Fax

Foreclosure commonly represents the end of a struggle. A borrower can't pay a mortgage, loses a home and moves on. But Karen Mena, a 38-year-old county worker, never gave up. Mena fought even after her San Bernardino home was no longer hers. And she won the three-bedroom house back — at least for now. The ordeal isn't over yet. The eviction was stopped and Bank of America canceled the foreclosure because of the possibility that the loan would be modified to make it more affordable.

If you're planning a trip to China and don't have an up-to-date visa in hand, you may encounter some additional red tape. On Aug. 1, the Chinese government started requiring that travelers seeking tourist visas, officially known as L visas, submit a letter of invitation and photocopies of the traveler's round-trip ticket and hotel reservations.   To obtain a business, or F Visa, applicants must now have an invitation letter or “confirmation letter of invitation” issued by an authorized Chinese agency.

Two days after their flag was displayed upside-down at Game 2 of the World Series between the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays, thousands of Canadians loudly responded Tuesday night before Game 3. They stood and sang the U.S. national anthem. They sang it louder than it was sung in Atlanta last weekend, and when Jon Secada sang "land of the free," they erupted in cheers.

EVANGELIST GRAYLON A. FREEMAN Church of Christ, Cypress The marriage survival rate for infidelity across the board is very low. Marriage at its best is a fragile undertaking. It is a relationship that is built upon trust and commitment, a concern and a devotion that is to be life-lasting. The vows of a marriage--to honor one above all others--is not just made between a man and a woman, but it is also a covenant made with God.

QUESTION: Our house is making settling noises in the attic over the bedroom. Day and night, we hear loud cracking or popping sounds--usually three or four in succession. Our house was built 10 years ago. Is it still settling? Henry Spies of Spies Home Inspection Services in Champaign, Ill., replies: ANSWER: The noise you hear is not from settling, but from wood framing members moving in relation to one another. The wood warms during the day, losing moisture and shrinking slightly.

Ruth Deadmon, a near mute, waits outside the office of Dr. Daniel Truong, desperately hoping her voice can be restored. Deadmon is typical of Truong's patients: She awoke one day with what she thought was laryngitis. It has lasted seven years. Deadmon's condition has become so severe she sometimes cannot eat. She no longer answers her phone.

Amateur Eddie Murphy impersonator Kevin Pullum earns a mention in a list of America's "greatest prison escapes" in the current issue of Stuff magazine. Pullum, you'll recall, was the inmate who sneaked out of L.A.'s Twin Towers jail with the help of a fake employee ID card that bore a photo of the actor. Stuff salutes Pullum as "the Nutty Prisoner." The magazine also recognizes the work of Forrest "Woody" Tucker, whose greatest feat was escaping San Quentin, then paddling away into San Francisco Bay on a 14-foot kayak he built in the prison wood shop.

A Santa Barbara start-up plans to offer a service that allows anyone with an e-mail address to receive faxes for free. Subscribers to CallWave's FaxWave service will be assigned a unique phone number for incoming faxes. A CallWave computer server will receive those faxes as bit-map graphics, then forward them to customers as e-mail attachments. Each e-mail and attachment file will contain a banner ad, said David Hofstatter, one of the company's three co-founders.