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November 2009

Blueberries 'reverse memory loss."

Xtensor: Andy thought he would have to have surgery for Carpal Tunnel pain (and numbness) in his wrist and hand. But this extensor really helped him. (This is not an ad; no one is paying us for suggesting it. I just thought it might be helpful.)

May 2008

Identity theft: "Identity thieves use stolen information to obtain new credit cards; open checking accounts; make long distance or collect calls; or make purchases on a stolen credit card. Think it can't happen to you?"

March 2008

Lemon With Your Drink? Restaurant Lemons Are Loaded With Germs: "When restaurant workers place a lemon wedge on your glass of water, tea, or soda, they are apparently spiking your drink with germs. A new study by a New Jersey microbiologist found nasty bacteria on two-thirds of the lemons that were tested from 21 restaurants. ... The swabs of lemon wedges revealed everything from high counts of fecal bacteria to a couple of dozen other microorganisms -- most of which can make you sick. They found bacteria on the rind and on the flesh of the lemons. Health laws require lemons to be handled with gloves or tongs. But its common practice for waiters and waitresses to simply pop the little lemon wedge onto a drinking glass with their bare hands."

As you read the next three links, remember that our sovereign God has, throughout history, used decadent cultures and threats to families to draw His faithful people ever closer to Himself -- and to strengthen them for the spiritual battles ahead. "Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ!" See Victory and The Armor of God

December 2007

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters.... S.T.R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall.... She said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, she went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Her husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps she would be well today....

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR.

Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke ------- Stick out Your Tongue

Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that could also be an indication of a stroke.

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E-mail ADVICE...  from a system administrator for a corporate system.  It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails.

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses and names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer.  Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit.  That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!  How do you stop it?  Well, there are several easy steps:

 (1)  When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top).  That's right, DELETE them.... You MUST click the "Forward" button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. Another way is to just copy and paste the pertinent email onto a new email.

 (2)  Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses.  Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. And then put YOUR address in the To: field.  This is the way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail address.  If you don't see your BCC option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear.  Highlight the address and choose BCC...

 (3)  Remove any "FW :" in the subject line.  You can re-name the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

 (4)  ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading.

 (5)  Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition?  It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book.  The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses.  A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein.  If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient.
 
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Before you forward an 'Amber Alert', or a 'Virus Alert', or some of the other emails floating around nowadays, check them out before you forward them.  Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS!  Just about everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out a Snopes. Just go to www.snopes.com  It's really easy to find out if it's real or not.  If it's not, please don't pass it on.

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

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August 2007

BEWARE OF PAPER AT THE BACK GLASS OF YOUR VEHICLE.
THIS IS A NEW TRICK IN CAR JACKING (NOT A JOKE!!!)

Heads up everyone. Please, keep this circulating...

You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into Reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the car hacker's) appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car. So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity is now compromised!

Lieutenant Tony Bartolome, Bureau of Investigations, Florida Highway Patrol
P.O. Box 593527 Orlando , FL 32859

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Amazing that anyone would simply walk up to their vehicle and get in without observing the vehicle. I never do. There are a few things women should always doing when parking a vehicle or approaching a vehicle:

1. Never park your vehicle up close to the doors of any store unless you can park directly in front of the store with ample room on either side of your vehicle. Being able to see around a vehicle as you approach it is your best friend.

2. Never park your vehicle in dark areas of a parking lot if you expect to be in a store until darkness sets in.

3. As you approach your vehicle in a parking lot, keep your head up, your eyes moving; know what is going on around your vehicle. Always do a security check of your vehicle as you approach it; looking for flat tires, broken windows, anything stuck under the windshield wiper or on the car. It is not uncommon for me to walk completely around my vehicle before getting in it.

4. If you have a cart and unload the cart into the trunk of your vehicle, never leave any door unlocked as you put the cart in the cart rack, no matter how close the cart rack is to your vehicle. Never put your purse in the car and leave the door unlocked as you empty the cart into your trunk.

These are good habits to have. When you get used to doing them, they come second nature. People who are alert as they approach their vehicles are the bane of car jackers. The space around a vehicle gives you more ability to see someone hiding or lurking.

April 2007

Credit card fraud: According to Urban Legends (snopes.com), these are possible scenarios, though not very common -- at this time.

SCENE 1: People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they?

A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, "Funny, I thought I locked the locker. Hmm." He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order. Everything looked okay - all cards were in place.

A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whooping bill of $14,000!  He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he did not make the transactions. Customer care personnel verified that there was no Mistake in the system and asked if his card had been stolen.

"No," he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and yep - you guessed it - a switch had been made. An expired similar credit card from the same bank was in the wallet. The thief had broken into his locker at the gym and switched cards.

Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them. How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000!

Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped?  Small amounts rarely trigger a "warning bell" with some credit card companies. It just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!

SCENE 2:  A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card. The bill for the meal came, he signed it, and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along. Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was the expired card of another person.

He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man. All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately looked down and took out the real card. No exchange of words --- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology.

Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours. Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card is taken away for even a short period of time. Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, "assuming" that it has to be theirs.

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!

SCENE 3: Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly to my checking account.

The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure. While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing.

I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture. He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still pressing buttons.

Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on. It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm paying close attention to what he is doing.

He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open. About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture has been saved. Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a picture of my credit card. Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.

Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the pizza parlor.

All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Whenever you are using your credit card take caution and don't be
careless.

Notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card. Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days. When you are in a restaurant and the waiter/waitress brings your card and receipt for you to sign, make sure you scratch the number off. Some restaurants are using only the last four digits, but a lot of them are still putting the whole thing on there. I have already been a victim of credit card fraud and, believe me, it is not fun. The truth is that they can get you even when you are careful, but don't make it easy for them.

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