Coronavirus yields skipped card payments ... but you have to call and ask!

A recent article in the New York Times mentions some banks waiving payment penalties (some even skipping interest charges) in the wake of the coronavirus.

The waivers:

• Goldman Sachs with its Apple Card and Marcus loans
• Capital One
• American Express

Still charges interest but allows you to skip a payment:

• Discover

You pretty much have to call them all to get this. I got ahold of Capital One, American Express and Discover all this evening (Saturday) ... American Express said a late fee ding would appear in the account but would be removed within 7 days. Discover did mention that they continue to charge interest, and I got Capital One in only about 10 minutes after failing the last couple of days, but they just moved my existing payment from April 4 to May 4. Wahoo!

Let's all keep washing our hands!

Atul Gawande on the end of life

I have been reading Atul Gawande in the New Yorker for years, but this is the first book of his that I read:

It was terrific!

I'm still young enough that I hadn't thought much about the issues he brings up:

• Nursing homes and why they're generally awful
• Assisted living's initial promise and how it's been adulterated
• What happens when you add animals to an elder-care facility
• How his grandfather lived to 110 without any of US-style elder care
• Why everyone is different in choosing what a desirable end of life is

Recommended to anybody who's mortal ... i.e. all of us! Five stars!