Scam Alert (Again)

This post was originally quite long, I reviewed and shortened it.

Scammers never give up trying to defraud. New U.S. Medicare cards are being sent and the game is on once again. Here's what can happen: scammers call and ask for personal information, money or threaten to cancel health benefits if information isn't provided. 

Never give current Medicare card ID to a caller. It has a Social Security Number (SSN). Ignore such calls and/or hang up — It’s a scam. (You can report calls to Medicare 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).)

Medicare.gov graphic

Like the IRS, Medicare will never call and ask for information or money. The new card is FREE and being mailed; no action is needed. It will have a unique Medicare identifier, not a SSN to protect your identity. It uses numbers 0 thru 9 and letters, excluding S, L, O, I, B, and Z which are never used (excluded for ease of reading it seems).

Medicare.gov graphic

Medicare coverage and benefits will remain the same. New cards will start arriving state by state starting April 2018. Estimates are it'll take a year to mail cards nationwide, ending by April 2019. 

Once a new one is received, completely shred or cut up the old card which has a SSN. Don't toss in recycling or garbage. "Dumpster divers" search there for personal information. 

Hope this info is helpful to some folks.

Not a Funny Photo

Since I'm always on the looking for Friday Funnies photo posts, my first thought on seeing this statue with pigeons on the statues heads was something like new head gear — pigeon caps ?

But, this is not a funny photo and I'm thankful that I took the time to learn more about its significance. After taking the photo on our recent Boston visit, I realized that I hadn't taken the time to learn anything out about the statue. It's simply amazing what can be found online and so I searched for Boston statue. Yes, I'm addicted to online searches.

The statue above is one of two statues that comprise the Boston Irish Famine Memorial. The sculptures were done by Robert Shure, a graduate of the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. His work has been featured in several Boston museums and galleries. The two works are in a memorial park on a plaza along the Freedom Trail in Boston, MA. 

The one below depicts a ragged and starving Irish family suffering during the Great Famine of 1845-1852. This statue is in sharp contrast to the one above that depicts a family that had emigrated to America representing hope for the future.

The statues and memorial park were funded by a trust led by Boston businessman and philanthropist Thomas Flatley. The park opened in 1998 to mark 150 years since the height of the Great Famine. 

Internet source: Robert Shure website

Since then, it's has been labelled as "the most mocked and reviled public sculpture in Boston" by the art critic of The Boston Globe. Maintenance was cut back after Flatley's 2008 death. The Downtown Boston Business Improvement District and a nearby business help to clean the park area. Still, the site has been described in as a "magnet for vagrants and pigeons."

Sadly, as shown, those pigeons are a frequent sight atop the statues. They are fed by compulsive pigeon feeders who frequent the park during daylight hours. Until such feeding is discouraged and prohibited, it's impossible to keep the birds from landing on and fouling the statues. Panhandling also has been cited as a deterrent to keep visitors from stopping in the park.

Given the park’s position along the Freedom Trail, the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District is working to clean it up. The group sees the park as a welcoming and space and plans to add an information kiosk on the plaza.

Maybe changes will be made because the sculptures deserve better.

Non-Shopping the Mall

We've been spending time at the Pheasant Lane mall in Nashua, NH, but we haven't been shopping.

Really—no shopping.

Instead, we've been taking a few workshops at the Apple retail store there. We know there's always some useful tip or different way to do something. We freely confess to not being "know-it-alls" about Apple products we both own. 

Forgot to mention that these workshops are offered free-of-charge to anyone who has an Apple product and a corresponding AppleID. A major drawback is that the classroom setting isn't ideal because, after all, it's a retail store. Depending on the day or time, it can be very busy or noisy — quite often both. To fill in any time between sessions, there's always time to look at and try products with all those helpful Apple folks around.

Pre-registration is required and the workshops conveniently are listed on the store's website. You then receive a confirmation, which can be added to your electronic calendar quite easily.

Some of the recent workshops we've attended were iPad Basics, Shoot More Artistic Photos with iPhone, and Mac Basics. 

The workshops are conducted by Apple advisors who work within the retail store. Of course, not every question or concern can be addressed in a single hour-long session. But there's no worries about getting all your questions and concerns addressed in a single session — you can re-take workshops as often as they're offered.

Admittedly, we also have a great time meeting and talking with other Apple users. As you can see, Grenville and his seat-mate became quick friends at least for the workshop session.

We'll make some "new" friends in weeks to come as we always have more questions and are already planning to attend future workshops.

It's one of the advantages of now living in a larger area with a mall so easily accessible and with an Apple retail store inside.

When Nothing is Said . . .

Most bloggers like receiving feedback in the form of comments — including Grenville and myself.
So, my apologies to bloggers who may have tried to comment on any of our blog posts. On Blogger, I made the BIG mistake recently of changing a setting in Comments under who can comment. And, I didn’t think HOW this would affect folks without a Gmail address.
Recently, I noticed that some blogger friends who previously had commented were no longer commenting. Curious as to why, I contacted one of them and learned that it was my setting change.
SO in case anyone else ever has this dilemma, you can find this in Design (it’s in the upper right corner after you sign onto your blog) then on the left side select Settings (there’s a small wrench icon next to it) and then click on Comments and posts and under the Comments section, you get these choices:

Who can comment?

• Anyone - includes Anonymous Users
• Registered User - includes OpenID
• User with Google Accounts
• Only members of this blog

My mistake was choosing the third option — User with Google Accounts — which excludes anyone who doesn’t have a Gmail account from posting a comment on any one of our  exciting (tongue in cheek) blog posts or at least Grenville’s often funny posts.
I choose the 1st option and in recent days we have started receiving spam, so this option may be changed later.
The selection was made in an attempt to limit any spam comments, but checking for any inappropriate or spam comments under the Comments and/or just deleting also works.
THANKS to blogger friend, Christer of The Cottage by the Crane Lake Part Two for letting me know.
My OOPS has been corrected.