Things To Do In SW Florida

By Michael Scaturro, KFF Health News (TNS)

When Lyft driver Tramaine Carr transports seniors and sick patients to hospitals in Atlanta, she feels like both a friend and a social worker.

“When the ride is an hour or an hour and a half of mostly freeway driving, people tend to tell you what they’re going through,” she said.

Drivers such as Carr have become a critical part of the medical transportation system in Georgia, as well as in Washington, D.C., Mississippi, Arizona, and elsewhere. While some patients use transportation companies solely dedicated to medical rides or nonemergency ambulance rides to get to their appointments, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft are also ferrying people to emergency rooms, kidney dialysis, cancer care, physical therapy and other medical visits.

But Georgia ride-hail drivers aren’t only serving patients living in Atlanta or its sprawling suburbs. When rural Georgians are too sick to drive themselves, Uber or Lyft is often one of the only ways to reach medical care in the state capital. read more

In recent years, smartwatches and smart rings have grown increasingly popular, adorning the wrists and fingers of consumers who use them to monitor their exercise, sleep and heart activity.

Now, medical device companies, including north suburban-based Abbott Laboratories, are hoping health enthusiasts will embrace a new type of wellness accessory: wearable sensors to track glucose levels.

Unlike previous, similar devices, the new ones don’t require prescriptions and aren’t just for diabetics. Abbott’s new device, called Lingo, is geared toward people who don’t have diabetes but want to see how food and activity affect their glucose levels, and how that might be connected to their mood, energy level and sleep quality.

Abbott says it’s the next frontier in wearable health technology, though questions remain about whether people will pay for it. Doctors also caution that it’s too early to say whether the devices will improve the long-term health of those who wear them.

“I think people have been waiting for these technologies to be over the counter, without a prescription, for a long time,” said Pam Nisevich Bede, Abbott’s head of nutrition for Lingo. “Glucose matters in all individuals. It definitely links to how we’re feeling in the short term.” read more

A piano store now open in Orlando is finding it has the keys for success in reaching a Central Florida audience with 40 pianos to offer, plus visual art on the walls.

Melbourne-based Atlantic Music Center, which has the largest piano store in Florida, is expanding with an Ivanhoe Village location, which will double as an art gallery space with quarterly shows. The store is managed by Connor Mahoney and Will Benton, the director of FAVO (Faith Arts Village Orlando). As a church musician and artist, Benton was approached by Brian Gatchell, the company’s president and owner, about opening an inland Central Florida location.

“We’ve done business all over Florida. Our location in Melbourne is the largest showroom in Florida. We have about 200 pianos there on the floor,” Mahoney said. “This is going to be a boutique shop. We’re the largest rebuilder of pianos in the Southeast, and we do a lot of rebuilding in Melbourne. We’re going to bring some of our best instruments to the Orlando location.” read more

By Melissa Lambarena, NerdWallet

If you pay your credit card balance in full each month, then your card’s ongoing interest rate (aka its annual percentage rate, or APR) is irrelevant, since you’ll never owe any interest.

But if you tend to carry a balance from month to month, knowing where your interest rate stands is key to saving money, especially if you’re revolving several balances.

Credit card APRs can change periodically based on a variety of factors, such as the general state of the economy and your own creditworthiness, so it’s not always easy to keep up with. (A credit card issuer has the right to change a card’s interest rate on future purchases, but it must generally notify you 45 days in advance.)

But here’s why it’s helpful to be aware of the figure and how to use it to your advantage.

You can use it to recognize better options

Understanding your credit card’s interest rate can help you in spotting better ones. Locate your credit card’s APR on the card’s statement or by logging into the account online or in the app. read more

Blue Man Group’s new Orlando show will debut April 3, the company announced Tuesday.

Tickets are now on sale for the production, which will take place in a to-be-built theater near the base of the Orlando Eye at Icon Park on International Drive. The space will seat 578 audience members, and it will be the first Blue Man home built from the ground up.

Show ticket prices range between $59 and $104 per person, depending on seating level. There are discounts for children between ages 3 and 9 in some seating categories. The schedule has matinee and evening performances for three or four days of the week through 2025, with single shows on Sundays and Tuesdays. The show is dark on most Mondays.

Blue Man performances typically include nontraditional instruments and percussion, electronic music with speechless, comical, blue-skinned bald performers and the occasional marshmallow. The ensemble started in New York City in the 1980s and now has continuing shows in Las Vegas, Chicago, Boston, London, Berlin and Shanghai as well as international tours. read more