Dear Do-It Man: How do you block calls to 900 numbers on your telephone?
- L.P., Davis County.
Dear L.P.: To request a 900 block, call USWest's 900 service center at 1-800-879-2455. There is no charge to have 900 numbers blocked from your phone. "Block" means no 1-900 (or 1-976 for that matter) calls can be made from your phone.
Chain letters
Dear Do-It Man: My mother-in-law has been receiving chain letters requesting money. She puts in a little money and sends them on their way. We try to explain to her that she's wasting her money but that doesn't seem to work.
L.P., Davis County.
Dear L.P.: Perhaps it will do the trick to tell your mother-in-law that chain letters are illegal. Rather than put in money and forward the letters, she should take them to her post office.
Anyone who promotes or participates in a chain letter that requires payment and offers a prize that's dependent on chance is violating federal mail fraud and lottery laws.
Chain letters just don't work. In a typical chain letter, Person A receives a letter that asks him to send money to Person B, whose name and address are listed in the letter. Person A is supposed to remove Person B's name from the letter, add his name to the bottom, and forward a copy to six people. Those six people, in turn, are supposed to do the same thing.
Chain letters don't work because they are mathematically impossible.
"The progress of a chain letter is so rapid that the number of participants who continue the chain is soon exhausted," says the U.S. Postal Serive. "Investors late in the chain receive no payments or prizes. Instead they become losers."
According to the Postal Service, a chain-letter that asks participants to forward letters to six people, and those six people are asked to send letters to six more people, etc., turns into 13 billion participants after a mere 13 levels.
It's OK to snack
The idea that snacking is bad for kids is wrong, says Tufts University pediatrician Jeffrey Kind.
"In fact, when it comes to kids' nutrition and healthy growth development, the foods kids eat for snacks are the most important," he said. "Why? Because snacking provides growing children 25 to 30 percent of their daily required caloric intake."
Kind said kids need healthy snacks like low-fat crackers and cookies, cut-up vegetables, fresh fruit, fig bars and popcorn.
- Scripps Howard News Service.