Daily Dose of Common Sense

Want to know how banks are making up the money they lost in the economic crash? Off you, that’s how.

Despite the current recession, banks are charging record fees to checking account customers. The costs are sneaky: higher non-bank ATM fees, higher bounced check fees, and higher monthly service charges.

ATM fees have risen for three-consecutive years. In 2009, consumers paid an average fee of $3.54 to use another bank’s ATM, up 16% from 2004. This includes the fee charged at the ATM, as well as the fee charged by the customer’s bank.

This year, consumers are paying a record charge of $12.55 per month for an interest-bearing checking account, up 3.5% from 2004, Bankrate’s data show. The average bounced-check fee was $29.58 this year, near the inflation-adjusted high of $29.73 reached in 2005.

Also, banks are increasing their credit card interest rates and penalties for late payment. They are finding any way they can to make up for the housing mortgage debacle of ‘08. And, don’t look for it to get any better any time soon.

BankRate.com has a good list of ways to avoid checking account fees. Some tips are common sense, like don’t bounce checks and only use your bank’s ATMs, but others may be new information on how to avoid paying more.

Most banks offer three or four checking account options. Visit the Web sites of several banks and see the differences between accounts. Do you really need free checks if you’re going to have to pay a fee for the account? If you pay most bills online, perhaps you only need a couple of paper checks per month and it would be cheaper to buy them yourself. Carefully review what each account offers and see if it’s worth the price of admission, or if you’d be better served by a free account.

So, read your statements and shop around. Don’t let your bank stick it to you.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: The Consumerist

A man in New York is suing Bank of America for “$1,784 billion, trillion dollars.”

Did Bank of America kill his first-born child? Nope. He’s suing the bank because of a bad customer service experience.

Yeah, you’re not going to win that one, buddy.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: The Consumerist

As few as 25 years ago, neuroscientists stuck firmly to the belief that as we aged our brains became fixed and static–hence the saying, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. However, new research is saying otherwise. Enter the relatively new concept of brain plasticity and the related practice of brain fitness.

In the simplest terms, brain plasticity is the brain’s capacity for continuous physical, chemical and functional change. Brain fitness is the purposeful exercising of our gray matter to keep it engaged and healthy.

And, while brain plasticity has bona-fide roots and application in the neuroscientific community, brain fitness seems to be a new ‘it thing’ for some quacky websites, books, training seminars, and even diets. The Wikipedia entry for brain fitness notes, “The term is virtually never used in the scientific literature, but is commonly used in the context of self-help books and commercial products.” But, if you wade through the brain fitness drivel, essentially the premise is use it or lose it. Moreover, how you use it is equally important.

One source lists the following the ideal components of brain fitness activities:

• They should teach you something new.
• They should be challenging.
• They should be progressive.
• They should engage your great brain processing systems.
• They should be rewarding. (My personal favorite.)
• They should be novel or surprising.

And there you have it. In order to maintain our brain health and take advantage of the newfound concept of brain plasticity, we need to continually engage our noggins in new and challenging ways.

Hmmm. I don’t think I need a website or seminar to tell me that.

British Airways may just be starting the next trend in airline fees. In another effort to nickel-and-dime customers to death, BA will now charge passengers an additional fee for choosing their seats ahead of time. So, if you’re traveling with your kids, securing their seats with yours is going to cost extra.

This will also affect anyone who prefers an aisle or window seat. Locking those down before you fly will cost extra on BA.

A BA spokeswoman said: “Customers frequently request specific seats, but in the past we’ve only been able to confirm them 24 hours in advance or on the day.

“We know people want to secure them in advance and have real control over their flying experience. This will allow them to do that.”

Why not just be truthful? Instead, say something like, “Our airline was 400 million pounds in the red last year. We need money and therefore we pledge to find ways to get more of it from our passengers.”

[Via BoingBoing]

Photo courtesy of Flickr: Simon_sees

At the mall one morning recently, I overheard two parents talking. As our small kids were all riding kiddie rides, one mother told the other that her son was sick that day and he wouldn’t be in pre-school that afternoon. She wanted to keep him out of school to “you know, be considerate.”

How about keeping your kid home from the mall, too? If your son or daughter is too sick to go to school, does it really make sense to let them spread germs at the mall? When my kids are too sick for school, that means no galavanting around town, either. Kids are everywhere, and sick kids can spread germs as easily at the mall as they can at school.

What’s wrong with some parents?

Photo courtesy of Flickr: Mykl Roventine

Actor Kirk Cameron is taking on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and preparing to spread woo as far as possible. He and some other religious activists will soon distribute their creationist book, which “picks apart” aspects of Darwin’s work, to colleges around the country. You may remember Cameron from such parts as Mike Seaver on Growing Pains, or perhaps as Dexter Riley in The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.

Their book attempts to link Darwin’s ideas to the Nazi holocaust, and discusses the scientist’s alleged “disdain for women.” Oh, really? Because Christianity has such a long and documented history of being PRO woman. Like blaming the sins of the world on Eve. Or, prohibiting contraception because women exist just to bear children. Or, considering women as just property throughout much of history.

Cameron said:

“We have a situation in our country where young people are entering college with a belief in God and exiting with that faith being stripped and shredded. What we want to do is have student make an informed, educated decision before they chuck their faith.”

Only, the information he’s distributing is nothing more than scare tactics and misinformation.

“This has been refuted many, many times. The anti-evolutionist fearmongers have to link Darwin to every perceived evil from mankind,” says Kevin Padian, professor of paleontology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Do you really think that, if Darwin could be discredited, it would come from Kirk Cameron? Wouldn’t this news make the rounds in the big science journals? We can only hope the students act rationally and listen to scientists and educators instead.

Photo courtesy of Flickr: kevindooley

I’m a big fan of TV. We recently got Verizon’s FiOS, which has a crazy amount of channels to choose from. So far, I love it. But, as I’m flipping through the guide, some completely ridiculous shows just jump out at me and beg to be commented on. So, here is our first installation of “shows lacking in any common sense whatsoever.”

Boooo!
It’s a ghost! No, wait–it’s just Medium and Ghost Whisperer. These two shows, which are shown back-to-back in what must the network must have dreamt up as “the crazy-chick block,” are based on the premise that ghosts are real. But, they’re not. No evidence of the paranormal has ever been proven. Sooooooooo…..??

That’s why shows like Psych and The Mentalist are so great. They present paranormal abilities as shams, and stress the use of careful observations to solve crimes.

TLC: W.T.F.?
TLC, originally started as THE LEARNING CHANNEL, has totally gone off the rails. Forget that they give Jon & Kate as well as the circus sideshow with 18 kids a platform. That’s bad. But, it’s shows like I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant, Your Kid Ate What? and Toddlers and Tiaras that really depress me. Is this really the best TLC can do?

While I haven’t watched these three shows, I’m pretty sure the titles tell me all I need to know. I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant. I find that hard to believe and feel very sorry for you and your kid. Your Kid Ate What? Let me guess. Was it really horrible, potentially dangerous, and embarrassing for you, the kid’s parent? So, you’re sharing that memory with the world because….?

Toddlers and Tiaras is just plain wrong. I don’t want to know about a fringe group that dresses up little girls in pageant gowns and Tammy Faye Baker makeup. Please, please, let me live in that ignorance bubble a little while longer. Oh, I can’t? Thanks a LOT, TLC.

Who watches this crap? I’m no TV snob, and will watch (according to my husband) just about anything. But I do draw the line at shows like these.

Tell me what you think. What shows do you think show a lack of sense?

Photo courtesy of Flickr: angelrravelor

A new weight-loss device puts a spin on the term “comfort food.” A doctor has invented a postage-stamp sized patch that is surgically adhered to a person’s tongue. The patch makes eating painful, and the patient is forced to go on an all-liquid diet to gain nutrients.

The creator claims patients lose as much as twenty pounds in one month. Um, yeah. That’s what we would expect when someone has to drink caesar salad milkshakes and steak smoothies for thirty days. Mmmmmmmmmm….steak smoothies.

I sure hope anyone considering this mumbo jumbo realizes that the results won’t last. What happens when you return to real food? You’re back to your original weight, I’d wager. And, how can you talk with this thing sewn onto your tongue? If it makes eating painful, it’s probably not fun to talk, either. But, hey, if you want to sound like Cindy Brady in your staff meetings, then be my guest. For a real glimpse, check out the photo of the patch’s application.

Losing weight isn’t easy, and people are always looking for a quick fix. Unless you need to fit in your Oscar gown, I think this is just a way to torture yourself for a month.

[Via Pat's Papers]

They have always been a good idea, but the tough economic times have made more people than ever look into using rechargeable batteries instead of single-use batteries. Once a mystery, we now all routinely use special-purpose rechargeable batteries in devices like cell phones and digital cameras. Like anything else, however, knowledge is power (pun intended), and even a few simple facts can help a lot.

First, let’s deal with the most important issue: safety. NEVER try to charge a single-use battery. Those warnings are not from some overly cautious lawyer; fire and explosions are real dangers. If you don’t believe me, search for battery fire on YouTube and you’ll see that these innocuous-looking little devices are not to be misused. Electricity and chemistry can each be dangerous on their own, and together they are even more so.

Similarly, never use any kind of rechargeable battery that has been damaged in any way. Likewise, don’t try and jury-rig anything; use things as they are intended and according to the instructions. We technology professionals have a humorous acronym for this: RTFM, which stands for (polite version) Read The Freaking Manual! While our arcane knowledge may seem a mystery to most people, and some of us do indeed have a knack for gadgets, it’s mostly due to the fact that we read the darn directions!

Read the rest of this entry »

In Washington, a group of mental patients were taken to a county fair for fun. One particular patient, a man convicted of killing an elderly woman years before, escaped during the trip.

He didn’t have to work too hard to get free. While on the outing, the patients aren’t restrained or wearing any special clothing. They can all wear street clothes and don’t even have to stay together. The staff try to keep all of them in eyesight the entire time.

How would that even be possible? The news reports said there were thirty-one patients and only eleven staff members. If the patients don’t have to stick together, it would be easy for one (or more) to sneak off. How about lowering the patient-to-security ratio in order to give more attention to the task at hand?

Photo courtesy of Flickr: Sister72