What Do You Know?

[JustAFloridaGirl]

Let me clarify my thread title a little bit. Everybody, through their profession (or hobby or whatever,) knows something a little extra about the subject that the average person isn't generally aware of. Unfortunately, in my opinion, a lot of this knowledge is stuff that the average person SHOULD know.

For example, the commercials from Wal-Mart touting the Blu-Ray disc players is really irking me. My husband has worked in electronics and could tell you that unless you have a high definition television ALONG WITH that Blu-Ray disc player, you're not going to tell a difference in the quality of your movie.

So what do you know? I guess consider this a sort of "PSA" thread.

[Jan in CA]

Good question..what do I know?

Well, as a former hairdresser I know that cutting your hair won't make it grow faster. It may seem like it does if you are cutting off split ends, but hair is dead once it's out of your head so cutting does nothing, but make it look better.

[Abbily]

As a legal assistant, I know that you should never lie in any official way, or forge another person's signature (or let them forge yours). And, you should always read things before you sign them! If you sign a contract giving up your rights in some way, or giving someone rights they don't already have, it's pretty hard to get out of that kind of situation.

[mwhite]

As a seamstress, I learned the single most important information about woven fabric is that:
Straight-grain(in line with the selvage or vertical), has no stretch Cross-grain(oposite direction of the selvage or horizontal),has a fair amount of stretch and
Bias grain(from corner to opposite corner), has a tremendous amount of stretch and will only slightly ravel.
These factors will always determine the drape and ease in any woven fabric project.

[evona]

As a legal assistant in the personal injury field I can tell you not to wait until you talk to a lawyer to see a doctor. If you're really hurt your health obviously comes first and it just makes you look like an opportunist if you talked to your lawyer first. I can also tell you that just because someone DID call their lawyer first does not mean they weren't hurt. Some people really are hurting after an accident but afraid to do anything without knowing legal ramifications first. Especially those people who have a brother, sister, son, daughter, friend, etc that is a lawyer of any kind - this is a mistake!!! Obviously take care of yourself no matter what.

I can also tell you to always get uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. I've seen too many horrible, life altering accidents caused by uninsured motorists where the victim had no coverage in that regard.

IN addition I can tell you to prepare for a fight if you ever do need uninsured motorists coverage. You pay your insurance company for years for the product, but they aren't in the business to pay it out easily. We have client's in their 3rd and 4th year fighting with their OWN insurance company after being hit by an uninsured driver. This is especially true for insurance companies like Mercury and 21st Century/AIG.

If you ever need the services of an attorney please be sure to get the documents they ask for back to them in a timely manner. It may seem like a lot of work, but just think, the assistants have to do that work 10 fold. If you do not get documents back to your attorney in a timely manner it may result in serious repercussions to you, including sanctions (fines) from the court and the dismissal of your case. If you've hired a quality attorney he/she is working hard for you and the little he/she asks of you has to be done for your own benefit.

Lets see, what else - I can tell you not to fall for the commercials on the air right now for Allstate. The ones where President Palmer of 24 tells you how horrible it is to be in the defendant's seat alone and how the plaintiff can wipe you out of your child's college fund. #1 - all auto insurance policies include a clause that they will provide free defense to you should you be sued as a result of an accident. This is not a special perk for being an Allstate insured. If you are ever sued in such a regard send the papers you're served with to your insurance adjuster ASAP and they will send it to a qualified defense attorney. #2 - If you have done nothing that warrants punitive (punishing) damages (like driving drunk or on drugs or driving recklessly or racing) the insurance carrier is responsible for any verdict in excess of the policy limits. if your insurance company has properly defended your case they should know its value and not have allowed an excess verdict in the first place.

Yes there is a chance you may get an excess verdict if your case goes to trial. If you were driving under the influence or injured people as a result of a speed contest you better bet a jury will want to punish you with punitive damages (that's why most insurance companies try to settle those cases quick!!! They have a contractual obligation to give you the best defense possible) The only time I have ever seen an insurance company deny coverage was when a kid stole his parents car and picked up some friends. he decided to drive extremely fast down a local street to impress the one girl in the car, lost control of his vehicle, went over the center bay of the street and hit a tree. he was excluded from his parent's policy so they denied coverage. BTW - the girl was NOT impressed. The Traffic Collision report indicated that she was screaming at him for being an idiot and told the cops how scared she was when she was later interviewed.

That brings me to another point DON'T exclude your driving age children from your policy. even angels make mistakes and do things like I mentioned above. The extra premium is certainly nothing compared to the damage that can be caused if they take the car out for a "quick" joyride and get in an accident.

I guess that's it for now


Oh - I have to add one thing I know about the environmental stewardship I do. The U.S. Forest Service is legally prohibited to lobby in their own regard. Therefore, it is up to the people who enjoy their forests to lobby for them. I just came back from a volunteer trip cleaning out a marijuana camp that was busted on U.S. Forest land in Los Padres NF (write up soon) WHAT A MESS!!! We found everything from razors to underwear to hypodermic needles deep in our forest and took out 600 pounds of it. Its OUR land!!! We should speak up

OK - off the soap box too

[newamy]

As a nurse I can tell you many many things. But here are some that might be useful from a practical stand point:

I can tell you that good hand washing is the the number one way to prevent the spread of infection and viruses. Statistically doctors do not wash there hands as often as nurses. If you have a concern ask your doctor to wash his hands. Simply wearing gloves is not enough.

I can tell you that it' okay to question your doctor. If you are given a medicine and don't understand why or what it is for ask. If a course of treatment hasn't helped speak up and say so. If you don't want a test say so or ask why it is necessary. Don't ever assume that just because the doctor says to do something that it is correct. Often it is the right thing, but always clarify and ask questions, this is your right.

I can tell you that an elderly or compromised person will not benefit from lots of rest. Lying down without exercise even for a day will cause the loss of muscle mass. This translates to weakness and makes a person prone to pneumonia and bed sores. Always encourage an older person who may be recovering from some sort of illness or surgery to move as much as possible with intermittent rest periods. If therapy is offered encourage participation. In other words use it or loose it. In fact this is a very good reason to have a regular exercise plan, even mild to moderate exercise done regularly will help someone recover from an illness faster.

I can tell you that if you quit smoking you will be healthier.

That's it for now.

[cristina61]

I used to type up California DMV hearings. I learned quite a lot from listening to lawyers defending people who had been stopped for drunk driving.

How’s this: if you’re in California and you’re pulled over for suspected DUI, the best thing you can do is fully cooperate with the police officer (even if you think he’s wrong) and don’t try to argue with him or her.

If the officer asks you to choose between a breath test or a blood test, you MUST choose one or the other (I can’t tell you which one to choose!). If you refuse both, you ARE going to have your license suspended.

Also, as much as you might like to get on the phone and call your lawyer immediately, while still at scene, you really need to wait until you’re at the station (assuming the officers decided to take you into custody). I heard about lots of people who got angry because they wanted to phone their lawyers from the scene of the traffic stop and ask which test to choose or they tried to get their lawyers to talk to the cops and straighten things out. It doesn’t work that way. Once the cops have pulled you over, you need to follow their instructions, and that’s all. Anything else will only annoy the cops and make you look bad later on.

Of course, all this can be avoided by remembering one important thing: Don’t Drink And Drive!!

[Hildegard_von_Knittin]

I am a music teacher. Two things I know are that "C" and "do" (as in do a deer) are not the same thing, and that a quarter note and "ta" and "1" are not the same thing.

Unless you're in elementary school.

I also know that kids are very good at instantly repeating exactly what they hear... this doesn't mean they know it.

[Debbie]

I am a school librarian. I know that Biography's are in the "92" section of the Dewey Decimal System ... but unlike other non-fiction books, they are not in order by number, and unlike fiction books, they are not in alphabetical order by the author's last name. They are in alphabetical order by the last name of the person the book is about.

[Mike]

Don't swim in chlorine pools with jewelry on. Also don't wear them when cleaning with bleach.

The pools take a while but a dip in a strong bleach solution will trash them. It refines the non-gold/non-silver out and you end up with micro-cracks and it acts like it's brittle. Nothing can fix it.
There are other chemicals that are worse but this is the most common.