are you all tired of my wishy washiness with the fitness trackers...or do people not like Fit Bit and have gone with another brand? I wish I had options of another brand, but that is what my insurance company will help pay for...

My insurance company has an incentive where they will pay up to $100 towards a fitbit from their list of choices. The choices that I am considering are: Alta Charge Charge 2 Charge HR after looking on Amazon, many of the complaints I have read were, inaccurate step count and bands falling apart. So are those common problems? Which one of these would you pick? thanks for your opinions.

I can see this being true. Good point. thanks for bringing that up.

But unless you go to the doctor every day and have that information recorded, your fit bit will have more entries than your doctor. And as far as the "push", my insurance company is pushing it's clients to get them and use them...so it's not just the companies who make them that are pushing....granted, I am sure the companies are pushing our insurance company to make it an opportunity for it's clients. You see, if you buy one and use it, my insurance company will give you a monetary incentive. t's not my name or even my email address that concerns me...because all of that information is tracked back to my internet ID. So maybe I could hook it up to a public internet service like our public library?? I guess, my biggest beef is that it seems that I don't have a choice to use a fit bit and have the same information that everybody has, but to have the option to NOT put my personal information on the internet. In my opinion, if it was all about health issues and nothing more, then I would think that option would be available. What I am looking for is a watch like option that would record steps, maybe heart rate...but nothing else, (I don't think) and not have to be connected to the internet to work. I guess, if I had to manually write down everyday on a calendar my information because my watch didn't keep the information, I would be ok with that. But to my knowledge, this option isn't available. I did see one on Amazon, but the watch part only kept military time and I really didn't think I wanted that. So if someone knows something I don't, I would appreciate knowing about it.

I will answer this but it might open up a whole new can of worms. I am nervous about having my personal, private information held on some data base "out there" somewhere for someone to use. There are people who are already claiming that someday we (people who use these fit bits and have their personal data complied)will be forced to get a certain kind of health insurance, or vacinations, or some other health related procedure based on our data. "everybody with a recorded blood pressure of ________ will have to be on this medication...." sort of thing. I do not want my freedom to choose that taken away all because I wanted to use a fit bit. Maybe it won't happen, but don't you at least question why the huge push for this technology to be used. Don't get me wrong, there are certainly some VERY good things about the fit bits....it is getting people up and going. It is trying to make America a healthier nation...but I also think there might be an underlying motive too. Technology today already has some questionable things attached to it...microphones in appliances that aren't supposed to record anything. Why is that? Did you know your Wii has a microphone in it? It is recording everything that is happening in your home. Sure, you might say, I have nothing to hide. I don't either....but isn't this an invasion of your privacy? What if someday whoever has control of all of those files decides that anybody who spoke about "x" will be questioned by the police about something? I know this sounds far fetched....but it is already happening. Here is an article that I recently came across... http://www.newstarget.com/2017-01-17-proof-that-amazon-devices-are-spies-in-your-own-home-alexa-automatically-orders-product-after-hearing-audio-in-private-homes.html that really got me thinking about all of this stuff...how seemingly fun, interesting devices are doing more than meets the eye. Sorry, you probably didn't want me to go into all of this...but it's stuff like this that makes me question all of the technology that is out there. Didn't mean to open up a can of worms and I am sure there are a lot of people on both sides of this issue. And some who haven't given it any thought. I was one of those, until my husband started pointing out some things he is reading. For me, the big question is: why wouldn't I be concerned if there was even a possibility that my privacy was being invaded? I sort of find it ironic that whenever you go to the doctor's office, one of the many forms you have to fill out is a privacy law form. And yet, our privacy MIGHT be already in danger in our very homes...or cars. I guess, maybe food for thought. I beg you to not turn this thread into a huge debate. But the question was asked...and I wanted to answer it.

Do you have to sync a fitness tracker to a phone or computer in order to use it? Or maybe a better question is what limits will I come across if I don't sync it? Thanks.

Maybe some of you saw where I was looking for reviews for this program...and basically didn't get much in the way of a response. A couple people responded. I then realized that the "academy" part of this program is very new and probably not widely known about. Fair enough. So then I emailed the company and have been in a conversation with a great guy John Suchocki. He has been nothing but amazing in helping navigate the site, giving me answers to my 1000+ questions and concerns. I haven't used the program yet, but after talking to John, I feel quite confident that this is the program for us. We won't start until next fall, but after we do, I will return and give a post-review. My main reason for posting right now is to make this program more widely known. I think it is worth looking into. They use a college text book, but it appears with the use of the videos and quizzes it is very doable for the typical high school student. Anyway, this is my pre-review for now.

I am just curious what step goals do you all have if this is something you keep track of? What is the "normal" number of steps for an adult person?

Does anybody know if the the audio version of the Ford's theater is worth the extra $5 per person?

another question. We wanted to see the Treasury Building. That requires a ticket through our congressman, but that wasn't on the list that I saw. Is it included with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing?

so, if I don't get tickets for Ford Theatre, will I still be able to see all of the parts they have listed...the museum, the performance, the Petersen House and the aftermath exhibits...or are all of those things only available if you get advanced tickets? AND, are all of those things worth seeing? We would have to pay $3 per person in advance, but "at the door" is free.

our kids are 12 (nearly 13 by trip time), 15 and 16. I know that the holocaust museum is intense, but we feel the kids need to at least see part of it... Do you think the 12 year old was be disturbed a lot by it?

I just went on to our Senator's site...and sure enough...there was a list of places they can book for us...so I marked the ones we wanted...and i added in the "additional information" spot that we wanted to also tour Ford's Theater. So hopefully we will get to talk to someone soon about all of this. thanks for your help.

Really, that is interesting because I am looking at the "unofficial guide" book and on a chart of major attractions to get advance tickets, it reads "Must go through member of congress for advance tickets" are you saying that if I want to get advance tickets, the only way to do that is through my congressman, but if I just want to show up, I have that option too? Are there any others on my list that I won't need to get tickets for in advance? I just don't want to not be allowed in someplace or have to wait forever because I didn't get advance tickets.

We are planning on flying in on May 1 and leaving May 8th. Do not know at this point what time the flight is...so I don't know if we will have time to see or do anything on those dates. Here are the tours we are interested in: I know we may not get to do them all, but these are the ones we are interested in. So how would you tackle this list? Rep tours: White House Treasury Building US Capital Building Bureau of Engraving and Printing FBI Other tours: National Archives Holocaust Washington Monument Ford's Theater Arlington National Cemetery Did I miss any important ones that I need to deal with now or in the near future?

We have decided when we are planning on visiting DC. So now I am wanting to get tickets to the places we want to go. For those places that require us to contact our congressman, and then wait for them to contact us...how am I suppose to book other tours without know when or if they are going to slot us for the ones they have control over. this whole process is sort of overwheming. What do I do first? please hold my hand and guide me. thanks.

I wonder why that is. Is it just not well known?

thanks. I thought this was a fairly popular program...isn't it.

specifically Physics. My daughter struggled through Biology (Apologia part way through....and finished up with Biology 101) but we made it through. She is doing well with Friendly Chemistry. So now we are onto Physics. I am strongly considering Conceptional Physics. It looks good. It looks hard enough, without being too hard. But I would love to hear from others who have actually used this program. Can you please give me all opinions...the good...the bad...and hopefully not the ugly. :) thank you very much!!

My daughter just got over the stomach flu. (sick Friday night)....last evening and this morning she complained of one of her ears popping when she opens her mouth. Doesn't hurt...just popping. Are the 2 things related somehow? or just coincidence? What can I do to help her with this? anything...or just wait and see? thanks.

The WTM link talks about a $30 price...where all I can find is a $110 price. Did it really go up that much in a couple years? Or what am I missing?

thank you guys so much!!!! this is a great list so far. The library board is looking for us to come up with a list of books...so that is so nice. She loves her job so much...but the lack of good books in our library has made it somewhat challenging. However, we do have another library 8 miles away that we are using books from...but we want to help our own library get more titles. thanks again for your help!!!

My daughter has been hired by our little local library to read at a local daycare and then do some sort of craft or activity with the kids. She mostly has 2 and 3 year olds. She has discovered that the books she needs to read to them need to be quite short, few words to a page....and our library doesn't have very many of those....but is open to buying more for her to use. What I need are some good titles. Do not assume that our library has classics kids books, because they don't have a lot. So any book that your 2 or 3 year old loves, or you think is great, please list. What is hard is that she does this 2 times a week...that is approx. 8 books a month...so she goes through books quickly. thank you very much.

I am nearly certain...but I will double check. thanks.

is this the same thing as the $110 class that I can buy online? or is this something different? Just trying to understand before I buy. thanks for all of your help. I do really appreciate it.