I've made it my mission to educate all of my friends and family and any other woman who will listen about the great advantages of the IUD. It's made my life so much easier and less stressful.
Tina Studier
El Segundo
All work and no Sabbath
Re "Never off the clock," Opinion, May 2
Judith Shulevitz's Op-Ed about the Sabbath was very timely, given the near 24/7 schedule many of us are on and the array of communication devices we all use. These make us more efficient and free up time, which some of us use to search out more devices.
Case in point: latimes.com has a link inserted in Shulevitz's article that probably would cut into Sabbath rest: "Receive breaking news alerts on your mobile device."
Seventh-day Adventists observe the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday each week, taking literally the Fourth Commandment to rest from the week's work.
The day is remembered in congregational worship and often in serving the community and reflecting on God's creatorship by spending time in nature, which California has in abundance.
We carry our mobile devices with us, though hiking in steep canyons may temporarily block or slow down breaking news alerts, calls, tweets and e-mails.
Betty Cooney
Glendale
The writer is communication director, Southern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
I enjoyed reading Shulevitz's article about the shrinking or disappearance of the Sabbath and its benefits.
I remembered the Sundays of my youth, when "blue" laws were in effect and the day was so quiet and so different from the weekdays — maybe too much so.
It also made me think about retirement. Having been retired for 21/2 years, every day becomes the Sabbath, and it is sometimes difficult to make peace with being able to choose to be active or rest each day.
I wouldn't trade retirement for anything; at the same time, it does show me that decisions about work and leisure aren't limited to the time one has a job.
Laurie E. Scher
West Hollywood
Education 101
Re "Race to the Top II," Editorial, May 4
It was encouraging to see The Times recognize that "making test scores a major factor in teacher evaluations" is among the "unproven ways to go about improving education."
Perhaps this acknowledgement will begin the move away from demonizing teachers as the source of California's education problems.
Paul Berry
San Marino
It's just food
Re "Seed money," May 2
Having grown up on the family farm, I'd never have imagined this so-called urban farming, where companies install and tend pricey "mini farms" in suburban backyards.
The farming I knew was hard work, with no fanfare. I don't remember "dinner parties" in which anyone bragged that the food we ate was homegrown. Nothing special about that.
Timothy L. Wahl
Glendale
