HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: 154s@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mona Hatfield)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: ADVICE NEEDED: Former Apartment deduct
Date: 31 Aug 92 19:22:40 GMT
Reply-To: 154s@oasys.dt.navy.mil (Mona Hatfield)
Organization: Carderock Division, NSWC, Bethesda, MD

In misc.consumers, duggan@terminus.gatech.edu (Rick Duggan) writes:
>In article <BtLnnM.IJH@news.cso.uiuc.edu> bwhitlock@uiuc.edu writes:
>>reb@Ingres.COM (Phydeaux) writes:
>>>In article <1992Aug24.131520.18936@nynexst.com> schwartz@nynexst.com writes:
>>>>Has anyone considered videotaping the cleaned, moved-out-of apartment?
>>>Setting the date proves nothing, you  can set it  to whatever date you
>>>want.  But -- buying a newspaper and videotaping the headline and date
>All of the methods can be tampered with.  After all, you could
>reseal the envelope that you sent to yourself.  Your tape is
>only as good as your credibility.  If the judge believes your
>judge doesn't believe you, the tape does you no good.  The
>same goes for still photos.

Well, actually, if you take still pictures of the house/apartment
and have the pictures developed, the date on the back of the
pictures will at least attest to the fact that the pictures are
*before* pictures.

We move around alot, so we rent alot also.  I have learned that
as soon as I walk in the door (after signing lease) I have a
brand new roll of film in my camera, and take pictures galore.
Then I take the roll in to be developed.  Date stamped on back
proves it was only within days of moving in.

I've never had a problem *after* showing the landlord the pictures when
they start to give me a problem.  However, I normally leave a place
cleaner than it was when I received it, therefore problems have been
minimal.

Good Luck
Mona
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: dug@dug.b17d.ingr.com (Doug Taylor)
Subject: Consumer Reports & Life Insurance
Keywords: life insurance, consumer reports
Reply-To: dug@dug.b17d.ingr.com
Organization: Imaging systems, Intergraph Corp, Huntsville, AL
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 14:30:22 GMT

I know that Consumer Reports does articles every so often on 
life insurance.  When were the last articles written?  Is there
an archive of the articles available from the net?  What 
companies (top four or so) received the recommendations for 
term insurance?

Email would be better (no time to read the news), but I will try
to read this news group for a little while.  I will summarize what
I receive.
______________________________________________________________
  Doug Taylor                 (205) 730-6875 (w)
  MailStop IW17D1             dug@dug.b17d.ingr.com
  Intergraph Corp.            uunet!ingr!infonode!b17d!dug!dug
  Huntsville, AL 35894-0001   < My thots, not theirs. >
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: cptully@med.unc.edu (Christopher P. Tully,Pathology,62699)
Subject: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Reply-To: cptully@med.unc.edu
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 21:20:09 GMT

In article l9k6fkINNqb0@utkcs2.cs.utk.edu, de5@ORNL.GOV (Dave Sill) writes:
>[Followups directed to misc.consumers.]
>
>In article <1992Aug24.232439.25914@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>, crb7q@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (Cameron Randale Bass) writes:
>>
>>     If you are giving your children hammers and lightbulbs or 
>>     smoke detectors, you probably have more worries that the little
>>     radioactive source.  I'd keep a better eye on my children.  Normally
>>     they learn early-on that the class of objects to be hammered
>>     does not usually include foods.
>
>Chuckle, chuckle...obviously not a parent.  :-)  We don't *give* them things they
>shouldn't have, but surprisingly they sometimes get them anyway.  And they
>eventually learn what to hammer and what not to hammer, but in the process they
>hammer things that they shouldn't.  So, theoretically this isn't a problem.  In
>reality it is.  You're theoretically-based comfort won't amount to a hill a beans
>if your distinctly non-theoretical child ingests the radioactive source from a
>bulb or detector.
>
>-- 
>Dave Sill (de5@ornl.gov)	   For every Bill Joy there is a Kirk McKusick.
>Martin Marietta Energy Systems     For every Bill Gates there is a Richard
>Workstation Support                Stallman.                     --Paul Graham


And, remember, there are some South East islanders who's children are running around with machete's at 2 yrs and younger....

I sometimes think that we protect our selves TTTOOOOOO MMMUUUCCCHHH!!!
---
*********************************************************************
Christopher P. Tully				<cptully@med.unc.edu>
Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill		1122 Vic Charles Dr.
Department of Pathology				Raleigh, NC 27606
CB# 7525			work: (919) 966-2699
Chaple Hill, NC 27599		hone: (919) 851-8816
*********************************************************************
 All opinions above are Copywrite <current year> Christoper P. Tully

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: frank@truevision.com (Frank Loffel)
Subject: Auto insurance companies forgiving tickets?
Organization: Truevision Inc., Indianapolis, IN
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 02 Sep 1992 05:20:35 GMT

Hi

State Farm (my current car insurance company) has a discount structure that 
looks about like that:

0 tickets and 0 chargeable accidents in three years: State Farm Mutual, lowest
premium.

1 ticket or 1 chargeable accident in three years: Standard discount, somewhat 
lower premium than standard.

More than 1 ticket or 1 chargeable accident: No discount.

Now here's the question: Are there car insurance companies that offer discounts
more generously? Like after 2 years or with two tickets, for example.

I've read the Consumer's Union magazine (August issue(??)), but the article
doesn't seem to go into details in terms of premium discount structures.

Thanks for any comments.

-- 
-- Frank Loffel, Truevision, Inc., uunet!epicb!frank frank@truevision.com :-) --
From: bdm@druwa.ATT.COM (Brian Millham)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Rather large late fee on my cable bill
Date: 1 Sep 92 17:59:11 GMT

in article <Aug.27.13.40.47.1992.7803@aramis.rutgers.edu>, rinehart@aramis.rutgers.edu (Mark J. Rinehart) says:
> I am so fed up with my cable company's overall attitude toward their
> customers that I recently sent them a note along with my payment,
> about late fees - TKR in Central NJ charges a late fee of $5.00. The

You guys are luck.  TCI cable in Denver suburbs will disconnect your
service if you are 20 days late in paying!  Last month I was busy any
didn't watch TV at all for about 1 week.  I turned on the TV to find snow.
Checked my cable bill, found that I was 30 days late, and that they
wanted $60.00 to reconnect!  I called them, told them that I thought
that was rediculous.  They offered to reconnect for $15, and that they
would discount my bill by $15 (for the week that it was disconnected).
So it didn't cost me a penny to reconnect.
--
Brian Millham     |Kitty      |Fletch |Dragon's Lair |Kick Man |New World
AT&T Bell Labs    |Ferrah     |Buddy  |Space Ace     |Sinistar |High Speed
Denver, Co.       |Dr. Pepper |       |              |         |
bdm@druwa.att.com |(ferrets)  |(cats) |(laser disc)  |(video)  |(pinball)
Xref: sparky misc.consumers:15933 rec.food.drink:2837 ba.food:3102
From: karl@uts.amdahl.com (Karl Rowley)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.food.drink,ba.food
Subject: Re: Looking for a *great* coffeemaker
Date: 1 Sep 92 22:46:07 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

In article <1992Sep1.032032.20944@informix.com> aland@informix.com (Colonel Panic) writes:
>In article <11922@optilink.UUCP> brad@optilink.UUCP (Brad Yearwood) writes:
>>
>>Peets: gak, phooee.  I haven't seen anything there that hasn't been roasted
>>to a greasy crisp.
>
>I agree 100%!  Here again, though, personal tastes come into play.  I bought
>some Kalossi there once that I found to be absolutely undrinkable.  I gave
>it to a colleague and Peet's fan who absolutely loved it.
>

I haven't seen anyone mention Trader Joes for coffee.  Their Colombian
coffee is about the same price as the Price Club, but a lot better tasting.
Also, they have Moka-Java, Kenyan, Kona, and others at very reasonable 
prices.  I go to the Trader Joes at Lawrence Expressway and Prospect Road
in San Jose.

 

-- 
 _______________________________________________________________________
| Karl Rowley      		|	karl@uts.amdahl.com		|
| Amdahl Corporation		|	{sun,ames}!amdahl!karl		|
| Sunnyvale, California		|					|
|_______________________________|_______________________________________|
 [Any viewpoints expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect 
  those of Amdahl Corporation.]

Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: dougm@styx.SanDiego.NCR.com (Doug Marshall)
Subject: Re: Rather large late fee on my cable bill
Reply-To: dougm@styx.SanDiego.NCR.com (Doug Marshall)
Organization: NCR Engineering and Manufacturing, San Diego, CA
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 23:02:01 GMT

In article <92239.113301F0O@psuvm.psu.edu>, <F0O@psuvm.psu.edu> writes:
> Path: SanDiego.NCR.COM!ncr-sd!sdd.hp.com!wupost!psuvax1!psuvm!f0o
> Organization: Penn State University
> Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 11:33:01 EDT
> From: <F0O@psuvm.psu.edu>
> Message-ID: <92239.113301F0O@psuvm.psu.edu>
> Newsgroups: misc.consumers
> Subject: Rather large late fee on my cable bill
> Lines: 17
> 
>    I just paid my cable bill last night and noticed it was about one
> week overdue.  Opps.  The monthly charge is normally $18.36 for
> around 30 channels(no HBO, ShowTime, or channels like that).  On the
> bill it says if you pay late, you will be charged a $2.00 late fee.
> Now while I suppose I can't get out of paying this, $2 for a late fee
> seems rather steep to me.  Our power and phone company only charge around
> 20 cents.  Is it within my rights to demand the cable company show me
> some documentation which justifies why their late fee is so high?  Is
> it possible for me to fight this?
[some text deleted]

I also have had the same experience.  It wasn't that I didn't have the
money - it was that I mislaid it!  Anyway, I went to their office and
paid the current AND the next month's bill.  They eliminated the late
fee.  My late fee is $5.00 on a monthly ~$30 cable bill.  It might
work for you as well.

Cheers!

  -- Doug

Doug Marshall   <Doug.Marshall@SanDiego.NCR.COM>
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,talk.environment
From: amy@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Amy McNulty)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: auto-start AUDIO cassette recorder ??
Date: 2 Sep 92 12:36:40 GMT


With all of the recent advances in VCR technology, I'm surprised that  
I've never seen an AUDIO cassette recorder that can be pre-set to start  
taping at a specific time. Has anyone ever seen or heard of one of  
these? Although I haven't tried it, I assume that connecting my stereo  
system to an automatic timer wouldn't work (even if I could get it to  
come on at a reasonably close approximation to the correct time)....

Any ideas?

______________________________________________________________
amy_mcnulty@vos.stratus.com  OR  amy@vineland.pubs.stratus.com
Amy McNulty -- Stratus Computer, Marlboro, MA
Stratus pays me to write, but not to write this!
From: jwc@netx.com (Jeff Comer)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Making an Offer for a Home with a LIEN, Title Insurance
Date: 25 Aug 92 18:37:37 GMT
Distribution: misc
Organization: The Chaos Bobs

amalik@bubba.ma30.bull.com writes:
>We are thinking of making an offer to a house.  But, we found out 
>from the seller's lawyer that there is a lien attached to the home.
>There is no realtor or broker involved (at the moment only the seller,
>buyer, seller's lawyer are involved, the buyer(us) do not have
>a real-estate lawyer).

The first three things to remember when dealing with distressed properties are, 
  [1] be careful.
  [2] be careful.
  [3] be careful.

There are some great buys, but you *must* tread carefully. It is a good idea 
to get a real estate lawyer, or at least an agent, to represent you. You will
need to know several things:

[1] The amount of the lien. How much is owed? How much would the lien holder
    accept from you (new owner) to drop the lien? This may not necessarily be
    the full lien amount.

[2] The nature of the lien. Is it for back income taxes? Unpaid property
    taxes? Business debts? The nature of the lien will affect how and whether
    you can buy the lien.

How are you financing the purchase? The lien will have to be cleared before
any mortgage will be written. So, you will need up front cash to buy the lien
before financing can proceed.

>Since I had never heard of liens, I would like to get some advice as to 
>	- should we not make an offer in a situation like this 
>	  OR
>	- if we do consider making an offer, then what should one
>	  look out for and are there any special procedures in the
>	  making/writing an offer, getting a real-estate lawyer, 
>	  home-insurance etc. in order to get a clear title.  
>	  What is covered in the title insurance?
>
>	  And let's say that if the offer goes through and we buy 
>	  the house with a clear title, then can something come up 
>	  later on regarding the lien on the house (due to the
>	  seller).  Or any other complications, etc. 

If you are financing, the lender will probably insist on title insurance.
This covers everybody's butts by providing full loan coverage if it turns
out the title is tainted. In any case, you should have title insurance
regardless of whether the lender wants it or not.

Once the house is yours, the original lien-holder (or some other) cannot
come back after the house, since it is no longer an asset of the other party.
But there can be complications with the title if a title search failed to
turn up other, pre-existing liens, which must be cleared.

-jc
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.video,sci.electronics,sci.misc
From: chrisp@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Chris Pelkie)
Subject: Re: VCR Maintenance Advice Wanted. Head Cleaners Any Good?
Keywords: VCR
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 16:34:29 GMT

In article <1992Sep3.135437.13013@nntp.uoregon.edu>, davecole@cie.uoregon.edu (Dave Cole) writes:
|> Re: VCR HEad cleaning
|>  
|>   If you do get the urge to clean your VCR heads, be sure to get the following
|> items in addition to those listed by others...
|>  
|> SHAMMY Q-TIPS
|>  

This is not a spelling flame, but if you are looking for this critter, you'll find it under
"C" for "chamois" (those darn French and their funny spellings...). (;-)
The phonetic spelling "shammy" is correct pronunciation. Nevertheless, it's
all still goat hide. And it is very good for cleaning heads.
-- 
Chris Pelkie
Scientific Visualization Producer
Cornell Theory Center
Ithaca, NY 14853-3801
chrisp@tc.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.travel,bit.listserv.travel-l
From: sharonk@pelham.bnr.ca (Sharon Kroo)
Subject: Re: Camp stoves
Organization: Bell Northern Research Montreal, Canada.
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 92 14:32:47 GMT

Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.food.drink
From: aland@informix.com (Colonel Panic)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,rec.food.drink,ba.food
Subject: Re: Looking for a *great* coffeemaker
Date: 1 Sep 92 03:15:31 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Helen Keller Bondurant High Performance Driving School for the Blind

In article <1992Aug27.000050.4134@reed.edu> nuke@reed.edu (Bill Newcomb) writes:
>In article <9fPJ02Ah1fTS01@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com> twl10@JUTS.ccc.amdahl.com (Tom Littauer) writes:
>>The owner of a coffee roasting company I used to frequent in Houston told
>>me that they used a hot air popcorn popper for test batches of new beans.
>
>This works quite well. Cover the vents in the bottom of the popper with
>beans, put the top on, let 'er rip. The hulls will toreckly begin to fly

And for best results, use genuine Orville Redenbacher beans ???


--
Alan Denney      aland@informix.com      {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland

"She was wearing a pair of Clamdiggers that had obviously never been to a
 beach; and a halter top, that had been in a dryer, on high, for three weeks.
 My contact lenses popped out and went looking for water."
        - "Santa Ana Woman",  The BOBS
Newsgroups: misc.consumers,sci.energy,sci.environment,sci.med,sci.physics,talk.environment
From: king@reasoning.com (Dick King)
Subject: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Organization: Reasoning Systems, Inc., Palo Alto, CA
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 00:33:54 GMT

In article <1992Aug25.224138.12479@mcnc.org> ekp@mcnc.org (Edward Pavelchek) writes:
>Does this mean that fluorescent bulbs no longer use Be compounds?
>

They don't, but not because of Promethium.

Promethium is used to make the bulbs' arc start more easily.

Beryllium[sp?] was once used as part of the flourescent powder.  This practice
was stopped when we realized how dangerous it was and when we found
substitutes.  Beryllium salts cause some sort of permanent lung damage.  They
haven't used Beryllium in flourescents for decades.


I have a yellowed sci fi anthology in which the hero saved the colony by
telling them how the previous colonists on their Beryllium-rich planet died.
It seemed that in the twentieth century all uses of Beryllium were phased out
because it was so toxic, and the fact that it was toxic was not common
knowledge in the 22nd century, apparently even among scientists whose job it
was to evaluate the habitibility of biospheres.

Not plausible; surely the biosphere evaluators' tables will have the toxicity
of Beryllium listed as no better than "unknown".  Still, a cute yarn, at least
to my then-teenage mind.  The hero was from the Mneomnic Service; his job was
to know a zillion isolated facts.


-dk
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Endorsing checks for deposit via ink stamp?
Date: 3 Sep 92 20:50:49 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


In article <minor.715466156@coal8> minor@rtsg.mot.com (Kevin Minor) writes:
>
>Here's another twist:
>I once wrote one a check for a telephone bill but unfortunately, I 
>mis-read the amount and wrote the check out for an amount slightly less
>than what was due. [...] I found out that the bank had
>cleared my check for the correct amount of my bill due instead of
>the amount that I wrote the check out for.

This is truly scary. What I want to know is, how did your bank know the
amount on your bill? The only scenario I can come up with is that the
phone company filled out a deposit slip for the amount shown on your
bill, and when the person who checked in the deposit got to your check,
either they didn't look at the check closely and simply typed in the
amount shown on the deposit slip, or the clerk DID see the discrepancy
and decided to resolve the error in the phone company's favor.

Another (slightly related) question: what do they do with those slots on
the bills that ask you to write in the amount you've paid? What hjappens
if you fill in the wrong amount? Let's say I have a VISA card with a
$1000 balance, and I write a check for $200 but write $1000 in the
"amount paid" slot. What would happen? Would the bank cash my check for
$1000, even though it was only written for $200?
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: tmkk@uiuc.edu (Khan)
Subject: Re: How to get UPS to pay up AND what's a good alternative
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 17:11:03 GMT


In article <1992Aug31.160132.7562@holos0.uucp> lbr@holos0.uucp (Len Reed) writes:
>In article <1992Aug29.024259.8680@zip.eecs.umich.edu> monkey@quip.eecs.umich.edu (Xinbing Liu) writes:
>
>>Now wait a minute.  A few days a ago someone in California sent a package
>>to our lab via FEDEX overnight.  It's some delicate optics costing over
>>$30,000.
>
>>The sadder thing is, the package was not insured,  FEDEX said they would give
>>us $100 if we want.
>
>Gee, I don't really see how you can blame this on FEDEX.  Sure, they messed
>up, but how can anyone not know that you have to insure valuable equipment
>when shipping it by *any* carrier.  What kind of moron puts $30,000 worth
>of sensitive equipment in a box and ships it uninsured?

On the other hand, FedEx screwed up $30,000 worth of equipment which the
poster paid them to deliver safely. Seems to me that FedEx is
responsible for the package while it's in their posession. Supopse you
loaned me your $30,000 projection TV set, and while it was in my
posession I dropped it, damaging it beyond repair. Would you accept an
answer like "sorry, chump, you should have insured it" from me? THE HELL
YOU WOULD. You'd be on my back to pay up the $30,000 I owed you for
damaging your equipment, and you'd be right.

Perhaps FedEx has some sort of disclaimer saying "if you ship with us,
you agree to hold us harmless in the event that your package should be
lost or damaged by us." Otherwise, I don't see how they can escape
responsibility.

Newsgroups: pdx.consumer,misc.consumers,sci.energy,sci.environment,sci.med,sci.physics,talk.environment
From: terry@thisbe.Eng.Sandy.Novell.COM (Terry Lambert)
Subject: Re: Are Your Light Bulbs Radioactive?
Organization: Novell NPD -- Sandy, UT
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 20:18:50 GMT

In article <1992Aug24.185340.19127@unlinfo.unl.edu> cbettis@unlinfo.unl.edu (clifford bettis) writes:
>These small amounts are "exempt" quantities as 
>defined by the NRC. Comparable sources can be found in smoke 
>detectors, lantern mantels and even salt substitute. As far as 
>disposal goes, it used to be the case that smoke detectors were to be 
>returned to the manufacturer at the end of their useful lives; the NRC
>no longer requires this and I suspect it is the same for the bulbs. 

	Most smoke detectors use curium, and tend to have a much longer
"useful life" as a result.  The half life on Promethium is about 2 1/2
years, which is apparently the manufacturers approach to planned obsolecene
(can't have the light bulbs lasting forever!).  The gammas being put off
are fairly infrequent (< 1 per sec).

	The other interesting this is: not only are these bulbs limited to
a maximum useful life of ~2 years by the half life, the clock ticks on
regardless of whether you buy the things or not.  That means the life of
the bulb is limite to ~2 years > (shelf time + installed time), whereas
regular bulbs are (x hours) > (installed time).  Makes you wonder about
"sell by" dates and "close out" 'sales'.


					Terry Lambert
					terry_lambert@gateway.novell.com
					terry@icarus.weber.edu

---
Disclaimer:  Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of
my present or previous employers.
Newsgroups: misc.consumers
From: ett@mangaia.island.COM ()
Subject: Ralph Nader organization
Originator: ett@mangaia
Organization: Island Graphics Corp.
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 14:42:53 GMT

Does anyone know the name and/or number of Ralph Nader's organization in
Wash, DC? He's just published a new book, "The Frugal Shopper," which I
understand is available through this organization...

Thanks for any assistance!



 +----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
 |         _   /|                                                             |
 |         \'o.O'	     Ed Tabachini                                     |
 |         =(___)=           Island Graphics Corp                             |
 |            U              San Rafael, CA                                   |
 |                           ett@island.com                                   |
 |     ACK.. THPPT!!!!                                                        |
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