Patricia---would you believe this rose came from Wall-mart--A couple of years ago Caliloo (Alexa) called me and said that Wall-mart had them in a bag---I ran right over and got two and I've been thrilled with it. I remember a picture of a vase full of MacCartney that Cindi posted a few years ago---it was stunning. I miss Cindi and her wonderful stories. I'm happy you have this rose. Floren

This happened right when we were going to bed last night. It was only 12 blocks from my house. We didn't hear a specific explosion, but a rumbling noise and then lots of other noises from the response and evacuation. I was coughing a lot since I'm sick so maybe I coughed thru the explosion. I know that the noise was keeping Jeff up so we moved to the middle bedroom of my row house where it was quieter. We were completely unaware that it was such a tragic situation. This is a very full neighborhood, with houses, businesses, etc. One poor guy lost his wife, daughter and baby granddaughter in the fire. He was working out of town, that's the only reason he wasn't home then. Two housed completely blew up and then erupted in fire that affected all the homes on the block. It's a row house neighborhood so everything is in close quarters, a lot can be affected from something like that. So sad for the families who lost so much. There was no warning or indication that anything was amiss before the explosion.

The state makes some of us wear ankle bracelets for electronic tethered tracking. Well the state doesn’t make you wear it, the state gives you a choice to wear it or go to prison. The free enterprise system gives me a choice too. If I want to stay in the 25% tax bracket, I will continue to keep my Apple 8+ phone on me at all waking hours and charging on my nightstand, right next to my Wilson Combat .45, when I’m asleep. So far, the Apple has created much more mayhem than the .45. It used to be that the biggest got all the work, now in the internet age the work goes to the fastest, hence my conjoined phone. I swear I’m not making this up, but I got out of the shower to take a call yesterday. Apparently the strippers at the club and I are the only ones making money dripping wet and naked. Good thing I bought the waterproof case. If you can’t stand always being a little bit at work, self-employment isn’t for you. I recently enabled my Verizon account to allow me to take calls in Mexico when my wife, Lynn Anne, and I stayed at a fancy 5-star resort as guests of friends. I so wanted a break, but I had a print ad publishing several days before we would return. I considered an answering service, voice mail was out of the question, but soon realized that the peace of mind of answering the leads from my ad immediately would far outweigh the several minutes of vacation interruption. It was, me, my wife, my friends, and my phone, drinking margaritas poolside at 11:00 a.m. I haven’t forgotten that this, like giving every 4th dollar I earn to the government, is a first-world problem. Forty years ago, Lynn Anne and I were living on government food stamps in a cockroach-infested apartment her father owned. Our neighbor, Artie Johnson, was bitching about how much he had to pay in taxes as a railroader. I remember thinking “I wish I had your problem.” We outgrew our poverty and the government got a very nice return on its investment in keeping these future taxpayers fed. I not only pay my and my wife’s cell phone bill, but subsidize 4 other family members. I’m grateful I can, however, judging by how many voice mails I have to leave and how few returned and unsolicited calls I get, they don’t feel the same tethering obligation I do. To prevent inconsiderate ringing, I put my phone on Airplane mode when I’m at the movies or other performances or in an actual airplane. It was disabled while I was being rejected for jury duty for a full day last month, per the judge’s stern orders. I can only think of one circumstance under which I would deliberately let a call go to voicemail, but I’m going to let you guess what that may be. Here’s a hint: My phone will probably be on my nightstand. Sometimes tethering is just too high a price to pay.

I don't know about anything small and wearable and will defer to others' recommendations on that, but years ago I bought my mom and stepdad walkie-talkies. Stepdad liked to spend a lot of time outside, and mom inside. They also liked to go camping. This was a way they could always keep in touch with one another without need for a cell network. Old-school, but viable if you think they'd commit to carrying them and keeping them charged.