Charity Telemarketers

I have a hard time keeping up on magazine reading, so when a company called selling magazine subscriptions, I wasn't interested, even though it was to benefit Special Olympics. After turning down the salesman several times, telling him I didn't have $80 to spend on magazines, he told me they did have a smaller Sports Illustrated package, 28 issues for $20. I gave in, thinking that although I probably wouldn't read them, it was for a good cause.

The next week, I received the invoice, along with a thank-you note from Special Olympics. In that letter, they mentioned they get 12.5% of the proceeds of the subscription price. I'll save you from having to do the math: they got a total of $2.50 of my $20. I was none too pleased about that.

My advice if you get calls such as this:

• If they're selling an item you were considering buying anyway, ask how much of the sale price the charity actually gets, then use that as basis for your decision whether to buy it from the calling company.
• Otherwise, if it's a charity you would like to support, tell the caller you'll just go to the charity's website and make a donation. Besides the charity getting the entire amount of your donation, that alternative would eliminate any questions you have as to whether the telemarketer actually represents the charity (which is a legitimate concern). Additionally, a direct donation allows you to help a good cause without adding unnecessary clutter to your life.
• Consider doing your online shopping through a charity shopping portal such as iGive.com .

Funny as a Heart Attack - Summary

For those of you without the patience and endurance to read the full blog posts, here are the highlights:

• Happened on Saturday, July 11th
• Cold sweats and shortness of breath at home after playing basketball for two hours
  
• Called 911
• In ambulance just before getting to hospital, went into full arrest
• EMTs used CPR and defibrillator to get heart started again
• ER got me stabilized, then put me on LifeFlight to IMC in Salt Lake
• Angiogram showed nearly full blockage in one coronary artery
• Angioplasty to open artery, then put in a stent
• Recovery has gone remarkably well, starting immediately after getting the stent; all vital signs good
  
• Quickly returning to full activity, from walking around the second day after the attack, to some good running sessions on the treadmill and getting back to the gym within three weeks of the attack
  
• Back to work full-time one week after attack, with no problems
  
• Caused mainly by hereditary factors, high cholesterol
• Will have to make a few changes to diet to help get cholesterol levels down
• Happened after three months of pretty healthy diet and exercise, adding to the surprise of having a heart attack at age 39