MAKE A NOTE!! -- August 6th, 2003
CIRCULATION - 35,743 (From Around the World! :-)
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A Free Twice Monthly (1st and 3d Wednesday of each month) Ezine with (Hopefully) Useful Info on a Wide Variety of Topics
NEXT ISSUE TO BE PUBLISHED ON/ABOUT AUGUST 20TH, 2003
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NOTE: Each entry has a suggested "POST IT..." location at the end. We recommend that you print out the ezine, cut out each entry, & post it in these locations to make it easier for you to find when you need it. And if you like what you read, be sure to pass it on to someone else who can use it.
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Family Flix Edited Movies
Are you are looking for good movies, but are tired of "the stuff" in them (language, nudity, excessive violence or gore)? Or perhaps your teen is a little too old for the kiddie movies, but too young for more mature material? Then get ready to take down this web site. Family Flix ( http://www.familyflix.net) takes the big Hollywood movies and cleans them up. You can either send your own DVD or VHS movie for them to edit, or you can request they purchase the movie for you and edit it to send to you. The movies that are rated PG13 or R become the equivalent of a PG. Even more is taken out than the networks take out for broadcast airing. The edits are very smooth and in the great majority of cases, not even noticeable. I find the language editing particularly seamless. While they can't edit all movies (let's face it, if certain movies were edited they might last 10 min), I think you will be more than happy with their huge selection, and they are always adding new titles. And yes, it is all perfectly legal. Not only do they have new movies for purchase, but a discount on previously viewed VHS/DVDs. They also seem to have outstanding customer service. So go to their web site and check them out.
POST IT...on your computer and on your shopping list (see our Christmas Countdown List in the Back Issue Treasure section).
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Helping Sort Out Medical Claims
When a loved one is injured or develops severe health problems, they are often incapable of handling medical insurance issues themselves. It often falls to a family member, who may not have handled the insurance before, to take care of things until things return to "normal." In more trying cases, the patient may actually pass away. So if you are responsible for the bills, here are some tips to help make it a little easier. First collect up all the medical bills and sort by date of service (DOS) , this is the date the service was actually provided NOT the date of the notice. Also separate by providers (doctor, hospital, or company that is billing you) within the DOS. Then take all of your insurance Explanation of Benefits (EOBs-which explain how much the ins. company paid for the service on the dates on the bills), and place them on the appropriate medical bill. Remember you are grouping everything by the DOS and provider. Starting with the earliest DOS, gather all of that provider's bills & EOBs. If you have a bill, and EOB for each insurance company, then you know the bill was filed. Contact the provider and tell them all the insurance policies you know are in effect, and ask if they have any others on file. Make sure they have filed with every policy. If a claim was denied or a very small portion paid, ask if they would consider refiling it for further payment (there are over 10 different payment codes they can use with office visits alone & the code usually determines how much is paid). If they will not refile, you can refile yourself. If any of the policies are supplements, then remember any claim to them will be denied unless the other companies have already paid, the supplement only pays the remainder. If the insurance has paid all they are going to pay, ask if the provider would consider writing any of the amount off, this is standard practice with most providers. Then pay the remainder off. If the amount is too high to pay off all at once, then ask if you can pay a certain amount each month, most providers will not have a problem with this. Don't forget to file with auto or homeowner insurance if the injury is related to an accident in the car or at home. This may sound like a lot of work, but most work will be done by the providers' insurance clerks, so you just have to make a few phone calls to follow up. Remember that those clerks want to work with you to do whatever needs to be done to get that bill paid.
POST IT...under "physicians" in the yellow pages, or with your insurance cards.
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Garage Sales Online
Normally, I wouldn't recommend a web site until it is well up & running. But in this case, I think the potential warrants a mention. One of our readers, Shonda H., sent me this site, confirming what I always say, that some of our best ideas come from our readers. On this site, www.garagesaleshopper.com, you can post an ad or search for garage sales anywhere in the USA. Currently there aren't very many listings, probably because the word just hasn't gotten out about the site yet. But what a wonderful idea for all those early morning bargain hunters. Eventually they also plan to add a map feature to the site, so you can find your way easier, AND a search feature in case you are looking for a particular item. So pass this article on to all your garage sale shopper friends and help make a great idea for a web site have more hits than they know what to do with.
POST IT...under "thrift shops" in the yellow pages, on your computer, and in emails to your friends.
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Helping Sitters Sooth Babies
Did you know that while you are pregnant, the lotions & perfumes you use actually carry into your blood stream a bit? That if a mother wears a certain scent while she is pregnant, that even a newborn baby will settle down faster if a nurse wearing that same scent holds him (they put blindfolds on the babies to make it a fair test). This is true. So if you'd like to help the baby settle down for the sitter, offer the sitter the same scent that you wear. This is also great if you have a baby that needs to be in an incubator after birth. When my son was born he had severe jaundice & had to be in an incubator under the lights for long stretches and would often cry. But when I put a tiny dab of my perfume on the sheet under him, he actually stopped crying & settled down. The nurses were amazed. But be sure to check with the staff before to make sure it is safe for your baby & the equipment around him. One mother I knew also wore a red scarf/bandana around her neck, and would pass it on to the sitter when they left the house. The scarf had that slight mother smell and maybe the color was also familiar.
POST IT...on your list of babysitters.
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Recipe: Chocolate Éclair Dessert
This one is great for those hot days of summer, cool and creamy. Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with graham crackers. Just lay them flat, don't break them up any more than you have to for them to fit to cover the bottom. Mix 2 small (3oz) packages of instant vanilla pudding mix w/3C milk and an 8oz tub of whipped topping. Mix well until mixture starts to thicken. Pour half of mixture on top of the graham cracker layer & spread evenly. Place another layer of graham crackers on top of the pudding layer. Pour the remaining pudding mixture on top of that layer and spread evenly. Add a final layer of graham crackers on top of that pudding layer. Take a tub of chocolate frosting and spread carefully over the top graham cracker layer. Refrigerate until serving. While this dessert can be served right away, it is usually a lot better if you can let it sit overnight, or for several hours. Then the cracker layers become more like torte layers. Cut like a cake. Usually you need about 2 packages of graham crackers to do all the layers. This is one dessert that will bring out the "Yum"s in people.
POST IT...in your recipe box & shopping list.
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Back Issue Treasure: August 15th, 1998
It is that time of the year again! Yes, time to start our always popular Christmas Countdown List. Our readers who have followed the checklist have told us how nice it was to spread things out and to have everything done by Thanksgiving. Even those who partially followed it, have said that it helped. So go to this back issue to get the list. Or if you would like a less cluttered version, you can go straight to our web site, click on "Bonus Page", and then scroll down to the list. In this back issue, you can also get info on how to nominate your Sunday School teacher for an annual award. To add to that article, you can now fill out the nomination form online at http://www.mysundayschoolteacher.com. Learn about simple living with the article on Simple Times ezine too.
To retrieve this back issue click HERE.
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Missing Child Info: MICHELLE & ASHLEY VILLATORO
Michelle and her sister Ashley were abducted by their father, Luis Gonzalez.
The children's mother was found murdered. A felony warrant for homicide has been
issued for Luis Gonzalez. Gonzalez is believed to be driving a 1979 two-door
yellow Pontiac Firebird with Texas plates T81-WZJ. He should be considered armed
and dangerous. Michelle is 2, Ashley is 1, and they are both Hispanic/White
females with brown hair and eyes. Michelle is 2'6" and 45 lbs, Ashley is 2' and
20 lbs. Luis is 22, White/Hispanic, with black hair, brown eyes, 5'4", 120 lbs.
The girls were abducted from Houston, so be sure to keep a good lookout,
ESPECIALLY if you are in Texas, and that yellow Pontiac Firebird would probably
be hard to miss. For photos you can go to the poster at...
http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=968843&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US
or go to
http://www.ncmec.org
click on "More Search Options" in the middle of the page, then enter in "Villatoro"
at the bottom, then click on either the child's name or "View Poster" under
their name.
POST IT...in your car and keep an eye out.
Final Words
JOKE (Thanks to Maria P.)
A new pastor was visiting in the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10." Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid for I was naked."
QUOTE
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."
---Veteran Intelligence Officer quoted in "Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War"
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AT&T's Community Port
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