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The NYT put out this guide that I think is very helpful for judging how long you might be contagious with various common illnesses (article gifted): Guide to Contagious Illnesses

I've used Evernote for more than 10 years to store notes of various kinds and keep them in sync between my laptop, iPhone, and iPad. But it has become slow bloatware for what I need, and it continues to have business issues (was just bought out again). The final straw was that they decided to...

I'm in the process of moving all of my "notes" out of Evernote (I'll post separately about that) and decided that recipes should go into a proper recipe manager app rather than a notes app. I had planned to use Paprika, which was recommended by a friend several years ago, but before I bought...

I searched the forums for prior posts on this topic and the only ones I found are from 2007-2008 so it seems a new thread is in order. The HVAC tech who did the annual check this year recommended installing a UV light from Dustfree because of mold in/on the unit. It is 8 years old and the...

We have a nice back patio that is unusable much of the time due to the intense central TX sun. I was considering talking to a contractor about putting a roof (and fan) over the patio, but DD and DS reminded me how nice the sunny afternoons are in the winter and DS suggested a cantilever shade...

My sister will turn 60 next month. Normally I spend March and April looking for unusual items at shops and markets we hit in our spring travels to send to her (she's 1600 miles away). Obviously, that's not happening this year. So I'm looking for ideas to help make her 60th special - especially...

Please read carefully: Because of the very high interest and posting activity regarding COVID-19, the site team has established this temporary new forum to contain all threads related to this pandemic situation. Covid threads posted in other forums will be moved here, after Moderator review...

So we had 2 water heaters in our not-that-large house and replaced them with 1, so I now have a nice 3'x3' closet available. Unfortunately, it's bare concrete slab. It's in the bedroom hallway, which is engineered hardwood, and I don't have enough spare to do that and also fix the water damage...

I had not heard of the Investor Protection Institute before but checked out their website after seeing a mention in Kiplinger's about their Financial Field Manual for military families: Financial Field Manual. Nords - I assume you are familiar with this so you can weigh in on its usefulness...

Very interesting article in the NYTimes (probably behind the paywall) about how the new driver assistance technology (auto-braking, forward collision warning, etc.) is heavily integrated with the windshield, requiring special equipment by repair shops to recalibrate everything after a repair...

Saw this today in Kiplinger magazine: How Much Umbrella Insurance Do You Need? I didn't realize that in many states IRAs are protected from lawsuits (at least partially) so you don't need to account for that in your umbrella protection. Handy calculator also included but the link isn't too...

John Oliver's topic this week was issues with guardians and the importance of having your paperwork in order as you age. Warning - if you haven't watched his show before, 4-letter words are sprinkled liberally throughout. Last Week Tonight Note that we had a thread on this last year if you...

I haven’t listened to this but plan to: https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2018/04/17/602879162/swan-songs-music-for-your-final-exit My mother asked us to play “When the Saints Go Marching In” at the end of her service. She decided if it was ok for Walter Cronkite‘s swan song, it was ok for...

Although I didn't w*rk at Big Blue, I was in management with two other megacorps that had similar (although less blatant) tactics as described in this article: CUTTING ‘OLD HEADS’ AT IBM I will say that in my experience, it was a combination of performance and pay rate that triggered a layoff...

Christine Benz usually does a good job on these topics - I haven't read the whole transcript but it looks like a good interview that covers how to approach paying for healthcare and long-term care in retirement: Planning for Healthcare and Long-Term Care in Retirement There are also some...

(I did a quick search and didn't see where this had been mentioned before so apologies in advance if it's a repeat) I find the prepaid Visa or MC debit cards you get for rebates to be a royal PITA because you cannot use them to pay towards an amount higher than the balance on the card at most...

Very interesting article about drug expiration dates and the unnecessary waste caused by enforcing them strictly: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-myth-of-drug-expiration-dates On a personal level, after reading this, I will probably keep OTC items for a while past their printed...

National Geographic has enlisted 25 of the best wildlife cinematographers in the world for this event starting at 8pm EDT Earth Live - National Geographic Channel The bats at Bracken Cave are being filmed by the son of friends of ours, and his Facebook Live video yesterday was great. If you...

I am getting tired of climbing a ladder twice a year to remove the leaves from the gutters (we have one set of trees that lose their leaves in March in addition to the normal fall crop), not to mention that my ladder & I aren't tall enough to reach one whole section. Has anyone had good (or bad)...

DD is in her mid-20s, has a solid job, and has saved up a 6-month emergency fund. She's also been funding a Roth IRA at Vanguard (no 401K where she works). She lives in NYC with no plans to move in the foreseeable future, so she doesn't need to save for a house or car. She wants my advice on...

I'm 99% sure I know the correct answer to this question, but need a little help with the emotional component of the decision. In 1985, I was finally earning enough that I had money to invest beyond maxing out my 401K. My dad helped me pick out a couple of mutual funds. One of them, Acorn...

Excellent article. How to Prevent Elder Abuse - Consumer Reports These scammers make me very very angry - quite a few varieties of scams are outlined in the article. We all need to be alert for the sake of relatives and friends- and unfortunately ourselves. Sent from my iPhone using Early...

And moves mostly to index funds http://www.kiplinger.com/article/investing/T052-C018-S002-why-this-hedge-fund-manager-is-shutting-down.html An excerpt: Lessons learned. So what did I learn from my plight? First, that I took a big risk when I created a portfolio that was wildly different...

Great interview with Jack Bogle on Morning Edition today: The George Washington Of Investing Wants You For The Revolution : NPR Very clear explanation of indexing and why he started down this path in the first place. Also he and the reporter eat sandwiches at a public golf course. ;)

I subscribed to Morningstar Premium a couple of years ago when I was thinking I would do more portfolio tweaking and could use the features such as X-Ray. But I haven't used it that much so when I got the e-mail warning me of the automatic renewal, I called to cancel. I wasn't surprised when the...