u/Striking-Garage-4103

I'm at my wits end trying to deal with thousands of dollars being extracted from my mother by political operatives. She is receiving hundreds of deceptive text messages per day that claim I.E. she needs to "complete her political profile" and which include a link, but the link simply leads to a donation page. She believes these messages are coming directly from national politicians and she is getting dopamine hits from the false sense of importance attached to this belief.

It seems that these operatives are exploiting some of the exposed weaknesses of elderly citizens - the inability to mentally filter out spam, loneliness, and feeling irrelevant.

I acknowledge that my mom's money is hers to do with as she pleases, but there is something inherently cruel and immoral happening to her here, and I'm struggling to find solutions that are not cruel and immoral themselves.

The courts, the carriers, and the phone manufacturers have made it clear that this cruel and immoral behavior is nonetheless legal, and they don't appear interested in doing anything about it.

My mom has always been frugal, and has kept her campaign contributions below $100/year until recently. Taking her phone away, or her credit card away, aren't good solutions because she still uses them for daily life.

Had anybody found a way to deal with this?

My aunt (91) is a decades-long Apple fangirl, she’s currently sporting an iphone, ipad, and apple watch and uses all three daily. She plays games, sends and receives messages to and from family members, uses her calendar and reminders, and handles much of her online financial business herself. Until recently she’s been great at spotting and avoiding scammers and taking defensive steps to protect herself from scams (using credit cards instead of debit, avoiding overdraft protection, etc). Unfortunately she is starting to decline cognitively and has begun to lose her ability to spot obvious scams. Last week, for the first time, she got caught in a scam which her credit card company thankfully blocked. She has started believing that her scammers are genuinely various world figures and she takes offense when I suggest otherwise. I’ve talked to her for hours and I cannot make headway with reason.

It has fallen to me to do what I can to protect her. I have PoA over her finances so I can do whatever I feel is necessary.

Simply shutting off her devices would be cruel. I’m wondering what intermediate steps might be good to take to protect her going forward.

Apple does not do a good job blocking SMS. Although there is a setting to >silence< messages from non-contacts – these messages are still received and stored on her iphone and ipad (where she can and has found them); shockingly, her watch still gives notifications for these messages (really Apple?). I need a solution where SMS from non-contacts is >deleted instantly and permanently<.

Email filtering is not much better – I likewise need a solution where email from non-contacts is >deleted instantly and permanently<.

If you have any other insights into how to protect my aunt I’m all ears.

Just to circumvent comments:

She’s under the care of a GP, a geriatric doctor, and a cardiologist, who she sees regularly; and she’s diligent with her medications (I check this). And her eyesight is good.

And please don’t suggest to RTFM on the Apple filtering until you’ve actually tested this on an actual iphone, ipad, and watch. I’ve RTFM and tried, and I’ve used Apple products since the single-floppy Macintosh.

I'm on a quest to understand some neighborhood boundaries in Walton County, GA. I'm not a surveyor and I haven't yet finished my searching in the courthouse but I have come up with a few questions along the way.

The neighborhood was developed in four phases, and the notes in the plat maps for each phase say BENCHMARK REFERENCE: WINDSOR; AT NE. CORNER OF UNIVERSALIST CHURCH; IN CONCRETE POST; STANDARD STAMPED "N122 1930". ELEVATION = 867.196.

I could not find this specific marker (monument?) in the NGS map, although NGS does show "Windsor" (-83.94163, 33.88050 degrees if you're curious), and I have located the aforementioned UNIVERSALIST CHURCH using google maps (6475 Hwy 81, Loganville, GA 30052). This church is about a mile from the neighborhood.

Question #1 - is there somewhere besides NGS where I might find this marker?

The metes and bounds for the neighborhood do not reference WINDSOR but instead start with: BEGINNING at an iron pin found at the corner common to Land Lots 2, 3, 15 and 16, 3rd District...

I found a set of 1819 surveys that show these land lots, obviously without the 1930 marker, but with a "P.O. Pt." label at the common corner.

Question #2 - It seems that the relationship between the Windsor marker and the iron pin would be documented somewhere - any suggestions where I might find this?

I'm hoping my next visit to the courthouse will yield some additional information, based on the "N/F" names on the four plats, but I'm curious how these points are all tied together, and where.

Gazelle ultimate with Shimano BR-MT420 calipers and resin pads.

Both front and rear are squealing so bad I am embarrassed to ride. They were quiet when new 1000 miles ago but gradually worsened.

I cleaned the rotors with IPA - no change. I removed and sanded the pads with 220 grit - improved the fronts somewhat but not completely, rears no change. I loosened the caliper from the frame, squeezed the levers, and retightened - no change.

The harder I brake, e.g. stopping at the bottom of my steep driveway, the louder they are, but they are loud even during what I would call normal braking.

Am I missing something? Are resin pads known for squealing? Is pad/rotor compatibility a thing? Should I apply any grease to the back of the pads?

My front yard has a shrubbery bed and a high sprinkler station that is broken and leaking. I can't seem to find any replacement parts. This station has an orbit hi-rise hideaway riser in the ground and a rainbird head attached to the top of the orbit - together they raise the nozzle about 20" above grade when pressurized (so the water can reach all the shrubs). The orbit's cap has split and is leaking badly, which impacts the entire zone. I can't find any orbit parts, and I can't find any equivalent rainbird "riser". Is this type of station typical in a shrubbery bed? Are parts for these no longer available? Or am I just looking in the wrong places?

How or where (preferably in the East Atlanta area) can I find a copy of "9 Ga. St. B.J. 187 (1972)"? I believe this refers to an article published in the Ga. State Bar Journal, Volume 9, Page 187 in the year 1972?

I just finished cleaning up a new-to-me Kevi chair. it looks like a model 2533 but it has four wheels. The Montana website shows the 2533 with five wheels. There is a sticker that says 8424. Are there any guides to help me understand what I actually have?