Search found 811 matches

by Mrs.Feeley
Thu Jun 11, 2015 8:30 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Wisconsin - Madison Meetings - Master Thread
Replies: 160
Views: 80465

Re: Wisconsin - Madison Meetings - Master Thread

Please join us for the June meeting of the Madison Area Bogleheads. This Saturday, June 13 at noon at Sprecher's Pub at 1262 John Q. Hammonds Dr., on Madison's far west side.

We're planning to hold a special summer evening meeting in August. Date to come.

Otherwise the Madison, WI Bogleheads meet every other month, on the second Saturday of the month, at noon at Sprecher's.
by Mrs.Feeley
Thu Jun 11, 2015 2:16 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tree Trimming Etiquette with Neighbors
Replies: 30
Views: 18885

Re: Tree Trimming Etiquette with Neighbors

Yes, they are buckthorn and they completely line the property line (on his side). The fence in the back keeps it at bay, but they branches really start to creep over to my side over the fence. On the front part of the house, I have a partial fence that keeps some of it at bay but there is an open part that is particularly bothersome to me. The ideal solution would be for him to just totally clear the area. A neighbor down the way did that and their yard looks great now. They didn't even plan anything else, they just put grass there. Oh man, buckthorn. We've been fighting the buckthorn battle for years, as have the neighbors. You can cut it down, dig it up, spray it with Round-Up, and a few months later you'll have another humongous patch o...
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Jun 08, 2015 11:15 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead flea treatment?
Replies: 39
Views: 10282

Re: Boglehead flea treatment?

Mrs.Feely, how many times a day did you have to comb your cats to control the fleas without use of chemical treatments? Would you recommend steam cleaning the carpets? I combed each of my two cats once every evening. During the day I'd do a check of them for fleas whenever I had a minute. After about a week I stopped seeing fleas and eggs in their fur, but kept combing them every night for about a month just to make sure. When I was in school I and my roommates had a cat that became infested. I remember my roomies spent an evening going over the cat with a flea comb while dabbing at the eggs and infested spots with rubbing alcohol. He never had anymore fleas after that. Thoroughness counts. But then we didn't have any carpets. Steam cleani...
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Jun 08, 2015 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead flea treatment?
Replies: 39
Views: 10282

Re: Boglehead flea treatment?

dolphinsaremammals wrote:In my experience, having 100% indoor cats as I do, that is not a guarantee of no fleas.

Mrs. Feeley, is that a new avatar, or maybe I never noticed it before.
Yes it is a new avatar! It is our big goofy lab. :D

All our cats have been indoor-only cats and over the years all have picked up fleas at least once. Occasional mystery infestations occurred even before we had a dog that might have brought them in. I always rely on the flea comb to get rid of them. I can't shake from my head an incredibly sad incident of several decades past when pet lovers' dogs and cats were dying from a Hartz Mountain flea-killing product.
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Jun 08, 2015 8:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead flea treatment?
Replies: 39
Views: 10282

Re: Boglehead flea treatment?

A few years ago our indoor cats suffered a really bad infestation of fleas. We have dogs and treat them with Advantix or Frontline, whatever our vet is recommending at the time. The dogs didn't get fleas, just the cats. Maybe the fleas came in the house on the dogs or on our shoes or clothing. There are a lot of rabbits in the yard which tend to be flea vectors. I spent hours every evening with a flea comb and bucket of soapy water. And a vacuum and carpet cleaner. The fleas were gone and everything was under control within a month.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Jun 07, 2015 6:23 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Unclaimed property
Replies: 31
Views: 5698

Re: Unclaimed property

dolphinsaremammals wrote: I've given up telling relatives they have unclaimed property. It just sits there from year to year unclaimed. I find this baffling.
There have been a couple of instances in which I've spotted unclaimed property in the names of friends or relatives. I've told them, they seemed grateful and even relieved ("So that's where all of dad's railroad stocks went!"), but never claimed it even though the property was in excess of $2K and I knew they could use the money. Very baffling.

Whenever a relative has alerted us to unclaimed property we've always been very grateful and claimed it.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Jun 07, 2015 6:07 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Keep underground storm cellar (in Florida)?
Replies: 48
Views: 8691

Re: Keep underground storm cellar (in Florida)?

Looks like you have a home-made fallout shelter from the 1950s. Here is a history of them: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3706.html A few pertinent excerpts: "The federal government recommended that fallout shelters be placed in a basement or buried in the backyard. The idea was to get as much mass as possible between survivors, the detonation, and its after-effects. Shelter types were: expedience, personal or family, community, multipurpose, and hidden. Usually, an expedience fallout shelter was a trench with a strong roof buried under three feet of earth. The two ends of the trench had ramps or entrances at right angles to the trench so that gamma rays could not enter. To make the roof waterproof in case of rain, a plastic sheet w...
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Jun 07, 2015 12:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Unclaimed property
Replies: 31
Views: 5698

Re: Unclaimed property

Years ago a relative spotted stock dividends in our name that had ended up in our state's unclaimed property database. We had transferred the shares between brokerages and somehow one of the dividend payments got lost. I subsequently spotted MIA stock dividends for another relative in the unclaimed property listing. It never hurts to keep an eye on your state's unclaimed property web site. I also found a $20 rebate for a computer modem I had purchased at least ten years before; the check must have gotten lost in the mail.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sat Jun 06, 2015 2:43 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: I hate garage sales; do I have company?
Replies: 38
Views: 5339

Re: I hate garage sales; do I have company?

The 5am thing is unreasonable and they do have to have a rule about not opening until a later hour - and then not make anything available/visible before that time. Our neighbor advertised his garage sale as an estate sale and there were cars lining up in the street at 5 a.m even though the sale didn't start until eight. They all wanted to be first in the house, or else wanted to try to convince our neighbor to let them in the door early before the big crowd arrived. And it was a huge crowd. Even though it was a weekday there were so many cars they were parked doubled in front of our driveway and even parked over the sidewalks by 7:30 when we (tried) to head out to work. I'm sure our neighbor never anticipated such a mad crush. But no, a ne...
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:43 pm
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Wisconsin - Madison Meetings - Master Thread
Replies: 160
Views: 80465

Re: Wisconsin - Madison Meetings - Master Thread

Please join us for the June meeting of the Madison Area Bogleheads. Saturday, June 13 at noon at Sprecher's Pub at 1262 John Q. Hammonds Dr., on Madison's far west side.

Remember, Bogleheads meets every other month, on the second Saturday of the month, at noon at Sprecher's.
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed Jun 03, 2015 2:39 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bread Machines?
Replies: 41
Views: 6318

Re: Bread Machines?

To my way of thinking the big hassle of making bread is pulling out all ingredients, finding the recipe, measuring things, checking the recipe--which is harder now that I am older and means I must also find my reading glasses, and then re-checking the recipe and the measurements once I have found my reading glasses. A bread machine would never help me with any of those things so I have never had the urge to try one.

I do love to make the No Knead Bread Recipe which I have memorized so I don't need to find my reading glasses to make it. I make it in an old cast-iron skillet with a glass casserole dish lid.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun May 31, 2015 4:13 am
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 80k to invest. Spoke to Fidelity
Replies: 38
Views: 5829

Re: 80k to invest. Spoke to Fidelity

I would pass on the PAS. :) According to Fidelity's web site "A gross annual advisory fee will be charged—between 0.63% and 1.7%—and will vary based on total assets invested." That means you'll be paying from $504 to $1360 per year for someone to drop your money into a collection of high-fee managed funds and leave it there. You'll be much better off skipping the advisor and putting your money into low-fee index funds. You'll be financially better off in two ways. You won't be paying high mutual fund fees and you won't be paying an annual management fee. You might consider going with a simple Three (or Two) Fund Portfolio, splitting the $80K between a Fidelity bond index fund and a stock index fund. http://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/...
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed May 27, 2015 9:24 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need to sell old home. Should we spend money to modernize it first?
Replies: 38
Views: 5975

Re: Need to sell old home. Should we spend money to modernize it first?

A friend had her parents' 60-year-old home up for sale. After an open house she found that people had been pulling up the carpet in various rooms to see if there was hardwood below it.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue May 26, 2015 5:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Need to sell old home. Should we spend money to modernize it first?
Replies: 38
Views: 5975

Re: Need to sell old home. Should we spend money to modernize it first?

We live in a neighborhood with 50+-year-old homes and they seem to sell pretty well and at high prices without any upgrades whatsoever beyond their 1960s-1970s interiors. Occasionally you hear of someone being instructed by a real estate agent to tear out wallpaper and convert a fireplace to gas, but when you talk to the young couples who buy the house they wouldn't have cared had those things never been done. They were shopping for a house in a good location at a cheap price. When we sold a house the real estate agent instructed us to replace the worn kitchen and hall vinyl with cheap white vinyl, which we did. We probably shouldn't have bothered. He told us to leave the worn carpets since many buyers prefer to install new carpeting for th...
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue May 26, 2015 9:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Still make sense to have AAA membership?
Replies: 74
Views: 15492

Re: Still make sense to have AAA membership?

We had a bad year when we used it 4 times for battery problems, and they did not disappoint. Otherwise, it's just an insurance for peace of mind. I'd rather pay them than Geico for road assistance (especially since the latter might be treated as a claim and increase my premiums). We keep renewing the AAA membership for one main reason: hotel discounts. It usually pays for itself after 3-4 nights. No problem with the 4 calls in one year for a battery? I thought they had a limit. Our daughter has AAA and was told so after repeated service for the same item. My elderly mom called AAA for battery jumps several times last winter and was told that she had reached the max number and they would not be coming to her rescue anymore this year. I thin...
by Mrs.Feeley
Fri May 08, 2015 11:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: How are packages delivered to curbside mailboxes?
Replies: 31
Views: 17827

Re: How are packages delivered to curbside mailboxes?

She said she was supplied with a hand truck (dolly) for the really heavy shipments. I didn't ask, but had to wonder, what would she do if after wrestling a 70 lb box with the hand truck to get it to the front door, discovered that no one was home? Would she still leave it, or be obliged to re-load it back on her truck, and leave a note for the customer to come to P.O. for pickup? As someone who often finds 70 lb boxes from "Surepost" or UPS or FedX piled against my front door when they are actually addressed to a house several blocks away I can tell you that most of these delivery people just leave the 70 lb box on whatever front porch they find most convenient. And when you call the delivery service if you're lucky they'll come ...
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed May 06, 2015 5:10 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Wisconsin vacation ideas
Replies: 34
Views: 4812

Re: Wisconsin vacation ideas

American Players outdoor theatre in Spring Green, near House on the Hill, is a must-see if you're a theatre lover.

Holy Hill, the Catholic cathedral near Hubertus, site of alleged miracles and heavenly visitations, is a nice stop if you're spiritually included.

If you plan to be in Milwaukee, some of the July lakeside music festivals like Italian Fest and Summerfest are worth checking out.

The Hodag Country Festival in Rhinelander in mid-July attracts a lot of big names in country music. This year Wynona Judd is playing there.

If you're a music lover Big Top Chautauqua in Bayfield, as heard each week on NPR, is also worth planning a vacation around: http://www.bigtop.org/
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon May 04, 2015 9:14 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: 400lbs, delivery or pick up?
Replies: 71
Views: 9660

Re: 400lbs, delivery or pick up?

For a shipment this large they might not use UPS but instead ship it via a large-shipment trucking service. If they do you'll need a driveway into which they can back their monster truck and a plan to handle/store the shrink-wrapped skids when they're delivered. For instance the drivers might be willing to slide them into your garage. But you'll need to figure out the logistics in advance and contact the trucking firm with the delivery instructions.

Some local stores will sell and deliver orders this large on skids for a small fee. Some of the locally-owned pet stores for instance will do it, so will stores like Menard's. That might be something to look into too.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun May 03, 2015 10:37 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tea bag recs for making iced tea please
Replies: 17
Views: 2696

Re: Tea bag recs for making iced tea please

When I asked a similar question years ago another Boglehead pointed me towards mountainroseherbs.com and their black teas. Specifically recommended Assam Tea and Ancient Forest Tea. https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/catalog/teas/black If you make them cold and add a bit of fruit juice they're wonderful. The teas are loose, but they sell a variety of products like disposable tea bags, muslin bags, tea nets and large infusers to make it easy to make large amounts in a sun tea jar: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/catalog/teas/accessories They also sell loose mint tea so you can add some mint flavoring to your tea mix. If you're looking for a tea without caffeine try hibiscus which is a middle-eastern favorite. I bought some loose hibiscus le...
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun May 03, 2015 6:53 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Power of attorney
Replies: 62
Views: 9522

Re: Power of attorney

We are moving the accounts to Fidelity. My wife is disabled. The issue is what happens If I become disabled. Her POA specifies that power passes to our daughters and it is a full unrestricted power. As a disabled person she felt humiliated by Vanguard. That's horrible. I'm so very sorry. Are there other issues besides the POA problem which have resulted in your wife feeling humiliated by Vanguard? I ask because my husband is disabled. I've gone round and round with several financial/insurance companies over this issue. Even after we file their specific POA forms I still encounter problems getting their customer service people to talk to me about accounts or bills. So far Vanguard has been the only company that has consistently honored the ...
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed Apr 29, 2015 1:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Increasing the size of a ring
Replies: 10
Views: 2850

Re: Increasing the size of a ring

There are jewelry stores that will let you watch as they work on your ring. You need to make an appointment of course. But if you're going to have to travel out of town, Drawpoker, might as well look for a jeweler that will let you observe any work.

Some jewelers can enlarge rings with a design by stretching the ring. But they can enlarge it only one or two sizes without distorting the design too much. And you need to go to a jewelry artist that is sufficiently skilled and has the proper equipment.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:59 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A question about spousal IRA contributions
Replies: 8
Views: 1277

Re: A question about spousal IRA contributions

As long as your joint tax return shows at least $11K in income then you can put $11K in IRAs and it doesn't matter whose IRA it goes into.

Clarification: What I meant to say is that you can contribute to both IRAs up to the yearly limit for each individual, that's $5500 for the standard limit or $6500 per person if you're over 50. It doesn't matter which spouse earned the money.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:30 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What do you tip a valet?
Replies: 54
Views: 22753

Re: What do you tip a valet?

dolphinsaremammals wrote:Why do places require valet parking?
Our local medical center has valet parking. I LOVE it. You can drive your car right up to the door of the clinic/day-surgery entrance, help your family member out of the car and stay with them without having to worry about finding a place to park. They don't permit tipping the valets.

The nearby grocery store also offers valet parking during the day. I think the reason is that they have a lot of elderly customers, as there are many retirement buildings and communities in the area, and parking lot fender benders are a frequent occurrence. They have a circular valet area into which they'll bring the car and load your groceries for you.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue Apr 28, 2015 5:48 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best way to sell a used wedding ring?
Replies: 18
Views: 8248

Re: Best way to sell a used wedding ring?

DualIncomeNoDebt wrote:Jewelry = ripoff. Buy a piece at retail, then turn right around and attempt to sell it at another jewelry store. You'll be lucky if you're offered 10% of the price you paid not five minutes ago.
You just can't convince people of that reality. It's sad and amazing. Everyone thinks their diamond ring is going to increase in value.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue Apr 28, 2015 1:26 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Best way to sell a used wedding ring?
Replies: 18
Views: 8248

Re: Best way to sell a used wedding ring?

Ebay or Craigslist is probably the best bet as others have said. A friend tried to sell her diamond engagement ring. It evidently had a very nice diamond and she had appraisal papers stating that it was worth several thousand dollars nearly thirty years prior when she got it. Even though gold was at an all-time high none of the jewelers she took it to offered her more than $100-$250 including the jeweler who custom-made it years before. Jewelry doesn't usually have a lot of resell value.
by Mrs.Feeley
Thu Apr 23, 2015 3:18 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: any experiences negotiating fences with neighbors?
Replies: 27
Views: 8880

Re: any experiences negotiating fences with neighbors?

My parents asked a neighbor if they would go half on a fence on the property line. They said no. So my parents put the fence a few inches on their side. Several years later, neighbors got a dog and then fenced their yard, attaching to my parents' fence, essentially adding to their property, which will eventually be theirs due to adverse possession. I understand that this happens all the time. I would think a letter from an attorney would avoid this. There's something about adverse possession that makes it not work if the real owner objects to the other person's use of the land, at least in my area. I would have put the fence smack up to the property line. Adverse possession laws vary tremendously from state to state. And they're always in ...
by Mrs.Feeley
Sat Apr 18, 2015 6:29 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Father can no longer sign his name. Looking for solutions.
Replies: 23
Views: 8020

Re: Father can no longer sign his name. Looking for solution

My husband lost the ability to sign his name. He went to an office supply store and had his old signature made into a rubber stamp. He now stamps everything including checks. So far we have not had any problems.
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed Apr 08, 2015 10:40 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: A Little Surprise at the Social Security Office
Replies: 17
Views: 4200

Re: A Little Surprise at the Social Security Office

Many decades ago, at one of my first jobs, the company I was working for held out FICA taxes but didn't pay them and then eventually dissolved. I was able get credit for the taxes withheld even though the government didn't receive them by submitting pay stubs showing what had been withheld. Now that it is possible to check credits for Social Security online, it's a good idea to do so. Years ago my husband worked at a small tech company with chronic financial problems. When Social Security started mailing out statements listing annual earnings he discovered that one year of earnings was absent from his record. By then the company had long vanished, the owner was deceased, and my husband had tossed his tax returns and W-2s so there was no wa...
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Apr 06, 2015 1:03 am
Forum: US Chapters
Topic: Wisconsin - Madison Meetings - Master Thread
Replies: 160
Views: 80465

Re: Wisconsin - Madison Meetings - Master Thread

A reminder that next Saturday is the April meeting of the Madison Area Bogleheads. That's Saturday, April 11 at noon at Sprecher's Pub at 1262 John Q. Hammonds Dr., on Madison's far west side.

The Madison Boglehead group meets every other month, on the second Saturday of the month, at noon at Sprecher's.

If you would like to be added to our e-mail list please send me a PM.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Mar 29, 2015 8:01 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Tree in the Yard
Replies: 9
Views: 2134

Re: Tree in the Yard

We have a huge ash tree in the center of our front lawn. Kind of a crazy thing to plant in the middle of a front lawn if you ask me, but it's beautiful in the fall. The main problem we have with it is that the shallow root system sucks up all the moisture from the soil. The dirt is always parched and grass doesn't like to grow anywhere on the front lawn no matter how much we water and re-seed. I've heard that putting extra dirt over the exposed roots is very bad for the tree. Nonetheless I added many yards of topsoil to the front yard along with many barrels of compost. It didn't hurt the tree, but still no grass. Ash trees really do grow like weeds.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Mar 29, 2015 7:48 pm
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Implications of Marriage - she with debt and low income (WI)
Replies: 71
Views: 10776

Re: Implications of Marriage - she with debt and low income

Wisconsin is a marital property state so you would probably want to keep all your pre-marriage accounts separate from your post-nuptial ones, including the retirement ones Roth, 401Ks, etc. Otherwise with additional contributions over time through the marriage they would be considered marital property. Inheritance is exempt from marital property but again I think the accounts need to be kept separate from marital property. A house purchased prior to the marriage would come to be considered marital property if mortgage payments are made during the marriage and/or she contributes to upkeep in any way. It sounds like she's a hard worker. Anyone with a cleaning business has to be. :wink: She has no cc debt and $50K isn't a lot in student loans ...
by Mrs.Feeley
Sat Mar 28, 2015 9:09 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Gift Ideas for 80 Yr Old Grandmother w/ Dementia
Replies: 23
Views: 7840

Re: Gift Ideas for 80 Yr Old Grandmother w/ Dementia

Writing a letter to tell a loved one how much they have meant in your life and reminiscing about the good times you have shared is almost always greatly appreciated, even by those in the early stages of dementia, more so than yet another pair of socks or bottle of hand lotion.
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed Mar 25, 2015 5:12 am
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Help w/ adult child hard-wired for poor financial decisions?
Replies: 45
Views: 7903

Re: Help w/ adult child hard-wired for poor financial decisi

You sound like a very concerned and caring father IlliniDave. She has four dogs that she cares about very much. Has the financial responsibilities of caring for a menagerie not caused her to rethink her financial self-sufficiency? There are vet bills, food costs, plus the responsibilities of maintaining adequate housing for such a large brood. Doesn't she ever worry about that? You are her dad and obviously know her better than we can from these messages, but I would think that having the responsibility for all those pets would kick a bit of financial reality into anyone. Maybe, like another poster suggested, there is some ADD going on and working with an ADD coach or counselor might be worthwhile.
by Mrs.Feeley
Wed Mar 25, 2015 12:43 am
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Vanguard HealthCare Fund
Replies: 68
Views: 25300

Re: Vanguard HealthCare Fund

jay22 wrote:I am guessing this won't be a good fund to hold in your taxable?
Last year the fund threw off capital gains of approx. 9 percent of one's holdings in the fund.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue Mar 24, 2015 11:04 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: storm door replacement
Replies: 18
Views: 11692

Re: storm door replacement

For what it's worth when we needed a new storm door we contacted a locally-owned lumber yard that sells doors and windows. We bought a Pella door from them and had one of their employees install it. Total cost came to about $500. That was ten years ago. The door still looks and works great. I try to avoid Lowe's and Home Depot.

I know some people love Menard's but we've had a couple bad experiences with them in regard to ordering doors. One arrived broken/bad condition and rather than delivering a new door Menard's told us to take it up with the manufacturer.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Mar 15, 2015 9:41 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Having a tree removed
Replies: 19
Views: 2897

Re: Having a tree removed

I've had trees the size of a Japanese plum removed and hauled away for $100. Extra to have the stump removed, maybe $40. The guys who remove trees seem to be really open to negotiate on price, often coming down 50 percent. We've planted quite a few large spruce trees, from 6 to 8 feet tall. I found a local nursery with stock I like. Since I don't have a truck and I don't like digging big holes in clay soil, I pay them to deliver and plant, and that approximately doubles the total price of the tree. I would look for a tree nursery that offers a good one-year guarantee on stock.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Mar 15, 2015 12:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Worried about neighbor's tree damaging my property
Replies: 16
Views: 3627

Re: Worried about neighbor's tree damaging my property

I would not trim the neighbor's tree without asking his permission first. That's a good way to make an enemy. I would talk to him, tell him of your concerns. Offer to split the cost of the tree trimming with him. If he balks ask him whether he would mind if you trimmed the portion of the tree overhanging your property, at your expense. Remind him that you are worried about your own home. If he still protests maybe then point out that local ordinances give you the right to trim a tree overhanging your property so long as you don't prune so much it ends up killing or seriously damaging the tree--you will check your local ordinances first to make sure this is the case. But it sounds like he probably won't care much so long as the situation doe...
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:43 pm
Forum: Personal Investments
Topic: 2 Million Dollar Settlement, what to do with it?
Replies: 31
Views: 8761

Re: 2 Million Dollar Settlement, what to do with it?

Be careful if you end up sticking the money in banks. If large deposits near the FDIC maximum are made, it is almost guaranteed that someone in the bank will try to advise your friend that they can manage his investments. And, investment management by a bank is sure to have high costs. So, if one were to put this money into CDs, even for the short-term, there likely will be bank personnel convincing your friend that they can manage his money. I agree with the recommendations to talk to Vanguard. Even if they manage the money/accounts for the OP's friend, they have reasonable costs. I have had that problem with banks. I have never had that problem with credit unions, and the latter tend to offer higher interest rates on CDs. With the banks,...
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:06 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: roomy car for transporting elderly with walkers, etc
Replies: 15
Views: 8029

Re: roomy car for transporting elderly with walkers, etc

A friend was hunting for a car she could use to transport her elderly parents. In specific she wanted a sedan on which the doors would swing open wide so that she could easily help her parents into the car from their walkers without having to maneuver through a small door opening. After a lot of shopping she ended up buying a used Pontiac Grand Prix that had a wide door swing.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Mar 08, 2015 6:52 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Growing out long hair and growing a beard
Replies: 24
Views: 4525

Re: Growing out long hair and growing a beard

For those of you with long hair, what products do you use to take care of it and style it? I use the cheapest shampoo and conditioner I can find. Over the years I've tried all sorts of expensive stuff, including products from salons, health food stores, etc. and it never made a difference. At one point I read Paula Begoin's book on hair care products and she basically agrees that most shampoos are the same, they all contain the same cleansing ingredients, even most of the so-called "all natural" shampoos. Shampoos advertised as "natural" often contain herb-y things that can irritate the scalp. And there really is no such thing as a "hypo-allergenic" shampoo. Maybe some people can see differences in brands on t...
by Mrs.Feeley
Mon Feb 23, 2015 5:08 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Problems with Internet Explorer
Replies: 24
Views: 2625

Re: Problems with Internet Explorer

I found that if I blocked tracking in IE by adding the Microsoft block-tracking lists (http://www.iegallery.com/en-us/trackingprotectionlists) IE speeded up considerably and a lot of the page-loading problems I'd been experiencing vanished.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sat Feb 21, 2015 4:14 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Pick-Pockets
Replies: 63
Views: 8891

Re: Pick-Pockets

My husband had his cellphone lifted from his sweatshirt pocket while on a crowded bus. It took us a day to realize this is what had happened, and that the phone hadn't been misplaced around the house. We bought him a new phone, called Tracfone and they were kind enough to transfer his phone number and minutes to the new phone, while deactivating the stolen phone. But for the next few months he was getting calls from the seedy buddies of the guy who lifted his phone. He even determined the full name of the guy as well as his address. The police were not interested in pursuing the thief.
by Mrs.Feeley
Fri Feb 20, 2015 1:55 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Poll: Largest fraudulent charge to your credit card(s)?
Replies: 49
Views: 6302

Re: Poll: Largest fraudulent charge to your credit card(s)?

A friend found on her Visa statement a $10K charge for a bedroom set bought at a furniture store in another state. Her credit card company's fraud algorithm somehow never picked it up. She never found out if the thief was arrested. She called the store and the bedroom set was delivered to a local address.

I have a card with a low balance I use only for online purchases. Someone once tried to max out the card by buying store gift cards at one of these online brokers of gift cards. A common use of stolen card numbers. There were several charges for $300 each on the card.
by Mrs.Feeley
Thu Feb 19, 2015 1:11 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Car Battery in Unusual Cold
Replies: 87
Views: 17486

Re: Car Battery in Unusual Cold

This is a good question and I hope some of the car savvy provide guidance. I put a trickle charger on my car battery. My battery is also five years old and I don't use the car much. Prior to using the trickle charger regularly I had problems with the car not starting in the winter after sitting a week or so. I try to take it out once a week, but that's such a PIA as the roads are so icy.
by Mrs.Feeley
Thu Feb 19, 2015 4:12 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: What is your favorite consumer product?
Replies: 339
Views: 77364

Re: What is your favorite consumer product?

Nestlé's chocolate chips.
Ariat work boots.
Fritos.
by Mrs.Feeley
Tue Feb 17, 2015 4:48 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Not clearing snow from driveway
Replies: 81
Views: 21437

Re: Not clearing snow from driveway

We have a blacktop driveway. One year we shoveled only half the driveway, piling snow on the other half. When spring came and the snow piles melted, I noticed that the blacktop where snow had been piled high was extensively cracked while the portion of the driveway that we had kept clear had not. The cracks probably came from the weight of the snow and ice. Now we clear the entire driveway. The OP was asking about concrete driveways, but I mention this for anyone considering not clearing their blacktop drive.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sun Feb 15, 2015 12:18 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Food of the Fifties
Replies: 216
Views: 25200

Re: Food of the Fifties

MP173 wrote:Just made "corn bread pie" from the railroad dining car cookbook. OUTSTANDING.

Ed
I always double the cornbread portion of the recipe so the pie, which is sometimes called tamale pie, has a nice thick cornbread crust on top.

On the Pigs in Blankets controversy... My "Pennsylvania Dutch Cookery" cookbook, copyright 1935, includes a recipe for "Dutch pigs-in-blankets" which is a German-style potato dumpling with a filling of potatoes, bread crumbs, parsley and onions, tucked inside a noodle dough that's boiled in broth.

My Fannie Farmer Cookbook from the 1960s describes pigs-in-blankets as baked oysters wrapped in bacon.
by Mrs.Feeley
Sat Feb 14, 2015 4:19 am
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Food of the Fifties
Replies: 216
Views: 25200

Re: Food of the Fifties

My grandmothers always kept a jar of pan drippings by the stove which included grease from just about every meal, chicken, pork, you name it. This was never wasted and found its way into future meals. Even the cooked vegetables. One used to occasionally read stories about how when a family restaurant was sold the new owners could never figure out the recipe for the great meat sauce which made the restaurant famous, even after calling in food chemists to try to reconstruct it. The problem was usually attributed to the use of meat scraps and pan drippings the nature of which changed daily. Oh, yes. My grandmother also wasted nothing and usually kept jars of pan drippings in the fridge. My mother and aunt, however, did not think this was heal...
by Mrs.Feeley
Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:21 pm
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Food of the Fifties
Replies: 216
Views: 25200

Re: Food of the Fifties

We'll be eating the Swiss steak for a couple days more, but then I've decided to make one of yours, goulash. Any tips you can offer? What's the trick to making great goulash? The trick to my grandmother's great goulash went to the grave with her as she never wrote down recipes for her own dishes and was less than forthcoming when we asked for them. Her goulash was her best dish and most in demand at large family dinners. We suspected the secret ingredient was molasses, but if we asked her how much molasses or when they were mixed in and for how long, the answer ran something like, "Long enough." One of my aunts, a gourmet cook, tried to duplicate it, produced a great dish, was dutifully thanked and inevitably told, "But it's...