Another fraudulent letter, asking me to renew a Home Warranty that I do not have

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On March 24, 2026 I blogged about A fraudulent letter asking me to renew a Home Warranty – that I don’t have. Recently I received another bogus letter (shown above - with redactions) in the mail. It didn’t identify either the company name or address.

 

The message is:

 

“RESPONSE TO THIS NOTICE REQUESTED         

 

Attention: Richard Garber            

 

It is important you contact our office at 1-888-507-3992 upon receiving this notice to avoid any unnecessary delays in your coverage before 10/15/2026.

 

This notice is to inform you that the Home Warranty for your property in Boise, ID, secured by NORTHWEST BANK, may be expiring or has already expired.

 

Our records indicate that you have not contacted us yet to get your Home Warranty up to date.

 

Please call immediately as this will be our final attempt to notify you about activating your Home Warranty. 

 

Failure to call and prevent a potential lapse in coverage could result in you being liable for all costs associated with any home repairs. However, you may still have time to activate a warranty on your home before it’s too late. No inspection will be required and final acceptance is subject to your ability to meet eligibility requirements.

 

We reserve the right to revoke your eligibility for service coverage after the Expiration Date of 10/15/2026. Please respond immediately by calling 1-888-507-3992.

 

 Sincerely, Allison Taylor – Program Director”

 

But I have no Home Warranty and also no connection with NORTHWEST BANK. The previous letter was almost identical to this one except for listing a different Program Director.

 

 

A Sheldon comic strip about four words that start with bi-

 

 

 

 

 

 

The October 9, 2026 Sheldon comic strip by Dave Kellett has Arthur (the talking duck) proclaiming the following about four words that begin with the prefix bi-:

 

“ ‘Biannual’ makes no dang sense.

 

‘Biweekly’ means every two weeks. Or twice a week. ‘Bimonthly’ means every two months. Or twice a month. So those words are already day-drinking.

 

But out of nowhere “Biannual stands its ground and says ‘Nope. I only mean twice a year.’

 

 Then Sheldon says:

‘It’s because there’s also the word Biennial, which means-‘

And Arthur replies:

‘I am going to scream Biweekly. Guess how often.’”

 

 

An uplifting 2024 book by Sue Varma about Practical Optimism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an uplifting book from 2024 by Sue Varma, M.D. that is titled Practical Optimism: The art, science, and practice of exceptional well-being. Her eight pillars (shown above via a table) are summarized briefly on pages 9 and 10, and then in more detail on pages 37 through 39. There is a Google Books preview to page 36.  Contents and starting page numbers are as follows:

 

Introduction – Kintsugi: Beauty from What is Broken 1

 

Chapter 1 – Why Practical Optimism? 19

 

Chapter 2 – Purpose:

                      Connecting to What Energizes and 

                      Inspires You 41

 

Chapter 3 – Processing Emotions:

                      Name, Claim, Tame (and Reframe) Them 66

 

Chapter 4 – Problem-Solving:

                      Moving Toward Action 94

 

Chapter 5 – Pride:

                      A Deep Knowing of Your Self Worth 122

 

Chapter 6 – Proficiency:

                      Believing You Can Achieve 158

 

Chapter 7 – Present:

                      Being Here Now 189

 

Chapter 8 – People:

                      Creating Nourishing Relationships 220

 

Chapter 9 – Practicing Healthy Habits:

                      Automating Good Daily Decisions 260

 

Epilogue 303

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Common Problem-Solving Practices are discussed in her table on pages 96 to 98, as is shown above.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another table, also shown above summarizes the 5Rs of Emotional Regulation and Real-World Problem Solving which are discussed on pages 105 to 113.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A table (shown above) summarizes the 4 Ms of Mental Health that she described on page 292.

 

The spiral pillars came from here on OpenClipArt.

 

 

Five brief LinkedIn Pulse articles about dyslexia and public speaking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

On October 8, 2026 I had blogged about Two recent articles about public speaking by those with dyslexia. At LinkedIn Pulse I found five more brief articles about dyslexia and public speaking. One by Veeru Murugappan on October 20, 2015 is titled Breaking the Stigma around Dyslexia. He said:

 

“I loved sport, news, theatre, public speaking, meeting new people etc., and all those elements were going great. The issue was only in the classroom.”

 

Another by Kate Griggs on May 1, 2020 is titled 5 reasons why dyslexics make great communicators. She said that dyslexics:

 

“make sense of the bigger picture.

  are great at simplifying.

  have high levels of empathy.

  are passionate and curious.

  engage hearts and minds.”

 

A third by Daniel Doherty on October 15, 2021 titled Opening up about dyslexia by Daniel Doherty said that:

 

“One of the ways that helped me work was addressing my problems in speaking.  One of the best things I did to overcome this was join the Aberdeen Toastmasters International, which is a public speaking club and part of a worldwide network of speakers' clubs.”

 

A fourth by Adunola Shoge on May 21, 2024 titled Overcoming Public Speaking Challenges: My Journey with Dyslexia discussed:

 

“Steps

Early Preparation

Understanding Over Memorization

Written Support”

 

And a fifth by Gregory W. Driskell on January 26, 2025 titled Public Speaking with Dyslexia: Strategies Anyone Can Use to Succeed described how to:

 

“Incorporate Stories.

Read, Recite, Repeat (RRR).

Use an Outline of Triggers.

Create a Speech with Rhythm.

Use Analogies to Convey Complex Ideas.”

 

The pqbd symbol is inspired by how dyslexics may reverse or flip letters and process writing differently.

 

 

How to moderate a panel discussion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on February 19, 2020 I posted on the topic of Excellent articles about moderating a panel discussion from Kristin Arnold. There are many other discussions about this topic. A vintage one is a brief article by Guy Kawasaki on March 7, 2006 titled How to Be a Great Moderator. Another by David Meerman Scott on September 6, 2022 is titled Don’t Be Boring! Top 10 Ways to Effectively Moderate a Panel Discussion.

 

There also are a couple brief recent articles in Toastmaster magazine. One is by Joel Schwartzberg in the June 2023 issue, on pages 18 and 19, titled A Panel Moderator’s Guide to Success. His ten tips are:

 

Know the topic.

Know the panelists.

Prepare your questions wisely.

Introduce yourself and the panelists.

Convey the objective.

Contextualize the questions.

Respond to answers when it adds value.

Spread the wealth.

Watch your time.

Wrap it up.

 

Another article by Kristin Arnold in the June 2020 issue, on pages 22 to 24, is titled How to Moderate a Panel Discussion Virtually. Her twelve tips are:

 

Prepare.

Know your platform.

Select, invite, and confirm interesting panelists.

Craft great questions.

Select the Q&A format.

Practice.

Start strong.

Keep the conversation moving.

Shift gears.

Be positive.

Put a bow on it.

Have a backup plan.

 

There also is a fifteen-page pdf whitepaper at Mandel in 2021 titled How to Facilitate Great Panel Discussions. And there is also a thirteen-page page pdf article from May 2021 by the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) titled Creating, Coordinating, and Moderating a Successful Panel Discussion.

 

And, of course, at YouTube there is a fifteen-minute video by Kristin Arnold on December 8, 2023 titled How to Moderate A Panel Like A Pro.

 

The image was rotated and cropped from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

Two recent articles about public speaking by those with dyslexia

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wikipedia article about Dyslexia says it is:

 

“…also known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading, writing, or speaking. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writing words, ‘sounding out’ words in the head, pronouncing words when reading aloud and understanding what one reads.”

 

There is an article by Jarone Macklin-Page at ProDyslexic on June 10, 2025 titled Public Speaking Tips for Dyslexic Individuals with the following headings:

 

Start With Why Structure Like a Pro

Don’t Memorise, Map It Out

Practice Out Loud, Then Practice Being Still

Stand in the Space Before You Speak

Use Visual Anchors to Support You

Channel Your Emotions, Don’t Suppress Them

Still Feel Daunted? You’re in Good Company

You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Powerful

 

Another article at AmberWillo on July 24, 2026 titled Dyslexia and Public Speaking: Challenges and Effective Strategies has these headings:

 

Common Public speaking Challenges

  Word Finding and Fluency Difficulties

  Reading Aloud and Processing Speed

  Memory and Organization Issues

  Anxiety and Confidence Barriers

 

Practical Tips

  Preparing and Structuring Your Speech Effectively

  Using Visual Aids and Mind Maps

  Practicing Techniques for Fluency and Confidence

  Managing Anxiety and Building Self-Confidence

  Leveraging Technology and Assistive Tools

 

 

How much charisma do you have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are at least two different ways to measure how much charisma that you have. One is described in a detailed magazine article by Konstantin O. Tshkay et al. in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology for 2018, on pages 131 to 152 (in Volume 114, number 1) titled Charisma in Everyday Life: Conceptualization and Validation of the General Charisma Inventory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It began with the ten items shown above, in two categories of Influence and Affability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the final version they were narrowed to just six, as also is shown above. The article was summarized in another by Christian Jarrett at the British Psychological Society – The Psychologist on August 15, 2017 titled Psychologists have developed the first scientific test of everyday charisma. Yet another article by Philip Perry at BIG THINK on November 8, 2017 is titled How Charismatic Are You? Just 6 Questions Can Tell You.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier there was still another article by Jay A. Conger et al. in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences in 1997, on pages 290 to 302, titled Measuring Charisma: Dimensionality and Validity of the Conger-Kanungo Scale of Charismatic Leadership. You can find the abstract here. As shown above, their C-K (Conger-Kanungo) Scale used a more detailed list of twenty-items in five categories.

 

The meter was modified from one at Wikimedia Commons.