The funny thing is that Gary will be able to find health care if he needs it because he doesn't have much. Those of us who HAVE things find health care expensive if we don't have insurance. The ability to pay is what's looked at. Personally, I think it's a challenge to live that way the older you get. You get by fine when you're young. But the day comes when you're not so young anymore and things start to catch up with you. At the very least,seeing a dentist is so important. When I was young, I thought about working really hard while I was full of energy just in case I couldn't do it when I was older. That idea has come full circle now as I recently found out I have a rare genetic defect that rears it's ugly head as you get past 50. I'm real glad to have insurance---to not have to work, as I could never walk the miles at work that I used to. Chelone--I'm glad you feel my generation didn't screw things up. But today's CEO's and those in charge are from my generation and I think many of them are little better than cannon fodder. I remember the people in charge at the company I worked for. It was a fortune 500 company and most of the people in charge were MBA's and those who came in to their positions because an uncle was high in the company. It was like a bunch of weepy eyed little kittens who had genetic problems do to so much inbreeding. There wasn't a person there who had ever gotten their hands dirty. Wisdom doesn't come from standing around watching over things from afar. You can't sit in your ivory tower and say you know what the peasants go thru to deliver your daily bread. You only learn what's REALLY going on by being in the trenches. All CEO's should have to come up thru the company----or at the very least, have to spend a year's time on the production floor so he knows the business from the ground up. When these CEO's rule from the top down, the lowest they get is to the company president's office. I don't think you're being wimpy,behaviorkelton, because you worry about all the things that can befall you. I think you're being realistic. It's the fool who sits and thinks, "this won't happen to me." If God allows you to get old, it's a blessing. If God allows you to get old, it's a curse. ALL of life is a double-edged sword and you have to make the right choices or get a big old slap in the face. You have a duty to protect yourself, best you can. Any risks you take in life should be calculated risks. Not crazy, foolish,"take your life in your hands" kind of risks. Those who depend on you would not look kindly on the fact that you've died at 50, because of no health care,when you COULD have lived till 80 with it. Don't diminish your worth to the world and those around you.

If you make this change, I'd have a small concern about the placement of the trash. An easy-peazy example is warming up some soup from a can. Can from pantry, bowl from area beside cooktop?, silverware, papertowel from? - into micro and can goes to trash on other end of island. If you have a prep sink on the ref wall, it'd likely work better pushed out to the living room side. Instead of having 2 tiny areas (like 12-18" of counter), you'd have one 36" - much more useful for micro prep, coffee pot and for entertaining. If you hadn't guessed, I'm not clear on where dish storage would or should be. I wouldn't have thought about questioning it until I looked at the relationship between the dishwashers and the likely candidates. Both sides seem to potentially require you to move to the other side of the dishwasher for some put-aways - might be annoying. Possibly a little dangerous AND really annoying if a second person is doing dishes while another is cooking. This could be a scenario that never happens in your home. Imagine someone behind your butt working at the sink, how does that work out with drawers/cabinet doors open between you and the pantry, you and the ref, you and the oven. How could you get a pan out of the pot drawers below the cooktop when you can't move to the side and can't move backwards? Imagine doing cleanup and answering phone. Some people are fine with waiting on each other or learning to do the compensation cha-cha. It will work if y'all do that well. If your FIRST reaction is closer to fighting the bull in Paso Doble, then you might think more about all that.

I actually own both of these stones...I have honed Carrara in my kitchen and butler's pantry, polished Carrara in my master bath and Kashmir white on my dd's vanity and the guest room's bath vanity. First of all...in the two years we have lived here (new build also) none has stained. Not even iced tea, tomato sauce or red wine on my marble. Very slight etching on both types of marble, and no etching on the granite. I will tell you, though, that aesthetically...the Kashmir DOES NOT in any way, shape or form look anything like marble. The stone yard told me it would be a good, durable stone for my elementary age dd and it was the closest granite to marble. No, it isn't. I really wish I had just been brave and done the marble in those baths...it would have given them that "old house" look that I want. Oh well! Don't know anything about quartz, except that I have 1 neighbor that has it. It seems serviceable, but again, doesn't look like marble. Not sure her color, though, it is whitish.

this is from usa taday weather not sure how accurate it is : Q Are the winds on one side of a hurricane faster than on the other side? A: If a hurricane or other tropical cyclone is moving the winds on one side will be faster than on the opposite side in relation to the ocean or ground the storm is moving over. In the Northern Hemisphere the fastest winds will be on the right side, if you are looking in the direction of the storm's movement. That is, if the hurricane is moving toward the west, the strongest winds will be on the north side; if it's moving north, the strongest winds will be on the east side. It's the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere. (See the question right above this one for why.) To see why the winds on the right side of a Northern Hemisphere hurricane or typhoon are faster than those on the left, imagine the winds are circling the storm at 100 mph, and the entire storm is moving forward at 10 mph. With counterclockwise winds of 100 mph added to the forward speed of 10 mph on the right side, a ship there will be hit by 110 mph winds because the 100 mph winds and forward motion of the storm are in the same direction.. Another ship, to the left of the storm's center, where the 10 mph forward motion is subtracted from the 100 mph wind speed, will feel 90 mph winds. This was first realize in the 19th century and was one of the first important advances in understanding tropical cyclones and other storms. In fact, this knowledge was called the "Law of Storms" in the 19th century and various scientists wrote books telling ship captions how to use it to figure out where they were in relation to a storm's center and which way to go to said away from a storm's strongest winds and highest waves. This is described in detail in Chapter 2 of Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth by Dr. Bob Sheets and Jack Williams, published by Vintage Books, 2001 Irene is moving north so winds will be greater on the east side and thus the fear of great water surges in NYC. Good luck everyone oh and the west side will still generate quite a lot of wind too just not 100 but 60mph is more than a enough to rattle homes and trees.