Tag Archives: Princeton Senior Resource Center

Maundy Thursday: Airline Miles and Shy Feet

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shy feet

In my email on Linked In this morning, chamber colleague Ken Haag published Is Your Business Heartland Secure? 

By following Haag’s link, I reminded myself that Heartland has a shop local card that helps Princeton merchants by eliminating processing fees. Another colleague at the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, Adrienne Rubin represents that division. With the One Princeton card, you can pay for things with your smart phone. Benefit to consumer: one percent of every transaction goes to the consumer’s choice of any of dozens of nonprofit organizations, including the Latin American Legal Defense Fund,  Princeton Senior Resource Center, and Princeton Community Housing

I sure hate to give up airline miles, but frequent flyer seats are getting scarce.

And thanks to Rothstein Hughes, who attends Grant Chapel in Trenton, I learned that on Maundy Thursday (today, when Jesus observed his last Passover meal with his disciples) it’s traditional to — not only wash the feet of the poor — but also hand out alms.

Queen Elizabeth follows that tradition TODAY in Sheffield, England, giving money to 89 people, a number that represents her age.

So today I’ll actually join up to get that One Princeton card. With every transaction, I will lose airline miles — but one percent of the transaction will benefit charity.

No, Queen Elizabeth is not doing the foot washing part — but some of us will. Tonight at 7:30 at Princeton United Methodist Church the youth choir leads the Holy Communion Service along with foot washing.

For folks like me, the alternative is hand washing. I have shy feet.

And you?

psrcGoing through the stacked up mail, I glanced at the “Mature Princeton” newsletter from the Princeton Senior Resource Center and found three fab tips on facing pages.

1. The number for the do not call center. Been losing my patience on this. It is 888-382-1222 or go to the website http://www.donotcall.gov. Just did that and bingo, done.

2. A list of places that deliver food, most I knew about, one was new. Mom’s Meals solves a lot of problems; it packs its meals so they last in the fridge and they cost just $5.99 (a dollar more to get the snack). I have no idea if they are any good, but I have some friends who could use this as a temporary solution to a long term need.

3. The Document Retention chart or how long you keep paper work. I didn’t realize you are supposed to keep the opening statement of bank accounts as long as you open the account.  Here is the link to that chart.

I’m a bad example for most of this. Canceled check retention is supposedly seven years. My stash is at least 47 years old. Sometime, I promise myself, I’ll take a trip down memory lane and look at the names.

What I really need is to find the newsletter issue that talks about hoarding!

 

Buying Your First iPad. My friend Stephanie took me to buy my first Apple product. We went to the Bridgewater store to see the array and get great advice but I bought it at Creative Computing, out of loyalty to the “buy local” effort. The price is the same everywhere.

Now it’s my turn to pay it forward. Here is the advice I’m giving to my cousin, who is on the verge of the purchase. If you think i’m wrong, please raise your hand. I am not an expert. These tips are only “My Best Guess” and I’d welcome your correction.

Prepare. Read the tip sheet from Doug Dixon who IS the real expert, as printed in U.S. 1. Dixon gives his “what gadgets to buy for Christmas talk” tonight (Wednesday, December 4) at the Princeton Public Library.

Find your passwords. Be sure to bring all your IDs and passwords with you. Do you have any kind of Apple ID, for iTunes or anything else? Also any ID you have for your phone bill. You will need these and you don’t want to end up with duplicate IDs.

Here are some things to think about.

Your iPad or tablet can have any of these talents:

Connectivity: Wifi or always on (like a phone). When you have the always on, you can choose to use it (and pay a monthly connectivity fee, like your phone) or not use it. When you buy it with JUST Wifi you can never add the phone network. I bought mine with just WIFI and now I wish I had paid more to have the capability for always on.

Color: Fabulous versus very good. The latest iPad and all the Samsung tablets have LCD color. This might matter if you show off your pictures on your iPad.

Storage. I got the max storage and after 1000s of photos I run out of space and have to take them out of active use and put them “in the cloud.” More storage, more money.

Picture taking ability: the iPad can take excellent pictures in some situations, especially low light, but is a miserable camera in other situations (lots of light). However it’s great for storing and editing pictures.

Apple technology. I think it’s great but it can be tricky to synch things, like pictures, from an Apple product to a PC. I’m still working on that one. Some PC programs look slightly different on an Apple product, Picasa albums for instance shows up as “web albums.” You can get tablets that are NOT Apple based if you don’t like Apple. Only Apple has the dictation program Siri.

Size: they make a mini now.

Age and price : they continue to make the old iPad 2 and they no longer make my iPad 3. The iPad 2 is much cheaper than the new version. If you get the latest version, it takes longer to go obsolete.

Then, the accessories. I am fond of my bulky rubber waffle weave case because it is very protective. I have dropped it and it was unharmed. The standard slim case folds over the screen and sits up on a table. Not necessary if you are using it in your lap. They also sell carriers. I fit mine in my big pocketbook.

You must get Apple Care (24/7 help line for 2 years). They give you 3 months of it. You want it.

You want a screen cover (thin film) and make them put it on.

I bought a $15 keyboard on Amazon that works just as well as the $75 keyboards. I rarely if ever use it, maybe I will take it on a trip where I have real work today. Otherwise I sit at my PC or poke away at the screen keyboard. AND if you get an Apple product you can dictate your manuscript with Siri. I have tried it and it works great. I dictate emails now.

Lessons: Princeton Senior Resource Center has good intro courses, beginner and intermediate, for low cost. Creative Computing charges a heftier price but maybe they are good too. I don’t know. Also available at the library. Definitely worth taking! I had mine for a month before I knew how to turn it really OFF off. I couldn’t figure out why it was using so much power.

Also the guys at Verizon in Princeton Shopping Center are wonderful at helping. Even though you might not have bought your iPad there, if you have a phone from them or a Verizon contract they happily give you tips.

For the best and straight scoop on any kind of gadget, consult Doug Dixon’s latest tip sheet in U.S. 1 or his website, Manifest Technology.