm months, and this month's Consumer Reports is quite a dishful of tips on how to make the most of it.

Sleeping over. Our CR Investigates July 2004 report on hotels tells you how to get the best rates for the best rooms. Don’t jump at the first rate you see and don’t expect Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, and other travel sites to always offer the lowest rate. We often got the best deals the old-fashioned way. By haggling with hotel reservation agents over the phone, we negotiated as much as $180 off the nightly price of a room and got other extras, such as discounted parking or a room with a better view.

Road trip. Predictions are that gas prices will continue to set record highs this summer. So a drive to farm country could cost you the farm. If you’re considering buying a new vehicle, know that even at $1.50 per gallon, a car that gets 30 mpg will cost you approximately $500 less in fuel every year than one that gets 15 mpg. It will also spew about 3.75 fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.

Staying home. We make summer more comfortable with a report on air conditioners and our new page, CR Home reports.

Keeping safe. Lyme disease is now the most common insect-borne infection in the U.S. Some 20 percent of victims never exhibit the best-known symptom--the bull’s-eye rash. Read our July 2004 report to learn about the other symptoms, the treatments, and the best ways to avoid Lyme disease in the first place.

On a personal note: I traveled to Kenya in April 2004 for a board meeting of Consumers International, an organization of hundreds of consumer groups. It was sobering to be reminded that more than a billion people have little or no access to some basic necessities. In some Nairobi slums, where there is no running water, street vendors sell water at prices up to 10 times higher than the established rates even to families earning less than $2 per day. Consumers International and the United Nations support a set of principles that promote the right of people everywhere to safe, clean water. Consumers International is undertaking a global campaign to secure this right. As you and I make decisions about the best and safest products and services for our families, let’s not forget that the options open to many others are so limited and so crucial.

Jim Guest President