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Entry bubble March is Women's History Month

By: Jim | February 29, 2008 | Category: General

suffragettes in front of Cleveland headquarters office

Hi, everybody. I’m Jim, the newest – and oldest – member of the blog team.

Some of you out there are wondering why a guy would be writing about Women’s History Month. Let’s just say I try to be a bit non-conformist. Back at San Diego State, the idea of taking a year of “western civ” and similar classes to meet my graduation requirements wasn’t appealing. I enrolled in classes that I hoped would be interesting and unusual. Women in American History was one of those classes. On looking back at my working class Ohio upbringing, I bet my parents thought I was becoming some sort of radical.

It turns out that I really enjoyed the class because we weren’t simply memorizing lists of dates and events. The class was more interesting because some of the ideas we discussed in the classroom were borne from women’s first-hand accounts of everyday life and its challenges—like a pioneer woman’s diary entry about how she had to sift the worms out of the flour to make the day’s bread. I was surprised to learn that that in 1851, my home town Akron, Ohio was the site of a women’s rights convention, the one in which escaped slave Sojourner Truth made her noteworthy “Ain’t I Woman” speech.

Speaking of surprises, I got one while I was on USA.gov’s History, Arts, and Culture page looking for some additional Women’s History Month information. There’s actually a Women’s Rights National Park. The National Register of Historic Places has a travel itinerary of places where women made history. Sounds like a road trip is my future.

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: girl   history   jim   suffrage   women  

 

Entry bubble Free Credit Report? Make Sure You're Getting The Real Thing

By: Nancy | February 28, 2008 | Category: Money

dollar signIf the thought of identity theft scares you like it does me, or you're looking to make a major purchase and you need to check your credit rating, those ads for companies that promise you "free credit reports" may have caught your attention. Truth is, you don't need those guys. You can get a copy of your credit report for free, all by yourself.

The Federal Trade Commission requires the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian (formerly called TRW) and Trans Union to give you a free copy of your credit report once a year. The credit bureaus are not part of the government; they're companies that keep track of your borrowing and debt records so lenders can get an idea of how good a risk you are when you apply for credit or for certain services.

It's really easy to get your free credit report and it's available from only one central place: AnnualCreditReport.com. There are companies that have websites with similar names. And they may offer you a "free" copy of your credit report but you'll have to buy other services from them first to get it. AnnualCreditReport.com is the only official site where you can get a genuinely free copy of your credit report from all three reporting agencies. And if you'd rather order your free credit report by phone or by mail, you can do that too.

You can choose whether you want to get your credit report from just one of the credit bureaus at a time or if you want to get a report that has the information of all three combined. I like to get my reports one at a time, spread out over the course of a year. I stop back at AnnualCreditReport.com every four months for a report—Trans Union in January, Equifax in May and Experian in September, for example. Since all three agencies have very similar information, this allows me to check my credit for free more than just once a year.

When you're on the AnnualCreditReport.com site, you'll be asked some identifying information including your Social Security number. Normally, you wouldn't share that with anybody—especially online—but because this is the official place to get your free credit report, and it's a secure website, it's safe to share the personal information they need to make sure you're you, and to get you the right credit report.

If you've never seen a copy of a credit report or you're not sure how to read one, here's a good sample from Experian. (If you can't see the sample report, you'll need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader onto your computer.)

Next Thursday, we're going to talk about how to fix mistakes you might find on your credit report. If you have a chance between now and then, grab that free copy of your credit report, and I'll see you back here next week. ;)

| Post a Comment | View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: credit   debt   identity   nancy   theft  

 

Entry bubble Trouble Sleeping?

By: Colleen | February 27, 2008 | Category: Health

I haven't been sleeping well lately. My self-diagnosis of the problem is:

a) The upcoming Project Runway finale. Will Rami continue to drape everything?! Can Christian hit new heights of fierce? And would Jillian be kind enough to design a coat for me, please?

b) That über catchy and infectious Miley Cyrus song that's in heavy rotation on top-40 radio. Hear the chorus once and it's like permanent super glue to the brain.

Hopefully, my issues will be resolved after Wednesday night's final episode, aided by my vow to listen only to CDs until the Miley phenomenon passes over.

Sadly, over 40 million Americans suffer from non-Miley or reality tv sleep disorders. Not only is this irritating, but it can cause serious health problems like making diabetes and high blood-pressure worse. The average adult needs about 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

Try making it easier to get to dreamland by:

  • Avoid caffeine, nicotine, beer, wine, and liquor four to six hours before bedtime
  • Don't nap later than 3 p.m.
  • Wind down in the 30 minutes before bedtime by doing something relaxing (read, listen to music, etc.)

If you have trouble falling asleep most nights for a few weeks or more, you should see a doctor. After evaluation, they can determine if you may need prescription drugs.

I suggest making your life a Project Runway / Miley-free zone.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: colleen   cyrus   disorder   health   miley   project   runway   sleep  

 

Entry bubble Arbor Day is Coming Up – What Will You Plant?

By: Joanne | February 26, 2008 | Category: General

Joanne and her children pose with their 8 foot snowman

It’s hard to think about planting trees when you’re building an 8 foot snowman, but did you know that Arbor Day is just around the corner? What a perfect way for me to continue to pine (ha-ha, I didn’t even mean to do that) away for spring.

National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April, but many states observe Arbor Day on different dates according to their best tree-planting times. In most states, Arbor Day is in March or April, but if you live in Alabama, it’s this week, so get digging!

Why bother? Take some responsibility for your carbon footprint! Trees gladly consume carbon dioxide and provide us with lovely oxygen. Did you know that trees can reduce your home heating and cooling costs? True! I spend almost nothing to cool my home in the summer and that wouldn’t be the case without the ancient maple trees surrounding my house. Let’s not overlook that attractive landscaping increases the appeal of your home, and trees are beautiful all year around and come in all shapes and sizes. What better place is there for a backyard picnic than under a shady tree? If you don’t have your own property to plant on, you can volunteer to improve public land. There are opportunities all across the country.

You know that I plant my Christmas tree each year, but we try to do more than that. My husband usually gets a tree for Father’s Day, and each year we plant a few trees to landscape our property or we put a few in our little orchard. Can you ever have too many varieties of apples? I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I hope one day I will…

| View Comments [4] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: arbor   greenscape   joanne   landscape   plant   snowman   spring   tree  

 

Entry bubble The Do Not Call Registry

By: Jake | February 25, 2008 | Category: Money

You can now make those mid-dinner telemarketing calls a thing of the past.

The Do Not Call Registry allows citizens to submit their phone numbers to a list that telemarketers are not allowed to call. When the registry was set up in 2003 the program required people to re-register every five years in order to keep the numbers up to date.

Now users will not have to re-register since earlier this month President Bush signed the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 which prohibits the removal of numbers from the registry.

You can verify your registration or register your phone number online. Keep in mind that it takes 31 days for the updated list to be submitted to telemarketers and even then you may still receive calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors or companies with which you have an existing business relationship. If you do receive a call from someone you are not supposed to you can file a complaint with the registry online or with the Federal Communications Commission.

| View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: call   commission   do   federal   jake   not   registry   telemarketers   trade  

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