Good morning. Daylight Saving Time is this Sunday, which means we lose an hour of sleep and gain an hour of evening light. I’ll take that trade.
In this issue:
- The scam text that got smarter in 2026
- Worth Knowing: free apps, caregiver burnout, and a DST checklist
- From the Archives: when he retired and never left the house
- Slice of Life: the first warm day
I got a text last week that looked exactly like it came from my bank. Correct logo formatting, no typos, my first name in the greeting. It wasn’t my bank.
Scam texts got a serious upgrade in 2026, and I wrote about it last month because I watched my mom almost fall for one. According to the FTC, Americans lost $470 million to text message scams in 2024 alone. That number is climbing. And the reason is AI — scammers are using it to write messages with perfect grammar, convincing sender IDs, and personalized details pulled from data breaches.
Why this matters: The old advice — “look for spelling mistakes” — doesn’t work anymore. AI-generated phishing texts get clicked at roughly four times the rate of the old human-written ones.
The new playbook: fake package deliveries, fake bank fraud alerts, unpaid toll scams for $4.15, and Medicare impersonation texts. The IRS one is worth knowing on its own — the IRS does not text people. Period.
The 10-second rule still works. Stop. Don’t click. Call the real number yourself — the one on your card, not the one in the text. And don’t reply STOP to a scam text. That just confirms your number is active.
1. Free apps your phone is missing.
I loaded all of these onto my parents’ phones. Medisafe for medication reminders, Libby for free library books, and a built-in magnifier most people don’t know exists.
2. Caregiver burnout: the signs to watch for.
If you’re caring for someone and you can’t remember the last time you did something for yourself — read this. The Eldercare Locator (1-800-677-1116) can connect you with respite care near you.
3. Daylight Saving Time starts Sunday (March 8).
Spring forward — set clocks ahead 1 hour Saturday night. Use the reminder to: test your smoke detector batteries, check medication expiration dates, and schedule your spring Annual Wellness Visit.
When He Retired and Never Left the House — by Victoria Sinclair
Retirement isn’t always the freedom people imagine. Victoria writes about what happened when her husband Frank retired from civil engineering and suddenly appeared in the kitchen at 10:47 AM asking about lunch. Every day. In Japan, they call it Retired Husband Syndrome. But 53% of couples report their marriage actually improved over time after retirement.
My neighbor told me last week she felt the first warm breeze of the year while checking the mail. She stood there for a full minute, just breathing. Her husband came out to ask if she was okay. She said, “I’m excellent.” Then she went back to standing there. That’s what the first warm day in March does to people who survived February.
Until next Tuesday,
Nino
P.S. If this was useful, forward it to someone who’d appreciate it. And hit reply if you want — I read every one.
