GeekSugar

Use Dial My Calls to Send One Message to a Group of People

GeekSugar — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:02:15 PST

Ever wish you could send out a voice message to a group of people in your contacts list? Thanks to a neat site that I discovered on Lifehacker, this is now possible! With Dial My Calls, you can send one message to all your friends for things like sharing an announcement, telling them there's been a change of plans, or reminding them of an upcoming event. Kinda like sending a mass email, except this message comes with the sound of your beautiful voice.

A Butterball Turkey Talk-Line Expert Weighs in on Thanksgiving

Susannah Chen — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:41:38 PST

We may be living and breathing Thanksgiving plans this week, but we've got nothing on the experts answering phones over at the Butterball Turkey Talk Line, who stand by each holiday season to answer your every turkey conundrum.

I recently dialed the company's talk line headquarters in Naperville, IL, where I caught up with veteran talk-line expert Marty Van Ness. She's been offering turkey advice all day, every day, two months out of the year, for the past 20 years. Since - obviously! - she's got quite a way with turkeys, Marty shared some sage turkey advice, plus a few of her favorite Butterball hotline stories.

YumSugar: How and when did you get started as a talk-line expert?
Marty Van Ness: This is my 20th year. Years ago, in the 1980s, I went to work in a test kitchen and met a group of women who did the talk line. I applied, got the job, and was thrilled. Now I do both jobs, all at the same time.

YS: How do you gear up for the holiday cooking season?
MVN: We start Nov. 1; prior to that, we have Butterball 101 at Butterball University, where our staff of 55 in home economics trains on all different methods of cooking turkey. We learn different methods of cooking turkey and cook all our turkeys, from opening the bag until carving at the end. It's interesting to see 10 different turkeys and their different [cooking] methods; each is wonderful for its own reason.

Read on for more turkey talk-line questions, answered.

Applying Makeup While Driving Can Raise Your Insurance Rates

LearnVest — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 03:05:37 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

It’s not that insurance companies are sexist.

Or that they expect all of their female customers to go barefaced and disheveled.

But if you use your commute as makeup application time, you’re a crash risk. In fact, applying makeup is actually more dangerous than dialing a cell phone–it’s the fifth likeliest task to increase crash risk.

Talk about a dangerous tube of MAC lipstick.

About 3% of female drivers have had an auto accident while applying makeup, and 75% of those women are under 27 years of age, says Kevin Alsup, vice president of insurance at Foundation Financial Group in Florida. “We hear a lot about the dangers of driving and texting,” says David Miller, CEO of Florida-based Brightway Insurance, “but applying makeup while driving is just as dangerous.”

Whether You’re A Little Or A Lot At Fault

According to Nancy Germond, an insurance expert from Phoenix, AZ, an insurance company might “forgive” your first auto offense if you have a good driving record. Otherwise, if the accident is deemed to be your fault, you can expect your rate to take an upward hike.

Germond says, “If you are at fault in an auto accident and your insurance carrier pays more than a small amount, your rates will undoubtedly increase,” says Germond. Although some companies forgive the first accident, most will charge you “whether you’re 1% or 100% at fault.”

Find out how to lower your rates when you read on.

OnSugar TV Recap: Parenthood Episode "Slipping Away"

OnSugar Blog — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:28:44 PDT

The following recap of Parenthood was contributed by community member gtettey, who posted it on the OnSugar blog Screen Time.

The Bravermans are going through changes; some for better and some for worse. This week we focus on the two teenage daughters of the family who seem to be slipping away from their parents. Haddie took the next step in her relationship with Alex and now has to deal with the repercussions at home. Amber is still reeling from her college rejections and has chosen to take her life in a downward spiral. Let's break down the episode after the jump.

I'm just going to go ahead and say it: Amber has lost her mind! She is down right destructive. She's smoking and playing golf with Gary in the office when she's supposed to be working. Didn't she just promise Julia that she wouldn't do that again? Doesn't he have cars to valet? She's not only putting her image and job in jeopardy, but Julia's also. But she has the perfect solution for this problem. She quits, because she doesn't need money for school anymore. There is such a thing as rolling admission, but I guess they've never heard of that. Since cars and law firm offices are no longer readily available she hooks up in Zeek's office. (Gross!) But when Sarah calls her out on her behavior and the drugs, things just escalate. Amber storms out of the house pushing her mother, purposely, to the ground in the process. She takes off smoking and drinking with Gary and, no surprise, they get in a car accident (a la Callie and Arizona). Honestly, after all the preaching she did to her brother and Haddie about addictions, you would think she would act smarter.

To read the rest of the recap, just click here