It's Lifeline, Janet. There is a national organization, but it's also local. When we test Mother's, the person who answers is in a national call center. If there is a problem, they have numbers to call. In Mother's case, it's the front desk at her complex, where she has assisted living services. If Mother were not there, they would probably call the local hospital or EMT or whatever is available in the area. We pay $37/month directly to the Hospital's volunteer Guild, who runs the local program. In short, you need to call the local hospital nearest to your Mother in Iowa. They'll know! There may be another system besides Lifeline, but it will be administered by your local hospital. Isn't it a worry to be so far away? I understand that! Here is a link that might be useful: Lifeline

UPDATE: Went to practice session #3 at the eye doctor and was able to get contacts in and out of both eyes. The left eye was harder. The way I got them in was to NOT look in a mirror, pull down just the lower lid, and stare straight ahead. Another optician joined in to help. She saw my nails which were as short as they can be. She said I need to pull the contact down with the pad of my middle finger and then try to pinch the contact off my lower lid. They were out of the lenses with my prescription so they sent me home with just practice lenses until a trial set come in. I need to practice everyday putting the contacts in and out. I am so relieved to have gotten this far! I'm actually glad to just have the practice lenses for a while. I forgot to ask about the mono or multifocal. Thank you all for the help. I did make a word document with all the advice. I may need to refer to it sometimes if I run into trouble. edited to add: I ask about those plunger things to put in contacts. Those are only for hard contacts which I will not be getting. This post was edited by debrak2008 on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 7:20

Plumbers are fine for replacing water heaters and other plumbing regular/irregularities but there are VERY few who really know anything about water treatment. In most cases you can temper anything a plumber says regarding water treatment with a 40lb bag of softener salt. To "soften" water is to remove calcium (among other things like iron) from the water and that is commonly done by one of two methods. One method is ion exchange as done by a water softener. A water softener exchanges either sodium ions (if using NaCl) or potassium ions (if using KCl as a SALT SUBSTITUTE) for calcium (and other) ions in the hard water. That's it, no ifs, no ands, no buts, and no sales double talk. Simple chemistry and physics. Softening water is not black magic. It is physics and chemistry with a side of mechanics. No matter how hard sales people try (and want) to they can not violate the laws of physics or change the nature of chemical actions and reactions. The other is by a filter and/or membrane technology or distillation, but no simple filter will remove calcium. You would need a reverse osmosis unit large enough to service your entire house. You would not want to pay for that big an RO nor pay for the service and routine maintenance it would require and RO water would be very aggressive in your plumbing and it would waste a lot of water. NO magnet(ic) gizmo or electronic gizmo or "conditioner" will soften water but people waste their money on them EVERYDAY. Check out this URL for one story http://www.nmsr.org/magnetic.htm and there are many more on the net if you Google. Pick the right softener (not a box store brand), size it properly for your water conditions and usage and the SFR of your plumbing, and get a competent install and you should go 15-20 years minimum as you've already done with your Culligan. The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that water treatment begins with a water test so you know what needs to be treated or filtered out to get the quality water you want. Hit the Yellow Pages and call at least three local water treatment pros. Make sure you call at least [b]one of the big dogs[/b] like Kinetico or Culligan for comparison and at least a [b]couple independent pros[/b]. Give each an opportunity to offer suggestions and provide you with a quote to meet your water treatment needs. IGNORE ANY THAT DON'T TEST YOUR WATER THEMSELVES as they can't speak intelligently to water treatment without knowing what needs to be treated. Ask lots of questions. Softening the entire house or just the water heater (bad idea)? Warranty, parts & labor or just parts, how long and on exactly what? Install, permits required, licensed plumber? Routine maintenance and costs? Do they stock parts? Response time for emergency (water leak) calls? If they don't explain things to your satisfaction that is a good indicator of how you'll be treated after the sale. Are all your treatment needs being addressed? Ask your neighbors if they have any water treatment experience. They might tell you who's good or who to avoid. Come back here and post the specific recommendations and hardware components with the costs and we'll give you our opinions.

Yeah, I realize now that I should have sewed more slowly. Thanks for the advice and the link, Izzie, IÂll check it out. And I'll slow down. : ) Noinwi, no my machine doesnÂt have speed control  well, except for my foot on the foot pedal. : ) I donÂt think this is why my threader is off kilter, though, because I really havenÂt used the machine much up until now. By the way, the threader works fine with the Âjeans needle (I found this out when I switched over), and it also works fine with the new Kenmore needles. So, maybe there is a slight difference in the generic needles that I bought previously. IÂll check out your site on fabrics, too  thanks. No, the needles donÂt have coloured-bands on them  theyÂre all size 90/14 Sharps. Which is odd since they are for both "woven fabrics and knits", according to the label. I have been told before that for knits you should use ballpoint needles, so even I find it strange. Oilpainter, yeah, I thought after I posted that cottons must be wovens. Thanks for the tips on how to determine what needle to use. It is a lot of common sense, isn't it? : )