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Prescription Handwriting and Savings
January 15th, 2012 by Claudia Meydrech in Uncategorized No Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever tried to decipher the prescription that your doctor writes? Sometimes I wonder how the pharmacist we go to can read it. Only once has a prescription that I've received been misread, and it wasn't a fun experience with the particular medication. You wonder why this can go on, and why they aren't type written. I am sure that pharmacists check with the doctors if they don't understand, and hopefully these incidences are rare.

Speaking of prescriptions, we are all looking for ways to save on them. Most medications are expensive, especially if they are not generic, and your doctor prefers them for your particular condition. This is where a store like Walgreens has been helpful to many. In the past, they provided discounted medications through the Walgreens and Express Scripts relationship, but this year, Express Scripts did not renew their contract with Walgreens, causing potential trouble for many customers who do not have medical insurance and rely on the discounts. But Walgreens found a great solution.

Now, for a very small price, you can join the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens. This is a great alternative to the program they had before, and a good one if you are joining for the first time. Over 8000 name brand drugs are discounted through the program, and all generics. It even covers your pets medications. Right now it's $5 a year for an individual to join, and $10 for a family, including pets and dependents age 22 and under. It also helps with flu shots and other medical supplies.

To keep up to date on the latest, follow Walgreens on Twitter, or visit Walgreens on Facebook, and "like" their page.


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Does a bookshelf full of books still bring warmth and comfort to you, or is becoming something that takes up space and collects dust?  I am a book lover and never like to be far from my books, or go anywhere without a book or two in tow.

But as I’ve shared in recent posts, I’ve been reading more on my e-reader than actual books.  At first the transition was difficult, for some reason.  It was hard to give up old ways and give the new a try.  But I’ve adjusted well, and it’s so much neater to have my library stored online and on my reader than taking up space on the shelf.

This leaves me with many books that I no longer need that are – yes – taking up space and collecting dust.  Recently I started selling them online.  Some sell, some do not, so for me, finding a way to sell them that doesn’t cost me anything unless the title sells is the best way to go.  Amazon is one way to do this, I sell as claudias_corner on Amazon.  Some items may sell on eBay, but I like the idea of the items being online indefinitely like they are on Amazon, not ending at a certain time. eBay has improved in this in some areas, but for me, selling books on Amazon is the best way to go.

In fact, I did a page at another source discussing different ways to sell online, and some have included their opinions.  You can find this at “Selling on Ebay -vs- Selling on Amazon.  Feel free to share you experiences here or there.


Intriguing Way to Read Free Textbooks Online
January 14th, 2012 by Claudia Meydrech in Uncategorized No Comments

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of MatchBook for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Any college student knows that textbooks are expensive. In my humble opinion, unreasonably so. I have a theory that publishers may be taking advantage of the fact that you HAVE to buy the textbooks, so prices are marked up. I could be wrong, but as a former college student, that was how I felt about it.

When I went to college, there were no desktop computers or hand-held tablets that you could use to find information on the internet to read for free. I will admit that I tried taking a couple of courses without buying the textbooks, using my notes to get me through. Depending upon the course and the knowledge I already had about the topic, I did okay in a couple of classes using that approach, but didn't like not having the books on hand to refer to.

Now, thanks to MatchBooks, there is a solution, and a FREE one at that. What they have done is truly unique. They are taking textbooks, and "re-mixing" them to match the textbook that you may be assigned for a given course. A careful editing process is used to match the order of the contents and topics of your assigned textbook to create a customized textbook that matches the content that you need for your studies, and closely enough to replace the textbook.

The best part of all is that you can access and read these textbooks online for FREE. While you should realize that your professor has taken time to select the textbooks you need for your class, it is better to use this alternative than to not have a textbook at all. And many professors are pleased with these re-mixed versions of their textbook selections. Visit the site, and get to know the creators at Flat World Knowledge on Facebook. It almost makes me want to take up a college course or two, you're never too old to learn!

Using Myer’s PsychologyTextbook? | READ FREE!


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Many received a new Kindle or Kindle Fire for Christmas and are reading a favorite book in a new way.

If you don’t have a Kindle reader, perhaps you’ve downloaded the free Kindle for Android app to a tablet like I have, or free Kindle for your desktop computer or laptop.

Besides reading, one of my favorite past-times is looking for free books to read on my tablet using the Kindle for Android app, as well as my Overdrive reader on which I can read books in other formats.

Amazon offers many free books if you know how to look. Click here go to Kindle Books, then look along the right, you will see a list of Best Sellers, with tabs for “Top 100 Paid” and “Top 100 Free”.  To further break this down into categories, go to the left margin, and look for the category of book you are interested in, Biographies, History, etc., and once you have chosen your category of interest, you can again look along the right margin and find “Top 100 Paid” and “Top 100 Free” within your category of interest.

The free titles update hourly. Some that are in public domain always remain free, but many titles go back to being paid-for titles within a given period of time, so it’s good to check regularly.

Your library should be able to tell you whether they are part of an online borrowing system. Many are doing this, and I have borrowed several books this way using my library card…some in Kindle format and others in E-pub or audio format that I can read or listen to with the Overdrive app on my tablet or laptop.

If you have any other suggestions on how to find free e-books to for e-readers, please let us know in a comment.


This month there are several audio book versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” available for free online.

I received an email from “Learn Out Loud” about each, and will provide you with their links to the various sources for readings of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”.  I have downloaded a couple of different readings.  If the option is available, listen to the brief excerpt from each before downloading so that you know that you like the reading style.

Here is the list…though not “underlined” titles are clickable:

I hope you find a free audio book of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens that pleases you in this selection.


When Was Your Computer Last Attacked?
December 10th, 2011 by Claudia Meydrech in Business Aids 1 Comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Norton Small Business by Symantec for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

In the past few months, I have received emails from a friend that she did not intentionally send. Each time she said that some kind of virus had attacked her system and that she was sorry, and would look into the problem. It’s been a few weeks now since the last incident, so hopefully she has found a solution.

As a small business owner who works from home on my own computer, protecting it from malware and viruses and whatever new things there be that might want to seek, kill and destroy my work is important. Sometimes it is a source of great frustration by slowing my computer down to a snails pace so I can’t accomplish as much as I’d like to.

For those who have small business, and I know authors are among those as writers work hard to protect their work…and most if not all of that work is done on computer…you may be interesting in know that you can get 30% off Norton Small Business Products now, products important for protecting your work. This might be worth looking into for you. Look specifically for the Norton 360 and the Norton Internet Security 2012 that was released in the fall.

When was your computer last attacked? What services or products do you think would save your work and computer from attack by malware, and you the aggravation of a slow computer? Tell us your story in a comment, and take a look at Norton Small Business by Symantec.

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December is known to some as Spiritual Literacy Month. Is there a special book to read during Spiritual Literacy Month? Is it talking about a book at all?

The general definition for Spiritual Literacy Month is listed in Chases Calendar of Events as a time for “promoting respect for and among the world’s religions and spiritual traditions by encouraging people to ‘read the book of the world’ for sacred meaning.” I suppose this means look about you for spiritual or sacred meaning. While the intention may be generally focused, encompassing many religions and belief systems, and trying to draw them together into one, the tendency with religion these days, my focus is much more narrow.

This is a personal reflection. When I read “read the book of the world for sacred meaning”, I immediately thought of the many scriptures in the Bible that say that much can be learned about Creator God by looking at the creation around us. We can see the power, creativity and majesty of God in the form of His creation (in nature) that surrounds us. We can see how that beauty was tarnished by sin of man as described in the account of Adam and Eve in Genesis whenever we see a natural disaster or one animal eating another, or human harming another. I can see the need for redemption. And if I take the Bible literally, which I do, I can see that redeemer came in the form of a Baby…a date we celebrate on December 25th though it is not likely the actual date of His birth. The Bible tells me all I need to know about how to live spiritually in a damaged world, and how one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth, this one will pass away.

Yes, I suppose that some may look at the words “read the book of the world for sacred meaning” and feel all warm inside…thinking only of the beauty of a waterfall or the lovely flowers, or the wonderful woodlands, I do all of this, but there another side that cannot be avoided…and a solution has been provided. May God bless you and open your heart to the wonder of Him through the most enduring source of spiritual literature and truth that I know, The Holy Bible.


This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tassimo for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Office conversation often consists of water cooler talk, or time spent in a break room or conference room over a nice cup of coffee. We remember when a favorite book store that is no longer open in our area used to have a place to sit and have a cup of coffee while you read alone or with friends. What’s your favorite beverage while enjoying good conversation?

The folks at Tassimo have set out to make sure that your answer is over a delicious cup of coffee at the office using their Tassimo Professional coffee making system. It makes one delicious cup at a time. It’s not to be confused with the Tassimo systems for the home, in fact the discs for the professional unit will not work in the home unit.

Are you interested in a Tassimo Professional free demo? I have a feeling the answer to that would be yes, because who can resist a good cup of coffee…especially if it’s free? And I have a feeling it will lead to some good conversation about your favorite flavors, especially if you use a Tassimo at home like my daughter does.

What? You don’t like coffee? Then maybe you’ll be looking for hot chocolate or perhaps a Twinnings Tea. I don’t have a Tassimo unit yet, but my daughter does, so I’m familiar with the system, how it works, and how perfect each cup of coffee, tea or cocoa is….wonderful to drink while curled up with a good book or when catching up on the latest news with a good friend when taking a break at the office.

NEW Tassimo Pro logo.jpg (2 documents, 2 total pages)

brewer straight on.jpg (2 documents, 2 total pages)


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The Hello Letters
November 20th, 2011 by Claudia Meydrech in Handwriting,Letters,Words No Comments

Presidents like Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, women like First Lady Barbara Bush and Whoopi Goldberg, musicians like Lawrence Welk and Pete Seeger and so many other famous names have something in common. They have written letters that you may enjoy reading in support of the importance of communication in spoken and written word. The hope is that communication will open the way to peaceful resolution of problems and lead to less conflict between people and nations.

Monday, November 21st,  is the 39th annual observance of World Hello Day, a day promoted by Brian McCormack, a Ph.D. and Michael McCormack who work together to promote this day by encouraging each of us to greet 10 people and promote peace.


According to This Day in History, today is the anniversary of the publication of Moby Dick, by Herman Melville.  The classic about  Captain Ahab and his obsession with killing a great white whale was published in 1851. Melville never got to appreciate the success of his book as it didn’t become popular until after his death.

When I was a young girl, my family went to few movies, but I do remember going to see (bold links are “clickable”)  Moby Dick with Gregory Peck  at a drive-in, and in more recent years, we’ve enjoyed Moby Dick with Patrick Stewart in the role of Captain Ahab.

You should be able to download Moby Dick in audio book mp3 format for free at Librivox.  A text eBook version of Moby Dick can be downloaded for free at gutenberg.org.