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An App for That: Magnifying Glass + Flashlight
An App for That is a regular feature at LGBTSr highlighting useful apps and technology tips for our readers.
I haven’t been able to read anything much smaller than a billboard without my glasses for years. And I thoroughly enjoy a good meal in restaurants that are sometimes dark. Have you ever had to take a candle on the table and hold it up to a menu you can barely read? Of course you have! So try this ‘Magnifying Glass + Flashlight‘ app, available on iOS and Android. I got it on my iPhone and tried it out. It’s very basic, which is fine if you want exactly what you get: an adjustable magnifying glass with a flashlight! The only thing that annoys me are the ads at the bottom, but that’s going to be part of any free app. Ignore them and check out the appetizers!
Have an app to recommend? Email me at: Editor @ LGBTSr.com
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Savvy Senior: Does Medicare Cover Power Lift Chairs?
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Because of back pain and knee arthritis I’m interested in getting a power lift recliner for my living room that’s easy for me to get into and out of. Does Medicare cover them?
Can’t Get Up
Dear Can’t,
Yes, Medicare does indeed provide some coverage for lift chairs, provided your doctor prescribes it for a medical reason, but they won’t cover the entire cost of the chair. Medicare will only pay for the motorized lifting mechanism, which is considered durable medical equipment (DME), and is covered under Part B. The other parts of the chair – the frame, cushioning, and upholstery – are not covered. Here are a few more details you should know.
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The Weekly Readlines March 9: No Big Macs for Moscow, Drinking Shrinks Your Brain, and the Week in Headlines
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Saturday morning. You can view the archives here. And for your listening pleasure – the podcast edition!
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
First the good news: the West and our allies continue fierce opposition to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, including several corporations halting their presence in Russia. Will the end of Big Macs do what sanctions have yet to achieve?Florida students and their allies took a stand against the Don’t Say Gay bills proliferating across the country, while the Secretary of Education condemned the bills and said they may violate Title IX. Fight on, rainbow warriors, fight on.
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Being Well: Healthy Digestion in Times of Stress
Coming soon: the Second Edition of herbalist Cathy McNease’s In Harmony with the Seasons: Herbs, Nutrition and Well-Being including new chapters and a new introduction.
By Cathy McNease, Herbalist
It is a familiar problem: stressful events occur and our digestion goes to hell. For some it means loss of appetite, others will resort to binges on comfort foods. Diarrhea, constipation, bloating and indigestion are other common reactions to stress. I fall prey to all of these as well and over the decades have figured a few things out to help. First, minimize stress as much as you can. Second, don’t allow the stress to send you off the rails in your food choices.
If we can minimize the increase in stress hormones being produced, that is a step in the right direction.
Maintaining an anti-inflammatory diet, as much as possible, is a good start. The following tips will reduce cortisol and adrenaline, which increase when we’re under stress. Limit these foods as much as you can: added sugars, processed foods, dairy products, gluten, too much meat, and refined oils. Rely more on non-starchy vegetables. Also, watch your intake of coffee and alcohol.
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Savvy Senior: Super Cheap Smartphone Plans for Scrimping Seniors
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Can you direct me to some really cheap wireless smartphone plans for seniors who don’t use much data? I use my smartphone primarily for texting and talking but need some data for checking my email and a few other things when I’m away from Wi-Fi. Right now, I pay $30 per month but am looking for a better deal.
Senior Scrimper
Dear Scrimper,
There are several super cheap wirelesses providers I can recommend for older smartphone users who are looking to save money by paring down their cell phone plan. Here are three of the cheapest options available that you can switch to without sacrificing the quality of your service.
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On Dreamshaping: The Project Worksheet
Mark McNease
Whether you call it a Dreamshaping Worksheet or a Project Worksheet, it’s one of the most valuable items in the Dreamshaper’s toolbox. I started keeping mine a year ago in the form of an Excel spreadsheet. It’s remarkably simple, and deceptively powerful. Why? Because it helps me see, right there in front of me, what I’ve accomplished in the previous weeks and months.
It’s so easy to become discouraged and think we’re not getting anywhere, or that we’re somehow stuck in the same small box we felt confined in yesterday and the day before. But by keeping an easy list or spreadsheet that we can add to every week, what we actually get done becomes clear – excitingly, irrefutably, invigoratingly clear! Each week, month by month, I record what I completed or started. ‘Sent out email to subscribers,’ or, ‘recorded interview with guest artist,’ or, ‘designed cover for new eBook.’ I may think I didn’t get anything done last week, but if I just take a look at the steps I took, the chapters I wrote, the podcasts I recorded and published – suddenly I know I’ve accomplished a lot. When we do this for an extended period of time, we may be the ones asking ourselves, ‘How do you manage to get so much done!’
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Author Dave Hughes Offers Complimentary Short Story ‘Cruise Virgins’ for New Subscribers
I’ve been both a friend and fan of Dave Hughes for quite a few years now. He’s the founder of RetireFabulously.com, a recurring guest on my One Thing or Another Podcast, and now a fiction author with an upcoming release, Maybe Next Year:
“Bryan and Chris are high school juniors who have been inseparable best friends for three years. Now, they are discovering that their feelings for each other run much deeper than mere friendship.
Chris, whose open-minded family is completely supportive, is ready and able to live his life out and proud. For Bryan, whose father is the pastor of a very conservative mega-church in a Kansas City suburb, being gay simply isn’t an option. Bryan hopes that maybe next year when they leave Kansas to go to college together, he will be able to live more openly. In the meantime, they must learn how to navigate their conflicting family dynamics and boundaries if they are to fulfill their dream of spending the rest of their lives together.
Everything changes when Bryan is outed. His father will stop at nothing to force Bryan to “leave the homosexual lifestyle,” requiring Bryan and Chris to make some very difficult choices.”
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Ronni Sanlo’s This Day in Lesbian Herstory (February 27 – March 4)
Ronni Sanlo’s This Day in Lesbian Herstory makes the past ever-present with daily rundowns of historic events and people.
Ronni Sanlo
THIS DAY in LESBIAN HERSTORY -
The Twist Podcast #186: Biden Unites NATO, FL Students Say Gay, Chocolate Frogs, Weed Snacks and More!
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we salute Biden’s wartime leadership, thank the Florida student walk out, check the latest weeds snacks and chocolate frogs, and scan the week in headlines! Twist Top picks, listicles, and video edition, too!
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Fasten Your Headphones! The Weekly Readlines Podcast Edition Starts Now – Show #1
Call me a recovering news junkie who learned to digest the news in moderation. It is possible! These days I put out The Weekly Readlines (“rhymes with ‘headlines'”) every week as part of the LGBTSr.com landscape, and at my own website. I’ve long wanted to augment it with an audio edition, which in modern parlance means a podcast. I’m finally launching it with this very first episode. In it you’ll get a brief weekly introduction, followed by some headlines, commentary, and a few deeper dives into the news driving us all to distraction.
This week: Biden unites NATO and the West against Putin’s grotesque land grab of Ukraine; Florida students stage a walk out against the state’s sure-to-pass “Don’t Say Gay” bill; praise for SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson (surely no harder to pronounce that Reince Priebus); and a look at the headlines grabbing our attention this week.
Listen for a new Readlines podcast each week with the online edition. If you don’t want to miss either one, just subscribe to LGBTSr.com HERE. That’s the list that gets them every Saturday. Peace, everyone! The alternatives are worse.
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The Weekly Readlines March 4
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Saturday morning. You can view the archives here. And now you can listen to the podcast edition HERE! pleasure!
CLICK FOR THE PODCAST EDITION!
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES First the good news: President Biden united NATO and the West against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and high school students across Florida staged a walk out over the ever-so-hateful Don’t Say Gay bill.
Texas unleashed the state against trans kids and their parents, while millions of children were plunged into poverty with the expiration of the expanded child tax credit killed by Joe Manchin. Not to be outdone in the race to the bottom, the Wyoming Senate defunded the Gender Studies program at the state university, since women belong in the kitchen and the maternity ward.
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Q Audiobooks: Michael Craft’s Mark Manning Series Concludes with ‘Bitch Slap’, Narrated by David Phillips
Q Audiobooks is a regular feature offering audiobooks of interest for the LGBTQ+ listener.
Listen up! The seventh and final installment of Michael Craft’s iconic Mark Manning mysteries has just been released as an audiobook, completing the series. ‘Bitch Slap’, first published in 2004, joins the other six audiobooks, all narrated by David Phillips. The combined audiobooks offer nearly 84 hours of listening pleasure, so start with one and don’t stop until you’ve heard them all.
Journalist Mark Manning has been successfully running his family’s newspaper, The Dumont Daily Register, for several years now, and he sits on the board of two local companies, Quatro Press and Ashton Mills. So, when the respective CEOs of these companies discuss a merger, it is only natural that Manning be interested in the proceedings. What’s more, Manning’s lover Neil, an architect, is designing a new house for Ashton’s CEO, Gillian Reece.