The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

How to have a healthy heart

Which drugs are the right ones for heart problems, and who really needs them? When are heart tests needed, and when are they not only unnecessary, but possibly harmful? Are drugs or stents better? And, when surgery is required, how do you find the best hospital?

Figuring out what to do about heart problems is complicated. To address the issue, Consumer Reports offers a report on how to help consumers make smart choices about the prevention and treatment of heart disease

The dangers of too many screening tests

Too many heart tests can lead to a series of false alarms that trigger needless anxiety and a cascade of costly, sometimes risky procedures, according to the report. If you feel fine and are at low risk, before you agree to a test, ask why it’s necessary.

What to buy and not buy in April

Spring has finally sprung, so it’s time for April shopping.

Consumers will find discounts on spring clothing, freebies for Tax Day and Earth Day, and early Mother’s Day sales, according to DealNews.com. In addition, April is the best month to shop at thrift stores.

Four things to wait on are mattresses, tools, laptops, and appliances.

Department stores almost always offer special sales for holiday weekends, and Memorial Day usually provides worthwhile discounts on home items. If you wait until next month, you'll find tools that are up to 50 percent off, large appliances for about 30 percent off, and mattresses that get an extra discount of 10 percent to 40 percent off.

For laptops, back-to-school discounts start as early as June. So wait two more months and you'll see prices drop.

Copyright 2017, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

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Today is Equal Pay Day

Equal Pay Day is Tuesday, April 4, because it marks the number of days into 2017 that an American woman needs to work to earn what a man earned in 2016.

Although the Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963, women make an average of 82 cents for every dollar a man earns. In 1963, it was 54 cents to $1. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color.

“For families across the country, the pay gap translates into less take-home pay that women can use to help meet the everyday needs of their families, including buying groceries, paying rent, and affording doctors’ visits,” said Nancy Pelosi, Senate minority leader.

Spring is here, mostly

The wind’s blowing as I head down to the capital to take my annual photos of the cherry blossoms. Although spring is officially here, I’m glad I’m wearing my warm winter coat.

The blossoms are beautiful once again. One year, it rained so hard I didn’t get any photos; the rain beat the blossoms into oblivion. I was worried the same thing would happen this year.

Another boomer blogger who lives in Southern Colorado had a spring surprise on April Fools’ Day: a foot of snow and a 13-hour power outage.

Other topics boomers are writing about are wearing jeans and leggings, making dreams come true, tasting wine, and getting fooled by a really good April Fools’ joke.

Laura Lee Carter of the Adventures of the New Old Farts reports on these topics on the Best of Boomer Blogs #491. Click here to find the links to the boomer articles. And be sure to leave a comment. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2017, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Bottle caps being recalled by humangear due to burn hazard

humangear is recalling about 61,000 capCAP bottle caps in the United States and about 360 in Canada.

The capCAP can leak, dislodge, or come off posing a burn hazard to consumers when the bottles are used to hold hot liquids.

humangear has received one report of liquid leakage. No injuries have been reported.

Happy April Fools’ Day

How is your April Fools’ Day going? If you haven’t played a joke yet and need suggestions, take a look at these:

Planning your jokes? See “Top 10 Tips for April Fools’ Day Jokes” for recommendations on how to avoid getting in trouble. I especially like the one that advises not to turn in your resignation letter as a joke.

Looking for inspiration? Visit “Top 10 April Fools’ Day Posts.”

Wondering what the best jokes have been? See “Top 10 April Fool’s Day Jokes.” One of the jokes I like best was about the bumper spaghetti crop in Switzerland, a 1957 joke.

Curious about Google’s jokes through the years? Visit “A Round Up of All of Google’s April Fools’ Jokes.”

Looking for information about corporate jokes? See “Best of the Brand Hoaxes.”

I hope you have a great April Fools’ Day with lots of laughter and don’t get yourself in trouble.

Copyright 2017, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Trump breaks promises, failing to ‘drain the swamp’ and separate himself from his businesses, report shows

President Donald Trump has failed to keep his pledge to “drain the swamp,” instead turning over the government to lobbyists and big donors and enriching his own bottom line, a report released by Public Citizen and Every Voice shows.

The report, “Broken Promises: How Trump Is Profiting Off the Presidency and Empowering Lobbyists and Big Donors,” analyzes the two months since Trump committed to uphold a set of ethical promises. The conclusion: The Trump Administration is clouded by corruption and conflicts, and Trump has filled his administration with the same major donors and Wall Street executives he claimed he would fight if elected.

“The ethics commitments made by the Trump administration exactly two months ago were painfully inadequate, yet we at least imagined that the fanfare with which they were announced would cause someone to feel accountable to implementing them within the government,” said Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs for Public Citizen. “Sadly, they have been unable to effectively follow even these milquetoast commitments, and the Trump administration is well on its way to becoming the most scandal-ridden administration in history.”

EPA, under Pruitt, kills ban of pesticide that damages children’s brains, nervous systems

In one of his first major decisions as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Scott Pruitt sided with the pesticide lobby over scientists in a last minute decision to stop the agency's proposal to ban chlorpyrifos – an insecticide that at small doses can harm children's brains and nervous systems – from use on food crops.

Pruitt and the Trump Administration’s decision ignored evidence that even small amounts of chlorpyrifos can damage parts of the brain that control language, memory, behavior, and emotion. Studies show that exposure to chlorpyrifos impairs children's IQs, and EPA scientists' assessments of those studies concluded that levels of the pesticide found on food and in drinking water are unsafe.

“The chance to prevent brain damage in children was a low bar for most of Scott Pruitt’s predecessors, but it apparently just wasn’t persuasive enough for an administrator who isn’t sure if banning lead from gasoline was a good idea,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group. “Instead, in one of his first major decisions as head of the EPA, like a toddler running toward his parents, Pruitt leaped into the warm and waiting arms of the pesticide industry.”

Nationstar Mortgage fined $1.75 million for flawed mortgage loan reporting

Nationstar Mortgage will pay a $1.75 million fine for failing to report accurate data about mortgage transactions for 2012 through 2014. The penalty is the largest brought under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said.

Nationstar had been on notice since 2011 for mortgage reporting problems, the bureau said. In addition to paying the penalty, the company is being required to improve its compliance management and prevent future violations.

“Financial institutions that violate the law repeatedly and substantially are not making serious enough efforts to report accurate information,” said Richard Cordray, director of the bureau.

Watch out for ‘free’ trial offers: You could end up paying for items you don’t want

If a company offers you a free trial, you may be getting yourself into a lot of trouble if you sign up.

Hidden strings attached to a deal can get you involved up in hard-to-escape buying plans that charge you for products or services you don’t want.

That happened to many consumers who signed up for “free” online trial offers of golf and cooking products and services, according to a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit.

Sellers that went by names such as Golf Online Academy and Kitchen Advance offered “free” trials really were “negative option” offers. That means you’d have to cancel before the trial period ended – or be automatically enrolled to get regular shipments of items and pay regular charges.