Author: Jake

Much thanks to Stephanie for stepping in last week while I was recovering from having my wisdom teeth yanked.

Our third set of molars, nicknamed "wisdom teeth" since they generally surface between ages 17-25, were useful to our Stone Age ancestors who had wider jaws, coarser diets and rougher lives. These teeth helped them chew easier and helped ease the loss of other teeth during the course of their lives.

Flash forward to now and -surprise- these teeth can cause problems for some people. If your wisdom teeth are impacted, they can rub up against other teeth and cause bad breath, your bite to be misaligned, an abscess of the tooth or gums and even gum disease.

I never had any problems with my wisdom teeth, but when I was at the dentist last month, she noticed an abscess forming in the gums of one of the impacted teeth. She was concerned that the abscess could be malignant and I was sold on getting all four of my wisdom teeth removed.

Luckily, the lab results said the abscess was benign, but I did suffer one post-extraction problem—dry sockets. While that has not been fun at all, I’ll recover and I’m happy that I got my wisdom teeth removed so there are no future complications.

Have you had your wisdom teeth removed?

Many of you probably know about the Deepwater Horizon explosion and resulting oil spill off the coast of Louisiana almost two weeks ago.

On Thursday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, declared the accident a "Spill of National Significance" and members of the President’s Administration traveled to the Gulf Coast to inspect cleanup efforts today. The Governors of Louisiana and Florida have declared states of emergency in response to the dangerous effects the oil may have on their respective state coasts.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has created an incident update webpage. To report oil on land or if
you’re
interested in volunteering to aid in the recovery effort, please call
1.866.448.5816. To discuss spill-related damage, please call 1.800.440.0858.

To report oiled wildlife, please call 1.866.557.1401. Individuals are
urged not to attempt to help injured or oiled animals, but to report
any sightings to the toll-free number.

I don’t remember those baking soda and vinegar volcano eruptions in elementary school lasting quite this long.

As you probably already know, the recent eruptions at Eyjafjallajökull have disrupted travelers around the world over the last couple of weeks. On Friday the ash from the eruptions caused airport closures in Iceland, Sweden and Norway. Although flights are leaving open airports in Europe, they are still canceled sporadically. The United States
Geological Survey explains why volcanic ash is dangerous to planes and Iceland’s president has stated that these eruptions could continue for a long time.

I want to give you some resources so if your travel is affected by the eruptions, you’ll have some places to turn. If you are in Europe, the U.S. Department of State has created a webpage to aid U.S. citizens who have flight cancellations. If you are a foreign national visiting the U.S. and are unable to get back home, here is how you go about legally extending your stay. If you are just interested in active volcanoes, the USGS has you covered.

Have you been affected by the Eyjafjallajökull eruptions?  

Last week, one of our frequent commenters, Thomas, suggested we post on the health care bill President Obama signed into law last month. Thomas says there’s a lot of information in the news about the bill and he was hoping that we could just give the "facts" about the law.

There are major provisions of the health care insurance bill that begin immediately but it is hard for me to tell you how the law will impact each of you without knowing your specific health insurance situation. Also keep in mind that some of the provisions will take the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) four years to implement.

What I have been able to do is put together a list of resources where you can begin to research how the law will affect you. The White House has set up separate web pages with frequently asked questions for people in different health insurance situations. I would suggest you start at the webpage with information on the situation that applies to you. Your choices are: I have insurance through my work, I own a small business, I have medicare, I buy my own insurance and I do not have health insurance. Second, our National Contact Center created a web resource for our contact center agents that has a number of resources about the law.

Finally, HHS has created Healthreform.gov where you can find information about implementation of the health care law. You can sign up to get email updates about the ongoing implementation of the health insurance law and most importantly you can email them your questions.

How else can I help you learn about the new health insurance law?

Spring starts Saturday and I realize some of you might be thinking about spring cleaning/organizing. For those of you who are looking at cleaning out the basement, I encourage you to look into recycling that old junk. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says that recycling saves energy, reduces pollution and even maintains and creates manufacturing jobs in the U.S. I’ve been a recycling junkie since I can remember. I still recall the days of home recycling where you had to look for a number on a plastic bottle to see if you could recycle it. Nowadays I wonder sometimes if I have more recycling than I have garbage each week. 

The types of things you can recycle will depend on your local recycling centers. I’m lucky enough to live in an area where I can recycle just about anything. As I’ve pointed out before, you can recycle computer batteries, so you should expect the sky to be the limit when you check to see what local centers will take. The EPA provides guides on what you can reduce, reuse and recycle in your home, office and community.

How much do you recycle each week?

In September we told you about a new $300 million program that would offer rebates to buyers of energy-efficient
appliances with the energy star label. At the time, states and territories, which were in charge of their own programs, were still in the planning stages.

Some states and territories have started their appliance rebate programs. Last week people in both Minnesota and Iowa had trouble with websites and phone numbers the day the programs launched. Due to the popularity, both states had to end their programs after funds ran out. Many states will start them in March and April and each will have their own requirements for participation. For instance, the state of Virginia will have a mail-in program.

To find out what’s going on with your state’s appliance program so you can beat the rush, you should visit this page. You’ll find a map where you can click on your state to see the status of your program. If you scroll down you’ll see a list of start dates and phone numbers for each state.

What do you think of your state’s appliance rebate program? 

My fiance and I generally put our excess coins in a big jar and dump them into a change counter once a year. One day I noticed that a penny in my pocket felt different. When I took a closer look, I noticed that the back or reverse side didn’t have the Lincoln Memorial on it. It said "One Cent" and the U.S. Mint date was from the 1920s.

I am not a coin collector but I began to wonder if this old penny was worth more than one cent. I looked to see if the U.S. Mint could tell me and I found out that the government does not provide coin appraisal services. The government does allow you to redeem old coins that are damaged, but only for face value.

I will have to go to private coin evaluators to find the value of the coin. The Department of the Treasury suggests that you go to a couple of different evaluators because coin appraisals can vary between evaluators due to various factors like what they already have in stock. What I’ve discovered on my own is that my penny is a "wheat penny" and it may or may not be worth more than a penny.

Have you ever discovered a valuable coin?

Even though I rarely use credit in the check out line, credit card debt is part of my life. I can’t say that I completely understand my monthly statement (I just pay it) but hopefully the next one will make more sense. I’m optimistic because new Federal Reserve Board rules that require credit card companies to be clear with consumers go into effect today.

In May 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility,
and Disclosure Act of 2009 (also called the Credit CARD Act).
The law is considered to provide the most sweeping changes in card
protections for consumers since the Truth in Lending Act of 1968. Some of the new law went into effect in August.

Among the rules that start today, credit card companies have to notify you 45 days in advance of increasing your interest rate, changing fees (which now have caps), or whenever they plan to make any other significant changes to your card agreement. Companies cannot increase the interest rate of a new account for the first year and these increased rates can only apply to new charges. There are a few exceptions to these rules, such as introductory interest rates that expire in less than a year and revert to previously disclosed rates. The Federal Reserve Board has set up a website to help consumers choose a new credit card.

What do you think of these new credit card rules? 

Our guest blogger today is Bev Godwin who works at the U.S. General Services Administration on new media and citizen engagement.

You may have noticed over the past year that more government agencies are asking for public feedback. Soon after taking office last year, President Obama asked government agencies to start asking for ideas and advice from people like you.

Agencies have responded to President Obama’s request by creating innovation contests, blogs, and simply asking for feedback through services like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The response has been fantastic, and it’s clear that there’s no shortage of Americans willing to improve their government.

Today, we’re asking you to help make the government even more open. Now you can share your ideas with individual agencies and let them know how openness, participation and collaboration, and innovation can help the government solve the problems that matter most to you.

In response to President Obama’s "Open Government Directive," federal agencies now have "/Open" pages where you can learn about each agency’s work to become more open and collaborative. Each of these pages also includes a link to a dialog tool where you can share your ideas and discuss or vote on ideas submitted by others on how agencies can:

• Work better with others inside & outside the government
• Improve the availability & quality of information
• Be more innovative & efficient
• Create their Open Government Plans

To join the conversation, visit the dialog tools of the agencies that interest you. The U.S. General Services Administration has provided the technology, powered by IdeaScale under a free citizen engagement license, to federal agencies to make it easier for you to engage with each agency. Representatives from each agency will be listening and will use your ideas as they develop their plans.

Together, we can create a better and more open government.

Update: The company that produced my car, Toyota, released a full list of recalled cars. They also have suspended sales of these vehicles. If you own one of these cars and experience problems with your acceleration pedal, here’s what Toyota suggests you do:

I was watching the news Thursday night and the anchor announced my car had been recalled due to a sticky acceleration pedal. The recall was voluntary and my automobile manufacturer is working on a resolution.

Product recalls happen every day and Recalls.gov is your primary government resource to find out about them. If you have an automobile, you have more specialized options to look for recalls. The Federal Citizen Information Center’s automobile recall page will tell you about recent automobiles and related recalls.

Safercar.gov is your best resource. The web page is maintained by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration and part of its mission is to test cars for safety defects and issue recalls. It relies mostly on the public to notify it of potential safety issues in cars, car seats and other automobile related products. You can file these complaints online.

Have you ever had to file a safety complaint for a car?

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and like last year the Corporation for National and Community Service honors Dr. King’s
legacy by asking Americans to make the King Holiday a national day of
service at Serve.gov.

Haiti continues to recover from the devastating earthquake that struck last Tuesday. Serve.gov suggests that in addition to doing something in your community, you also do something to help those in Haiti. The best way you can do this is through a financial contribution.

The Federal Trade Commission blogged about how to donate safely last week. Below are some ways you can make a donation.

• Donate $10 to the American Red Cross – charged to your cell phone bill – by texting "HAITI" to "90999."
• Contribute online to the Red Cross
• Contribute online to Mercy Corps
• Other resources can be found at the Center for International Disaster Information
  

Finally, if you are looking for a loved one, The State Department Operations Center has set up the following
phone number for those in the U.S. and Canada seeking information about U.S. citizens in
Haiti: 1-888-407-4747. You can also send an email to the State Department.  Please be aware that communications within Haiti are very difficult at this time.

In response to the devastating earthquake Tuesday in Haiti, the National Contact Center, where my main role is quality assurance, has been quite busy. We take calls at 1.888.407.4747 for the Department of State, specifically from people who are looking for U.S. citizens over there. I wanted to point you towards some resources and mention I’ll have a more extensive list Monday. Please look for current information on the situation here. Also, if you are interested in making a financial contribution please read this blog post from the Federal Trade Commission about giving wisely. Again, I’ll have more for you on Monday. 

Have you gotten a seasonal or H1N1 flu vaccine yet? If not, this would be a good week to get one since it’s National Influenza Vaccination Week. 

Though seasonal flu can peak as early as October or as late as March, it generally peaks in January or February. This is why I get my flu shot every year in late September or early October.

What complicates the current 2009-2010 flu season is the H1N1 virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the majority of the cases of flu during this season have been H1N1. Last fall, it was very hard to find an H1N1 vaccine. I saw this firsthand when the middle school near me had an H1N1 flu shot clinic for children and the line for it had to be at least a quarter mile long. This shouldn’t be a problem anymore though. The CDC reports that there are over 100 million H1N1 vaccines available.

CDC says that the number of H1N1 cases has gone down but the virus is unpredictable and could return again. I admit that I still need to get my H1N1 vaccine. If you don’t know where to go, Flu.gov’s searchable flu shot clinic locator lets you find both seasonal and H1N1 shots.

Have you gotten your seasonal and H1N1 vaccines yet?

Back in November, I learned I was allergic to gluten and was told I should lose 20 lbs or so to improve my health. So now that I am gluten-free, my diet consists mostly of nuts, seeds, rice and lean meats– like fish. 

I believe variety is the spice of life and I’ve been struggling to come up with different things to eat. I was able to make myself a gluten-and dairy-free (since I can’t have milk) coconut cake that was pretty tasty. There are different types of nuts, seeds and rice but I’ve found fish to have the best variety since there are so many different types—tuna, Atlantic Salmon, Mahi-Mahi, etc.

I’m not alone with my love of fish. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which monitors U.S. fishery populations, we are overfishing many of these edible species. In 2007 the agency reviewed 528 individual stock and stock complexes and found that nearly half of them were overfished or in danger of being overfished.

The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management
Reauthorization Act of 2006 required that NOAA work to stop overfishing through continued and new sustainable management practices such as aquaculture, annual catch limits and marine protected areas (MPAs) by this year. Since 2010 isn’t a week old, I don’t think NOAA has done a significant study to track their progress. Last month they did begin soliciting comments from interested groups and the public about their new "Draft Catch Share" Policy and last week started the National Saltwater Angler Registry, which will help track the effects of recreational fishing on fish stocks.

What do you think of overfishing in the U.S.?

Back in October, Jess asked Gov Gab readers what they thought about Congress expanding the first-time home buyer tax credit.
If you remember, the first-time home buyer tax credit gave up to $8,000
to a buyer who has not owned a primary residence during the three years
up to the date of home purchase. The credit was due to end this month.

Congress passed the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009 which extends
the deadline for qualifying home purchases from Nov. 30, 2009, to April
30, 2010. The Internal Revenue Service web page
has posted details on the changes in the extension law and the big news
is that if you already own a home, you may be eligible for a tax credit
of up to $6,500.

The new law provides a “long-time resident” credit of up to $6,500
to others who do not qualify as “first-time home buyers.” To qualify
this way, a buyer must have owned and used the same home as a principal
or primary residence for at least five consecutive years of the
eight-year period ending on the date of purchase of a new home as a
primary residence.

The extension also permits a rise in income limits and other provisions. The IRS is the best resource to read about all the changes and what you will need to do to receive the credit.

What do you think of the Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009?

Has anyone ever said "Don’t let the bedbugs bite!" to you before you’ve gone to bed?

My grandparents used to say it to me when I used to sleep over at their house as a kid. I always thought that they were being cute and bedbugs, like the boogieman, lived in the land of make-believe. Today I find bedbugs very real—I’m sitting at a friend’s apartment while the exterminators spray my place for bedbugs.

It seems my neighbors had some bedbugs stowaway in their luggage on an overseas trip and my apartment complex is spraying to ensure they don’t take over the building. Bedbugs are nasty creatures. During the day they live under your bed and/or floor board and at night they come out to feast on your blood.

These pests were thought to have been eradicated with the use of DDT in the 1940’s, but during the the last decade bedbugs made a comeback. The most likely cause of their resurgence is today’s pest-control methods get rid of other pests but don’t kill bedbugs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the bugs are not known to spread disease and the best way to treat a bedbug infestation is to contact your local exterminator. I had to move my furniture 3 feet away from the wall, take everything off the floor and remove my cats from the apartment for the exterminator. I consider that a small price to pay to keep bedbug infestation in the land of make-believe.

Have you ever had a bedbug problem?