Phone Phun

We've all been touched by the scenes of the earthquake last week in Haiti. The devastation and carnage have been overwhelming; the stories of survivors plucked from the rubble even a week later are a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit.

For a two-week period, Google is offering free calls to Haiti via their Google Voice service. If you've got family or friends in the affected area, this is an opportunity to touch base with them and make sure everybody's okay.

As the relief effort ramps up, there are several agencies that are sending aid workers and relief supplies into the stricken area. As tempting as it might be to donate a blanket or a case of bottled water, what these folks really need is cash. You can donate online, via phone, and in some cases via text message to these or many other organizations:

Red Cross 1-800 RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767)
or text Haiti to 90999 to donate $10

CARE 1-800-521-CARE (1-800-521-2273)

UNICEF 1-800-4UNICEF (1-800-486-4233)

Save the Children 1-800-728-3843

The Salvation Army 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769)
or text HAITI to 52000 to donate $10

Donations should be tax deductible (check with your tax professional for details). Standard text messaging rates apply to text donations (check with your carrier for more information).

All good things must come to an end. Whether it's a movie that's captured your attention, a job you love, or something else, you know the time will come when it's run its course and is done. The same is true for your mobile phone as well. No matter how much you love it, or how much it seems just a part of you, the day will come when it shuffles off this mortal coil and goes to its reward. So what do you plan to do with the leftovers? You know you can't just chuck it in the trash, without fouling your local landfill for the next ten thousand years. How about recycling it?

RecycleMyCellPhone.org is a project of Earthworks, an environmental protection group. Visit their site, print out a postage-paid mailing label, and send your old phone or PDA or pager (do they still have those?) in to them. You get a tax deduction and the knowledge that you've done your bit for the environment.

Do you suppose I could send them all the junk in my garage as well?

We've all been there: you're out and about, doing your thing, when all of a sudden you realize that you've got to–you know, "go"–and you've got to go now! Unless you're out in the middle of the forest, that means you've got to find the closest publicly accessible restroom. Rest area? Gas station? Store with the sign "no public restrooms?" You've just found yourself in a bit of a pickle.

MizPee may be the solution for your pressing need. Using your smartphone, go to their website and enter your current city and state, and they'll give you a list of close-by facilities. Their list is pretty thin at this point, so they're eager to get your input on restrooms you know about. You can also give them feedback about facilities that they list.

They've also got a trivia section, so you can see how much you really know about "the necessarium."

MizPee is a free service.

Everybody loves the holidays: festive decorations, time with family and friends, feelings of good cheer. It's also a time of no small amount of stress as well: travel in bad weather, too many people in the house, and then there's the cooking. While we all enjoy a great holiday feast, it's not so easy to put it on the table. It would be nice if we could get some extra help.

As it turns out, a lot of the folks who sell you the goodies that you incorporate into your cooking want to do just that. Many of them have telephone help lines, or websites that can give you a hand.

Crisco Pie Hotline

877-367-7438

Butterball Turkey Help-Line

1-800-Butterball (800-288-8372) or

http://www.butterball.com

Fleischmann's Yeast Baker's Help Line

http://www.breadworld.com

Foster Farms Turkey Helpline

800-255-7227 (November 19 through December 1) or

http://www.fosterfarms.com

General Mills

800-248-7310

King Arthur Flour Co. Bakers Hotline

802-649-3717 (not toll-free, but you get a live person) or

email bakers@kingarthurflour.com

Nestle Toll House Baking Information Line

800-637-8537

Ocean Spray consumer help line

800-662-3263 or

http://www.oceanspray.com

Reynolds Turkey Tips Hotline

800-745-4000 or

http://www.reynoldskitchens.com

USDA Meat & Poultry Hotline

888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or

"Ask Karen" automated response system

Spaceweather Phone is a fee-based service that helps keep you in the loop regarding all things astronomical. Available in two flavors, you can choose the focus more interesting to you.

Space Weather Alerts provide updates on Aurora- and solar activity. If you're interested in solar flares, sunspots, and all, you can sign up for these alerts for $4.95 per month.

If you're interested in more general celestial happenings, then you might want to try the $6.95 per month Backyard Astronomy Alerts. You'll get calls about satellite fly-bys, meteor showers, comets, and more.

Whether you're a photographer who wants to grab pictures of the next Aurora, a ham radio operator worried about getting knocked off the air by magnetic storms, or just somebody fascinated by the nighttime sky, you might just want to give one of these services a try. They also suggest that, of course, either of these services would make a swell gift.

For many of us, autumn is the favorite time of year. The heat of summer is waning, the days are getting shorter, and there's just a different quality to the light outdoors. And then there's the colors.

While New England and the northeast are famous for their fall colors, there is a wealth of wonderful fall foliage all over the country. To get the latest information on where things are happening, call the Forest Service Fall Foliage Hotline at 1-800-354-4595. Just follow the prompts for the region you're interested in and start planning your trip now. Information is updated weekly, so be sure to call back often.

You can also visit their website for more fall color resources.

Cell Phones for Soldiers is an organization founded by two teens in Massachusetts, dedicated to helping service members stationed overseas stay in contact with the folks back home. Through fund raising activities and money made through recycling old wireless phones, they provide prepaid calling cards so that service men and women can phone home. Each recycled phone buys about an hour of talk time, which is a whole lot more useful than just keeping that old phone in the junk drawer.

There are designated drop off locations for phones, or you can print a postage-paid mailing label on their website. They're a bona fide 501(c)(3) charitable organization, so your donation may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law (check with your tax advisor for specifics).

They also have a sister site in Canada, with donations there going to help out Canadian soldiers, sailors, and airmen.

Everybody deserves to be able to live in a home free from violence and fear. A strong home is the foundation of a strong society. Unfortunately, not everyone lives in this home.

If you or someone you care about is afraid of their partner or their relationship, you should call The National Domestic Violence Hotline. They have advocates available 24/7/365 to offer support and help with crisis intervention, safety planning, and referrals to appropriate agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. A call to 1-800-799-SAFE (1-800-799-7233) (or 1-800-787-3224 for TTY) puts you in touch with help in English or Spanish, or 170 other languages through interpreter services.

The Hotline handles over 16,000 calls each month. Even if you don't need to take advantage of their services, you might consider making a donation to their continuing effort to make a difference.

"Can you hear me now?" It's more than just a TV commercial—we've all been victim to spotty coverage, loss of signal, and the dreaded "my cell phone works at work but not at home" syndrome. Is it just me, or do other people have the same problems where I do?

DeadCellZones.com maintains a wireless coverage complaint database. You can check out their map to see who's having problems where. Color coded by carrier, it may help you to see that you're not alone, or to decide which new carrier you don't want to sign up with. You can report your own problems as well, and maybe help somebody else avoid troubles in the future.

In addition to the map, they've got useful information about coverage issues (beware the big concrete and steel office building), and links to individual carriers' coverage maps.

If you've ever had a pet, you know how wrapped-up we can get with them. Whether you take Fido in weekly for a grooming, or take a more laid-back approach to pet-rearing, they become an important part of our lives. Studies show that folks who have pets accrue a number of benefits, including decrease in stress levels, reduced blood pressure, and many more. Those little guys are a pretty big deal.

Unfortunately, doggies and kitties aren't forever. Suffering the loss of a companion like this, whether by death or other loss, can be pretty hard to work through. Having a friendly ear available to talk to can help us to get through this tough time.

The Center for Companion Animal Health at UC Davis provides a Pet Loss Support Hotline to help people in this trying time. The Hotline is staffed with people who can listen to you, help you sort through your emotions, and refer you to local help. They also have materials they can send you free-of-charge.

You can reach the Hotline toll-free at 1-800-565-1526. They are currently staffed in the evenings between 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.