phone tracking

Recently, there was a push by some apps on my phone to activate GPS tracking. The weather app stopped showing my little town as my location opting to show another nearby town instead. Merlin says "Location is essential for bird ID. For Merlin to work properly, location services must be enabled." BS! What difference does a few meters make? or for that matter, what difference does a mile make? it's a small town.

I'm sure that the weather app and Merlin people have many reasons why I should turn on GPS tracking on my phone. I have two good reasons NOT to: PRIVACY and SECURITY. My wife and I are retired. She's the ONLY person who needs to know where I am 24/7, and vice versa. 

I no longer use Merlin because of their ridiculous demand that I activate GPS tracking. 

PS I also ceased my monthly contributions to Merlin.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indoor_location_services_on_mobile_phone_(10928087126).jpg

attribution: Intel Free Press, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

Food Lion - recalled carrots

ATTENTION FOOD LION SHOPPERS!!!

https://www.grimmwaycarrots.com/status-history/?id=1102 

note the yellow banner at the top:

UPDATE 11/21/2024: GRIMMWAY FARMS EXPANDS RECALL DUE TO POTENTIAL E COLI CONTAMINATION

Why haven't recalled Grimmway Farms carrots been removed from Food Lion's shelves???

answer: Talk is cheap. It's easy to say that you're the best. Being the best requires commitment and hard work. Many "talk the talk", but few "walk the walk".

 

KIMECO

another botched delivery from Amazon Prime to add to:

• https://customertalk.blogspot.com/2023/10/balneolamazon.html
  
• https://customertalk.blogspot.com/2023/07/chatting-with-amazon.html

This delivery almost made it inside the house when we heard a CLUNK and saw the Amazon delivery guy driving away.

What makes this one unique is note at the bottom of the packing slip:

the tuna that we ordered was not the tuna that we received. It was also damaged. On the packing slip Kimeco stated that if there are problems with your order, then contact Kimeco directly and they will resolve them. We contacted Kimeco as requested. Kimeco didn't resolve the problems.

Kimeco "talks the talk", but they don't "walk the walk".

health care: drug companies, health care conglomerates, doctors, PLLCs, etc.

Health care in the USA is BIG business.  It's also a mess. 

Have you ever wondered about all of the prescription drug commercials on television (also insurance, automobiles, trucks, etc.)? Why are some prescription drugs so expensive (thousands of dollars per month)? Where does all of the money for these expensive tv commercials come from? From drug companies. Besides the tv commercials are we paying for kickbacks to doctors too? 

Everyone (including us) has their stories about their health care suppliers. Ours is too long to tell. However, I'll share a couple of things with you that we've learned. 

First, check out the google review and individual ratings (available through google maps) for your health care provider. Start from the bottom. High ratings may come from family or friends. The lowest google rating is 1. The highest is 5. Some health care providers have incredibly low google ratings (3 or below). 

Second, if your doctor is a PLLC or PLC, take a few moments to look up PLLC on the internet. Professional Limited Liability Companies are great for the doctor, but may not be so great for the doctor's patients or employees. Limited liability may mean that feedback from your doctor will be limited, including testing results, feedback from appointments, unanswered phone calls, etc. 

 

In short, much of today's health care business doesn't pass the smell test.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/135213460@N06/21473796202/in/photolist-5LNL8c-5uvhEc-hN1djZ-5Sqz9E-oWpjmC-8hqSWY-6hz4pa-iFiov3-c5aijs-KzfYk-fwJWW8-oQVhc6-oQV7tm-4YfsC4-oQWpQk-oQVKjd-LqUe-p8onb9-4N6YBr-KzfYi-5JhY7H-Q58Tt-5uvi7X-88biBa-4XJsz3-7NxQCw-5uzDTU-22jqDM-w55JD-yHyPty

attribution: mmntz and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

HOLTER heart monitor

My wife and I are in our mid seventies. Recently she was prescribed a heart monitor to wear for 30 days. It's hard for me to imagine how other folks in their mid seventies have the physical strength and determination to use this monitor.

The heart monitor includes a sensor and a telephone monitor. Each have batteries that must be recharged. It came with six patches that hold the sensor in place. The patches have to be removed and replaced when the sensor battery is low. Removing the sensor from the cradle on the patch requires both physical strength and determination.

The patches must be positioned precisely on the patient's chest. The adhesive is like gorilla glue. We went through three of the six patches (and two calls to help) before the monitor worked properly. Each time that the patch was replaced it removed another layer of skin. An area about the size of her hand was both red and sore.

Even then the sensor didn't work properly until I used an ace bandage to apply continuous pressure on the sensor. 

I pity those who are in their seventies whose doctor prescribes one of these heart monitors. Setting it up, getting it to work properly, and changing the patches so that the sensor battery can be recharged is an immense challenge.

more problems with AARP/UHC medicare supplemental insurance

Ever since United Healthcare (UHC) switched payment for our (husband and wife) AARP/UHC supplemental medicare insurance from payment coupons to online, there have been problems paying our premiums. Today's problem is the link, "UHC", on each of our online accounts on healthsafe-id.com, doesn't show up. We tried calling the help number. We couldn't understand the help person ("Claire") because of her heavy accent. 

Could this have something to do with it?

https://apnews.com/article/tech-outage-crowdstrike-microsoft-windows-7294e6c9356050cb095dad3353e9244c

Is there anyone in the world whose "secure" private information hasn't been compromised by "secure" data websites? here's just the latest example:

https://apnews.com/article/att-data-breach-text-cell-b5cdc8d6c9e1b980cb2163f34b297dad

it's a mess.

Apparently UHC, AT&T, CrowdStrike, etc. haven't learned: 

"IF IT AIN'T BROKE, THEN DON'T FIX IT!"

 

stupid dryer vent, stupid Alan Toothman

Clothes dryers have exhaust air vents that must be vented to the outside. In most houses the vent is located near an exterior wall. NOT in this house. The laundry room is located in the interior of the house with the dryer vent some 15 feet from an outside wall. ABSOLUTELY unmaintainable for the average homeowner. 

Builder Alan Toothman needs a middle school science refresher class.

Thanks, Alan Toothman.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/zenzoidman/3332708054

attribution: Samurai Appliance Repair Man and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

Valley Health, Medicare, AARP/UnitedHealthCare Medicare Supplemental Insurance

I take prescription drugs for high blood pressure and cholesterol. I've been taking them for years. Each year I make a routine appointment with my doctor to get my prescriptions renewed. This year's was two months ago. During my 30 minute appointment I saw the doctor for less than 10 minutes.

A few days ago I received a message from Valley Health that appeared on their MyChart website saying that I owed them $240. This was a first.

I sent Valley Health the following message:

MyChart shows that I owe $240. as follows:

billed $359.,

insurance covered -$119,

balance $240.

 

Does the $119. "insurance covered" include both Medicare Parts A and B and my AARP/UnitedHealthcare Medicare Supplement insurance?

 

Please explain.

Thank you.

PS Part of the problem was because the claim wasn't showing up on UnitedHealthCare's website. Finally, after TWO MONTHS I received a copy of the claim in the mail.

I received the following MyChart response from Valley Health:

"Thank you for contacting Valley Health. We charged you $359.00 but Medicare said that we should have charged you $417.01. of the $417.01 Medicare paid $153.21 and applied $240.00 towards your deductible and then Medicare applied $23.80 towards your coinsurance.

Then your secondary paid the coinsurance of $23.80 but they do not pay your Medicare deductible so that is why you had a balance of $240.00. Please let us know if you have additional questions. Thank you"

WHAT?!?  

Medicare is a government program connected with Social Security. We paid into Social Security and Medicare with payroll taxes during our working years. Since when does Medicare tell a Medicare recipient's doctor that he should charge MORE for his services? Since when did Medicare become an advocate for the healthcare business? Why isn't Medicare advocating Medicare recipients?

TALK ABOUT THE TAIL WAGGING THE DOG!!!

This being an election year we're hearing a LOT about inflation. Most of it is about low-ticket items--like gas, groceries, etc. 

What you DON'T hear about is HIGH ticket items like taxes, housing, transportation and medical care. 

That's because the tail is wagging the dog.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/richmondspca/10725295086

attribution: Richmond SPCA and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/

government's calculations for inflation (CPI) are flawed

"The CPI represents changes in prices of all goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households. User fees (such as water and sewer service) and sales and excise taxes paid by the consumer are also included. Income taxes and investment items (like stocks, bonds, and life insurance) are not included."

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/overview.htm

https://www.marketplace.org/2021/11/22/whats-included-in-the-consumer-price-index-and-what-isnt/

There you have it. the CPI only includes "out-of-pockets". Big ticket items like federal and state income taxes, state and local property taxes, healthcare costs (including prescription drugs), education costs, etc. aren't included. 

why? 

Mark Twain said it all: "Figures don't lie, but liars figure." 

https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2010/Murphygovernmentcosts.html

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_twain2.JPG

public domain via wikimedia commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Public_domain

Walmart Pharmacy and GoodRx

I'm retired. I have Medicare Parts A & B and supplemental insurance. I don't have prescription insurance. 

I live in Strasburg VA where there's a Walgreen's and a locally owned pharmacy. 

I take three prescription drugs for blood pressure and one for cholesterol. Last December I paid $144.66 (using GoodRx) for a 90 day supply from Walgreen's. 

I switched to Walmart Pharmacy. Yesterday I paid $70.14 (using GoodRx) for a 90 day supply for the same four medicines at Walmart. 

LESS THAT HALF!!!

Needless to say, I'm glad that I switched to Walmart Pharmacy. Thank you, Walmart Pharmacy and GoodRx. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walmart3/12331640945

attribution: Random Retail and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Shentel

Dear Shentel,

Don't you think that it's a bit arrogant of you (the vendor) to be telling us (the customer) that our modem must be replaced? and that if we don't rent one from you that "you (we) will be responsible for purchasing a new modem"? What if we don't want to purchase a new modem? or rent one from you? what if we don't have a problem with our internet speed?

Maybe it's time for us to switch to Comcast.

Sincerely,

Jenny and Ray Koenig 

collusion between the IRS and USPS?

My wife and I have prepared and filed our taxes for all of our married years--we've been married for 57 years.

The IRS has made it well known that they prefer tax returns submitted electronically. Returns prepared by taxpayers and mailed to the IRS go to the bottom of IRS's processing stack. 

As with past years we sent our tax 2023 tax return to the IRS via certified mail. The USPS receipt indicated that it was mailed on March 4 and would be delivered to the IRS in Kansas City, MO in four days. Since March 8 the same lame excuse has appeared on the USPS website: "Moving Through Network, in Transit to Next Facility, March 8, 2024 ... Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility." 

Something doesn't smell right. Is the USPS colluding with the IRS to hold taxpayer prepared tax returns?

That's how it looks to us.

https://live.staticflickr.com/722/21473796202_c3076cb3ea_b.jpg

attribution: mmntz and flickr

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/